Drawing GOOD Lewis dot Structures (with carbon monoxide as an example to follow along with):

1.

Count # of valence es in the atoms, MUST be the same as the # of es in the Lewis
structure. (Charges change e count; +, remove es; , add es).
C=4veO=6ve10 ve-

2.

Determine connectivity: Unique atom often central (usually the most metallic), (avoid
small rings; often one atom is central with all other atoms around it), H always
terminal (only one bond; 1 e).
C O (not much to choose from for connectivity here)

3.

Complete octet for each atom (except H). Count es again; remove any extra (non-bonding)
es from central atom. (Caution: Sometimes octet rule is broken).
....
:C:O:
.. ..

4.

Too many es? Remove e pairs from central atom (or add to central atom if more electrons
are needed). Check to see if any (applicable) octets are not present.
....
:C:O:

(Don't just erase the extra electrons, but redraw this structure so you have the steps that you took to
study from later and I can potentially give you partial credit!).
5.

Replace octet by moving e pairs to form multiple bonds: Move e pairs from outside
atoms to central atom to complete octet for each atom (multiple bonds; make one multiple
bond at a time. If you skip ahead here, you may skip over the best Lewis dot strucutre!).
..
:C::O:
(moved the electrons that were on top of the carbon to between the carbon and the oxygen).
But this does not give carbon an octet (only 6 ve-), so move the electrons from on top of the
oxygen to between the carbon and oxygen:
:C:::O:
Note; the triple bond (or any bond) is rows of electrons just like rows of colons (:).

One might be tempted to move the electrons from the oxygen to between the carbon and
oxygen, but this would require carbon expanding its octet (which it CANNOT); so don't do
it! (Just trying to point out a way that a student may skip ahead and not arrive at the
correct conclusion!)
6.

Minimize formal charge. (The best structure will be the one with the lowest possible
formal charges). Compare the Periodic Table element's (as neutral) number of valence
electrons with the structure's number of valence electrons to see if there is a difference:
:C:::O:

PT 4 6
-S
5 5
-1 +1
(here the formal charges are unavoidable and are an artifact of treating the electron as just a dot
(when we know from Quantum Mechanics it is particle-like and wave-like. At least it adds up to
zero; which make sense since carbon monoxide has no charge).