CEM Corner: Revising Your Essay

By Daryl Lee Spiewak, CEM, TEM, CFM, CEM® Commissioner and ASPEP President Emergency Action Coordinator, Brazos River Authority, Waco, TX

Even though the essay is written, you are not finished yet. It is only in a rough draft stage. You've used your spelling and grammar checker and fixed the errors it discovered. The next stage is to polish your prose in the revision process before preparing the final essay for submission. This month's tips article will explain one process for revising your essay. Many CEM® Commissioners use this process when they review essays. It is a process that involves two distinct steps: editing and proofreading.

But before you begin the revision process, set your essay aside for a day or two. You will be able to look at your paper with a fresh eye and mind, allowing you to catch errors more easily.

When you are ready, find a quiet place where you can work without distractions. Gather your paper, outline and essay requirements. Review the essay requirements and the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) list. With those details in mind, you are ready to begin reading out loud. That's right. I said read your paper out loud. Read it slowly, slower than normal speed. You will catch more errors because you read the words, speak them out loud, and listen to your speech.

Editing

In the first pass, review your paper for overall content, organization and other major issues. Check your problem statement. Did you state the problem clearly and concisely? Do your facts support your central idea? Do you need to change the problem statement because your facts don't support your conclusion?

Next check your organization. Do your thoughts and ideas flow in some logical sequence? Does each paragraph contain a topic sentence? Do the paragraphs support your problem statement with relevant facts and data? Do you discuss the four phases of emergency management, relevant laws and regulations, and necessary resources to solve your problem? What about the other KSAs? Have you included details about each one of them?

Development, coherence and unity are some of the other major issues you need to doublecheck. Have you provided sufficient details to fully develop your conclusion, and have you logically presented your case? Are all the major points connected, or do you have a jumble of ideas? Express the relationships between your ideas clearly, and ensure they all relate back to your problem statement.

Finally, cut out wordiness and use active verbs. Avoid using stretcher phrases such as "it is" and "there are." Review your sentences to be sure that no parts of the paper are "short and choppy." Listen for the rhythm of your sentences. Do the words and ideas flow easily from one main topic to the next?

Remember, you are writing for the Commissioners. No matter how familiar we are with the subject, we don't know what you meant to say – so say it clearly and directly. Make sure that you have written exactly what you wanted to write.

Proofreading

No matter how many times you read through your paper, there will probably be errors in it. Now review your paper in greater detail by looking at your sentences and word choices to be sure they are effective and grammatically correct.

Check for usage and sentence structure. Look for subject-verb agreement; match the verb to the subject; and ensure that the subject and verb agree in number. Look for pronoun reference-agreement; especially examine the pronouns it, this, they, their, and them . Make sure you can find the noun your pronoun replaces and that it agrees in number and person with the pronoun. Look for parallel structure; key words to look for include and, or, not only…but also , either…or, neither…nor, and both…and. Make sure that the items connected by these words are in the same grammatical form.

Lastly, check for spelling and punctuation errors. Your spelling checker won't find all the errors, only words that are misspelled. It cannot tell the difference between their and there or wont and won't. A useful method is to examine each word individually. Sometimes it helps to review your paper backwards. That way your mind won't play tricks on you. If you are not sure how to use commas and semicolons, review a grammar book. Check for run-on sentences and sentence fragments. Finally, check for words that you may have inadvertently left out of a sentence.

When you are finished, put the essay away for a few more days. When your mind is clear and fresh go through the entire process one more time. You will be surprised at the number of additional errors you discover and the number of words you change.

The essay takes the place of a face-to-face interview. It is your opportunity to show the Commissioners the emergency management knowledge, skills and abilities you possess and is the last step in the certification process. Ensure that your final product is the best you can deliver.

Next month we will discuss tips for packaging your essay for submission.

May 2001, IAEM Bulletin