Writing Papers: Editing

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One of the common assumptions about writing a paper is that good writers can sit down and write a paper in one draft. Not true. Even the best writers revise their work, sometimes multiple times. Editing your paper is what makes a so-so paper good or even excellent.

When you first start writing, you don’t worry about being perfect. That’s because you’re going to come back and revise, edit, tweak, correct, elaborate, fix, and check your work. You’ll do a detailed edit of the ideas, content, organization, and summary. In addition, you’ll proofread your work, checking for spelling or grammatical errors. The following section covers some editing strategies and also provides a checklist for evaluating your work.

Please Check My Grammar

Most students want others to read their work to correct grammar, but that’s your job. It’s better to ask a friend or classmate to evaluate the content, the organization, and the ideas rather than review the grammar.

Editing Strategies

One way to review your paper is to read it aloud. Doing so can give you a good sense of the flow. You’ll spot places where writing is choppy or where the transition from idea to idea is too abrupt.

As another strategy, ask a classmate or friend to read your paper. Have him or her pretend to take the other side and point out the weaknesses in your arguments.

Ask your instructor to read a draft. This is especially helpful if you’re struggling with your paper. Your instructor may be able to ask a few questions to get you back on track or help you find research you need to beef up up your paper.

Consider your school’s writing resources. Some schools have a writing center or writing tutors who can help with your writing. If so, these are good places for editing help.

Taking Advantage of Your Word Processing Program

It’s common for students to use a computer and a word processing program such as Word to compose a paper. With its built-in tools, a word processor can check your spelling and grammar, allow you to view an outline, handle inserted illustrations, and help you make other editing changes. This short section gives you a few tips for writing with a word processing program.

Most programs flag misspellings and incorrect grammar. You can correct these on the fly or wait until the end, and then run a spelling and grammar check. Remember that this check isn’t error-free; you still need to proofread your work.

Looking for the “right” word? Try looking up synonyms, using the program’s thesaurus feature.

To rearrange text, you can use the Edit®Copy and Edit®Paste commands. One thing that’s great about word processing programs is that you can usually undo changes. So if you accidentally delete text, you can even undo your deletion.

If you’re using a word processing program, make sure you follow the specific style guidelines for the format of the assignment, such as the font size, margins, and so on.

Reviewing an Editing Checklist

When reading for content, consider the following: