The Importance of Editing Your Papers

Revision and editing may sound like meaningless tasks when it comes to writing essays for school, but it’s far more important than you might think. It’s easy to rush through a paper, feel like you did a perfectly fine job, and turn it in as is. Even if you already have a knack for writing, taking the time to edit your work can improve your grade and your overall writing abilities.  

Catch Small Mistakes

Your word processor won’t always catch those typos. “Off” can turn into “of” and your “the” might be a “then” in your final draft if you don’t double check. While these tiny errors won’t ruin your whole paper, it looks sloppy, and you might have a teacher who takes points away for misspelled words. A great way to catch these, along with other mistakes, is to read the paper out loud to yourself, a peer, or even a tutor. Common mistakes can easily be caught and fixed, but only if you take the time to check for them. If you can be certain that your essay is typo-free when you turn it in, you can save yourself the frustration of realizing your errors after you collect your grade.

Discover Inconsistencies 

Your final product might not be what you set out to write, and that could be a good thing, but it also leaves room for error. You may discover that you address topics or ideas in your body paragraph that aren’t clear in your thesis statement, or perhaps the format of the essay doesn’t flow well. Try to mark these concerns with a highlighter or a pen, and see how they can be corrected. It’s not hard to get off track, so there’s a good chance a few things may have made it into that body paragraph that don’t exactly belong there. Ask yourself: is my essay consistent? Do the topics flow well together? Am I staying on topic throughout my writing? Do I make any contradictory points or statements? 

There’s a lot to consider, and what you think you’ve written might differ from what actually ended up on the page. Looking at your essay as a whole can change your entire opinion of the assignment, and you’ll be glad you went back to make corrections. 

Fine Tuning 

It’s necessary to get into the details. When you read through your essay, you might discover that you worded something strangely and it sounds a bit incoherent. Or, perhaps you missed the mark on an entire paragraph. Maybe there are a few details you think of adding when all is said and done. And possibly, you discover one of your anecdotes doesn’t support your argument as well as you thought it would. Don’t be afraid to eliminate whole sentences, or even whole paragraphs, that you don’t think are good enough to be included in your final essay. Your first draft is only the beginning, and you can make as many changes as necessary. Any great piece of writing goes through tons of edits, rewrites, and revisions. It’s an important part of the writing process, and can make you a better writer in the long run by teaching you about your own habits, strengths, and weaknesses when it comes to the academic essay. 

If you’re looking to get an extra set of eyes on your paper, book a tutoring session with one of our writing experts.