Writer's Handbook Editing with a computer     Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers     Parallel Sentence Structure     Using Commas correctly     Using Apostrophes correctly     Capitalization     Spelling

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers A word processor can help you focus on the sentence elements that often hide misplaced or dangling modifiers. Go through your paper, and highlight (with boldface or underlining, for example) all introductory phrases; these are at the beginning of sentences and are usually followed by a comma. Then go back and look at each one. If it is a modifier, does it clearly point to the sentence element it modifies? Could the relationship be made clearer? BACK Parallel Sentence Structure You can use your word processor's Search or Find functionto help you locate some sentences that may have problems with parallelism. Have the computer find the first word in correlative conjunctions. Then read each sentence carefully to make sure that the second word is present and that parallel structure is used. BACK Using Commas correctly If you have a problem with using too many commas, you may want to use the computer's Search or Find function to identify every comma in your writing. Then you can examine each one to make sure it is necessary and used correctly. (Be warned! The average paper can contain quite a few commas, so prepare yourself for a few minutes of editing time.) BACK Using Apostrophes correctly If you often put apostrophes where they don't belong (by misspelling contractions or using it's where you mean its, for example), you may want to use the computer's Search or Find function to identify every apostrophe in your writing. then you can examine each one to make sure it is necessary and used correctly. (Be warned! The average paper can contain quite a few apostrophes, so prepare yourself for a few minutes of editing time.) If you often misuse its and it's, you may want to have the computer locate every instance of each word so that you can make sure you have used it correctly. BACK Capitalization Grammar checkers can remind you that sentences should start with capital letters. And spell checkers may flg ewords that you have lowercsed but that most dictionaries usually spell with a capital letter: they would recommend using France instead of france, for example. Many words, however, should be capitalized only in certain contexts, according to how they are used in a sentence. BACK Spelling If you know which words you habitually misspell, you can use your word processor's Search or Find functions to locate all instances and check their spelling. Consider keeping track of misspelled words in your papers for a few weeks so you can take advatage of this feature to simplify your editing. A spelling checker program compares the words in your text to the words listed in its dictionary, and it flags words that do not appear there. (The size of computer spelling dictionaries varies greatly, but most contain fewer entries than a typical college-level dictionary in book form.) A spelling checker cannot help you spell words that its dictionary does not contain, including most poroper nouns. Spelling checkers ignore one-letter words; for example, they will not flag a typogrphical error sucah as s truck for a truck. Nor will spelling checkers flag words that are misspelled as different words, such as to for too. Always check the spelling in your text by eye after you've used your spelling checker software. BACK

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