With the right tools and preparation, self-editing can be a simple task.
Being your own editor is often difficult. You know what your paper is supposed to say, and you tend to skim over your own writing without a critical eye. You need to make a clear thesis, include pertinent supporting information, write clearly and cut extraneous material. For a student advantage in writing term papers, here are some tips for college students for editing your paper into a professional scholarly article.
The basics of editing
As explained in “How to Self Edit (to Improve Writing),” by Dianne Bates in Practically Primary, October 2011, found on Questia.com, there are four major components of editing: adding words, deleting words, changing words and moving words.
“Professional writers would agree that the greater part of revising drafts is removing words already written and then improving the words that remain. Putting the best word in the right place is at the heart of all good writing, as is getting rid of all unnecessary words. Sometimes, in order to achieve this, the writer might have to change ten words for every five originally written,” wrote Bates.
Don’t be afraid to rewrite
No one can write perfectly the first time around. Get your main points down, and then go back later to fix the spelling and grammar. You can even rearrange paragraphs if a new order makes more sense for more of a flow of presentation of information.
The article “How do I edit, revise and proofread my research paper?” at SIAST Libraries offers these steps:
• Have you given enough evidence to support your thesis statement?
• Do you need to define terms in your paper?
• Have you added information that does not support your thesis or is just unnecessary?
• Did you follow your outline? Does this still seem like a logical order to present your argument?
• Do you have a strong introduction and conclusion?
Once you’ve completely revised the first draft, re-read your paper. Does your paper still make sense after all your revisions?
Don’t be afraid to chop
In the article “How to trim an essay,” from students at Leeward Community College in Hawaii, you can use different colored highlighters to aid in the editing/revision process:
1. Highlight your thesis statement and restatement of the thesis in blue.
2. Highlight all of your supporting points in blue as well (highlight entire sentence). Make sure your points relate back to and support your thesis.
3. If this is an analytical essay, highlight all of your explications (or “explanations”) in green – make sure that all of these sentences contain concrete evidence from whatever source your essay is based on (such as direct quotes or scenes).
4. Anything that is left un-highlighted at the end of this process may be considered for omission.
When looking for more material to keep or chop out of your paper, the University of Toronto Writing Department suggests you:
• Make sure your paper fulfills the intention of the assignment.
• Include the analyses, argument, comparisons, etc. that your teacher wants.
• Use concepts, methods of reasoning and theoretical terms you’ve learned in your class.
• Include adequate evidence for your argument or interpretation.
Some more tips that might work for you:
• Edit your paper on paper. Print it out, and make corrections in pen on paper. If you generally proofread and edit on your computer screen, a change to paper will help you see it in a new light.
• Change the font, color and size when you’re editing. Sometimes looking at the paper in a new style helps trick your brain into thinking you’re seeing it for the first time and you’ll be able to catch more mistakes.
• Work in a quiet place. If you eliminate distractions of music, television or roommates, you can concentrate just on your paper and give it your full attention.
• Read your paper out loud. Hearing it as it would be spoken helps you see sentence structure that is awkward and unruly.
• Have a friend read your paper. He or she can check for readability and give you an unbiased perspective as to how your thesis is backed up by supporting information.
The Questia.com library of resource material can help you with your research papers. For more information on editing and proofreading, visit the Language and Linguistics and Grammar and Word Usage libraries.
What are your tricks and tips for editing your own paper? Share below to help other students.