Revision and Editing Checklist for a Narrative Essay

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An Essay Revision Checklist

By Richard Nordquist

After you have completed one or more drafts of your narrative essay, use the following checklist as a revision and editing guide to prepare the final version of your composition.

1. In your introduction, have you clearly identified the experience you are about to relate?
2. In the opening sentences of your essay, have you provided the kinds of details that will evoke your readers' interest in the topic?
3. Have you clearly explained who was involved and when and where the incident occurred?
4. Have you organized the sequence of events in chronological order?
5. Have you focused your essay by eliminating unnecessary or repetitious information?
6. Have you used precise descriptive details to make your narrative interesting and convincing?
7. Have you used dialogue to report important conversations?
8. Have you used clear transitions (in particular, time signals) to tie your points together and guide your readers from one point to the next?
9. In your conclusion, have you clearly explained the particular significance of the experience you have related to the essay?
10. Are the sentences throughout your essay clear and direct as well as varied in length and structure? Could any sentences be improved by combining or restructuring them?
11. Are the words in your essay consistently clear and precise? Does the essay maintain a consistent tone?
12. Have you read the essay aloud, proofreading carefully?