Overview
The essay is nearly in its final form. Congratulate yourself, because you’ve done a lot of work since those first few words. Your thesis statement is formalized, and drafts have been rewritten. It’s now time to look at the essay from a different perspective before turning it in to the instructor.
Revising or Editing?
Revising or rewriting drafts comes before editing the paper, and it is important to revise while ideas are still flowing. If the editing process starts too soon, writers are in danger of criticizing every idea, agonizing over every word, and creating a writer’s block. It is essential to first get the idea on paper, even if every word is not perfect. It’s even permissible in the writing stage to leave a blank in place of a word to come back to it later. Editing is a time to examine each phrase for content and errors, including spelling and punctuation.
Read the Essay Aloud
This step can be done alone or with another person. Sometimes merely hearing the essay can highlight errors such as choppy sentences, sentences that are too long and need to be cut into parts, and misplaced or vague referents. In some English classes, the editor’s circle is part of the process of writing essays. In others, writers are their own editors.
Check Misspelled Words
Misspelled or mistyped words are some of the most glaring errors in any manuscript. If writing on a computer, use the spellcheck feature, but do not rely on it. The spellchecker will skip over a misspelled word if it is a word, just not the right one. (As might be expected, some of those mistakes can be embarrassing.) Watch for homonyms such as “there” and “their”, “to”, “two”, and “too”. Check spelling with a dictionary if needed.
Edit Slowly
When editing, check every word, every clause, and every type of punctuation to ensure that all mistakes are caught. If using a computer, print out the essay in triple-space and use a ruler as a marker under each line. Sometimes it is much easier to see errors from a printed copy than on the computer screen, and reading line by line slows the process enough. Alternatively, read the printed copy backwards to focus on each word. Each sentence will still begin with a capital letter and end with ending punctuation. Highlight the entire essay on the computer screen and change it to double-spacing before printing the final copy, if that is what the instructor prefers.
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