Quick Help: Editing for coordination and subordination

Quick Help: Editing for coordination and subordination

Editing for coordination and subordination

How do your ideas flow from one sentence to another? Do they connect smoothly and clearly? Are the more important ideas given more emphasis than the less important ones? These guidelines will help you edit with such questions in mind.

  • Look for strings of short sentences that might be combined to join related ideas.

    image

  • If you often link ideas with the conjunctions and, but, and so, are the linked ideas equally important? If not, edit to subordinate the less important ones.
  • Are the most important ideas in independent clauses? If not, edit so that they are. (51b)

    image