‘tightened’ by deleting words or changing your sentence construction. Remember to write in ‘proper English’. Avoid totally any temptation to use colloquial or ‘texting’ language popular on mobile phones. 

◆ Check your spelling. 

◆ Check your punctuation. 

◆ Is each paragraph indented the same amount of space? 

◆ Have you begun your dialogue with a new paragraph? 

◆ Have you kept to the same tense throughout? (Most essays and stories are written in the past tense.) 

◆ In your short story have you kept to the same ‘person’ throughout? Is it written in the first or the third person? (See Chapter 1.) 

◆ Have you used colloquial language? 

◆ Before writing or typing your fair copy, look to see if you can replace any words with better ones. Make sure you haven’t repeated words unnecessarily. 

## Checking the essay 

◆ Keep to the point and keep the title in front of you at all times. 

◆ Write notes in your own words. Don’t copy from a book. 

◆ Keep notes brief. 

◆ Make a bibliography. 

◆ Plan your work carefully. 

