Style and mechanics

Revising for style and mechanics means analysing your document sentence by sentence. You may find it helpful to consult the relevant sections of Module 1 as you revise. Use the links in the left-had navigation bar to return to the section you need. Revise your document based on the principles and questions below.

• Note general strengths.
  Examine your document for its stylistic strengths; look for:
  • verb-based writing
  • active voice
  • brevity
    
    
  Refer to your most effective sentences when revising other, less effective sentences.

• Analyse any sentences in which meaning seems unclear.
  • Do they use passive constructions or noun-based phrases?
  • Are they overly wordy?
  • Do they use sentence branching incorrectly?
    
    
• Analyse your presentation of factual information, such as dates or times, events or locations, financial figures or statistics.
  • Have you provided precise information?
    
    
• Check any lists, whether they are bulleted lists or items in series in a sentence.
  • Are the list items written in parallel forms?
  • Are the topic headings or introductory phrases written consistently throughout the document?

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