It is possible to edit an essay systematically, but unfortunately, most students tend to do so without following any specific pattern. It’s better to perfect an essay in steps instead of just skimming it before you submit it. Here’s how to edit your essays well and efficiently.

Step0: What’s this, a step 0? Just a quick reminder!

• It is best to print out each draft of your paper before editing to create a more tangible experience.
• Speaking aloud will help you gain a better understanding of what you are writing. Involving more senses will make it easier to spot errors.
• Take your time to read rather than rushing. Pay attention to every word.
• Let your mind rest between edits so you can see your new draft with fresh eyes.
• Be sure to revise your essay at least three times.

Let’s get into the process now!

Step1: Make sure you read your teacher’s instructions

Students don’t realize how often they miss whole sections, even after two or three revisions. And this can happen at the last minute! Therefore, before you start editing, make sure you understand what the essay requires. Be sure to adhere to all the instructions thoroughly.

Suppose your teacher indicates that the thesis statement should discuss three topics. However, if you include two or four, your thesis statement does not meet the requirement. You cannot work around your teacher’s instructions or attempt to play with them. You must follow the criteria with exactitude. Identify any omissions from the criteria or additions that are not included.

Step2: Take a look at the key points

It is not necessary to worry about minor issues such as the placement of a comma and repetitions the first time you edit. Concentrate rather on how you organize and phrase your main ideas. A formal essay is an academic paper intended to convey an important message. It is extremely important to communicate your main ideas in an essay since without doing so, your essay will be of no use to the reader.

Ideally, your thesis statement should be adjusted at this point as well as the flow of your paragraphs and the order of the paragraphs in which you convey your message. You should also make sure your conclusion goes beyond just a summary but aims to synthesize what the argument has been about in the text, as well as what it means for the reader.

Shanaya, an Assignment Editing Help expert from Perth, says, “Not only do introductions take a lot of time to write, but they also are difficult to edit. Transitions help move the hook and background information along with the thesis statement. There shouldn’t be any gaps in the information you present.”

Step3: Refine the content

At this point, look at what you’ve written: your examples, your quotes, your main statements, and your topic sentences. In many cases, when we look back on our papers, we realize we could have used a better example, quotation, phrase, or topic sentence. Avoid being lazy and accepting less than the minimum just because something has already been included.

An essay writer must cut and add information as part of the process. Writers commonly record many example quotations and ideas before writing, making this a fairly simple step. Often, you can copy and paste information from research- or outline-related document into your essay.

Step4: Make grammar corrections and adjust the writing voice and tones

There are three sub-steps to go about this, according to MyAssignmentHelpAU’s Assignment Help experts:

1. If you are using contractions, slang, or texting language, this needs to be modified. Essay writing generally follows a formal tone. You should also consider the essay’s audience when selecting your writing voice. Consider the following example. The way you write an expository essay is not the same way you write a persuasive essay. You have to convince the reader. The way you write the essay should reflect its topic and purpose. Tonality and voice errors can distract readers and cause your message not to be adequately conveyed.
2. It’s time to check nouns, verbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and tenses. Double-check that all your words are grammatically correct. Grammar creates meaning in a sentence; otherwise, there will be no meaning to your essay. As before, reading slowly is essential to getting the full effect of the text.
3. A sentence can either be successful or fail due to punctuation. Those marks convey meaning and a sense of mood. Don’t forget to look at the punctuation and make sure it’s correct. Some people forget to put punctuation in their work.
4. And this research is done by our essay writing helper, Eddie Broke.

Step5: One more time, please!

We recommend printing it out again and giving it, another read with a red pen in hand to go over any mistakes. To do this last step, take a break of at least 15 minutes between edits. We’d recommend a day of rest to refresh my mind.

The Takeaway!

Verify that all the requirements have been met and that the formatting is correct. Verify that your references and citations are formatted correctly (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). Your perfect edit is now complete!