Reading Your Work

Some things to know:

• I am not your proof reader nor your copy editor. I will mark the occasional mechanical error, but I am reading drafts at a somewhat higher level: in hopes that improving the discourse will improve the grammar. You should make sure at least TWO people whose opinion on writing you value read your paper before you hand me a final draft.
• A block quotation is simply an extended quotation and is thus considered to be a part of the paragraph into which it is inserted. The part of the paragraph that follows the block quotation is not indented, unless it is, in fact, the start of a new paragraph.
• A paragraph should contain a topic. If you change topics, create a new paragraph. If you don’t know what a topic is, get help. (I can help, but you have to bring paragraphs.)
• If I provided a template, use the template. If in doubt, use 1.5 spacing and a serif font that works across platforms – so Times, Georgia, maybe Cambria? Do not include a title page: just include your name and the provisional title at the top of the first page. Make sure you use page numbers.
• For faster, and often better, results, submit your draft on paper.