Drafting: Precising
English: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 2.4.8
Cutting Down Your Writing
'Précising' is a fancy word for 'cutting down'. You should try to cut down any long passages.
Cutting down
- You should try to avoid long passages.
- Shorter passages are easier to read.
- Shorter passages can still contain all the important details.
Example: original passage
- Henry is a boy. Henry is a boy at my school. Henry does not have many friends. Henry sits by himself at lunchtime. Henry sits by himself at break time. Henry sits by himself in the classroom. I want to talk to Henry. I do not know how to talk to Henry.
- We could cut this passage down without losing any meaning.
Example: new passage
- Henry is a boy at my school. Henry does not have many friends. Henry sits by himself at lunchtime, at break time and in the classroom. I want to talk to Henry but I do not know how.
- We have cut out some of the repetition.
- We have used different sentences to make the passage shorter.
Test yourself on Drafting: Precising
What is a fancy word for 'cutting down'?
What kind of passages should we try to cut down?
How could we cut down the sentences below?
Ralph is dancing. Ralph is nervous. Alicia must be mad at Ralph.What does 'précising' mean?