Proofreading III

Reading your work aloud  slowly to yourself can help you see and hear miss, misplaced or repeated words. Look for the following.

Fragment Sentences

•Make sure each sentence has a subject. This might seem basic, like Duh how else would I write a sentence. Sometimes during a rewrite/edit we can rework or break up a sentence and leave behind a sentence fragment that lack a subject.

Before edit:
Kalen cringed at the wounded sound of the child’s voice. Setting the computer aside he waved the boys in. "Of course I do, Caesar."

After edit:
Kalen cringed at the wounded sound of the child’s voice. Set the computer aside and waved the boys in. "Of course I do, Caesar."

Corrected
Kalen cringed at the wounded sound of the child’s voice. He set his computer aside and waved the boys in. "Of course I do, Caesar."

•Make sure each sentence has a complete verb. In the following sentence, "were" is required to make a complete verb; "trying" alone would be incomplete: The boys were trying to coax Kalen into leaving his room.

•See that each sentence has an independent clause. Remember an independent clause cannot stand on its own. The following sentence is a dependent clause that would qualify as a fragment sentence: Set the computer aside and waved the boys in. 
Run-on Sentences

•Review each sentence. Make sure it contains more than one independent clause.

•If there is more than one independent clause, check to make sure the clauses are separated by the appropriate punctuation.

•Sometimes, it is just as effective (or even more so) to simply break the sentence into separate sentences instead of including punctuation to separate the clauses. Run-on example sentence:
I have to write a report for my class about rock climbing all I know about the subject is I'm interested in it as a  sport.

Edited version:
I have to write a report  for my class about rock climbing, and all I know about the subject is that I'm interested in it as a  sport.

Another option:
I have to write a report for my class about rock climbing. All I know about the subject is I'm interested in it as a  sport.

Comma Splices
•Look at the sentences that have commas.

•Check to see if the sentence contains two main clauses.

•If there are two main clauses, they should be connected with a comma and a conjunction like and, but, for, or, so, yet.

•Another option is to take out the comma and insert a semicolon instead.
Example:
I would like to write my write my report about rock climbing , it's a topic I can talk about at length.

Edited version:
I would like to write my report about rock climbing because it's a topic I can talk about at length.

Edited version, using a semicolon:
I would like to write my paper about basketball; it's a topic I can talk about at length.

(Many editors and publishers consider semi colons inappropriate in fiction writing. They will tell you they're for technical works. 

Subject/Verb Agreement

•Find the subject of each sentence.

•Find the verb that goes with the subject.

•The subject and verb should match in number, meaning that if the subject is singular, the verb should be as well. If the subject is plural the verb needs to be plural also. 
Example:
Authors on a deadline is usually very busy.

Edited version:
Authors on a deadline are usually very busy.

Mixed construction

Read through your sentences carefully to make sure that they do not start with one sentence structure and shift to another. A sentence that does this is called a mixed construction.

Example:
Since I have an important edit to complete is why I can't go out tonight.

Edited version:
Since I have an important edit to complete, I can't go out tonight.