Why edit for correctness? Much of your credibility as a writer depends on your writing correct prose. Readers are turned off by misspellings, comma misuses, sentence fragments, and the like. "Sloppy grammar and mechanics means a sloppy thinker," they believe. While correctness will not salvage poorly conceived ideas, incorrectness will always mar good thinking.

When proofreading your writing, you focus your attention on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and typing errors, but often these mistakes are easy to overlook because you are too familiar with the content of our essay and the meaning of your sentences--you read over your mistakes. One technique you may find helpful in avoiding this pitfall is reading your writing backwards, beginning with the last sentence. Reading backwards makes it harder to pay attention to content, therefore making it easier to spot minor problems in your writing. Also you may want to exchange papers with a classmate and proofread to spot each other's errors. Whatever proofreading method you use, be sure to edit out of your writing the following common errors: 

Common Error	Harbrace section
*Comma splice and fused sentences	3
*Lack of agreement between pronoun and antecedent	6b
*Lack of subject-verb agreement	6a
*Missing or misplaced possessive apostrophe	15
*Sentence Fragment	2a, b
*Wrong or missing verb ending, wrong tense or verb form	7a,b,c,d
*Faulty Predication	23d
*Misspellings	18
Its/It's confusion	15a,1
Misplaced or dangling modifier	25b
Missing comma after an introductory element	12b
Missing comma in a compound sentence	12a
Missing comma in a series	12c
Missing comma(s) with non-restrictive element	12d,e
Unnecessary comma(s) with a restrictive clause	13d
Unnecessary shift in pronoun	27b
Unnecessary shift in tense	27a
Vague pronoun reference	28
Wrong or missing preposition	1f(4)
Wrong word	20a

*The MTSU English Department recognizes these errors as the most serious. Failure to learn to edit out these errors in your writing will result in a failed portfolio and failure in the course. Your English 1010 instructor will mark examples of these errors in your writing early in the course so that you will have time to learn to avoid them. Students who write with these errors should attend the MTSU Writing Center (Peck Hall 325) for special instruction and make use of the additional help provided through the Writing Tools segment (whether assigned by the teacher or on their own). 

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