Congratulations! You've completed your first draft and revised it to improve the content of the paper. At this point in the writing process, many students decide to hand in their papers without ever giving them another glance. Resist the urge to do this. Even if your latest draft contains brilliant, well-organized arguments, your draft most likely still includes some awkward sentences and spelling and grammatical errors. Such mistakes will lower your paper grade, even if the arguments and information presented in your paper are solid. In order to maximize your grade and write a paper you are proud of, consider following the suggestions for revising and editing your paper given in this section.
According to Roger Lathbury, “To be a good editor, you have to be two people- the writer and someone else.” Lathbury says it is often difficult for writers to see flaws in their own work because they have a tendency to read what they meant to write instead of what they actually did write.
To make editing your paper easier, you should do your best to distance yourself from your work; Lathbury suggests putting you paper in a drawer for awhile—a day or even an hour—and “playing pinball, cooking, or eating- something that does not involve reading or academics.” When you go to edit your paper the next day (or an hour later), you may be able to approach it as an impartial reader would and spot any flaws more easily.
The way you phrase an argument in your paper is as important as what you argue. The reader needs to be able to follow what you are saying easily. Therefore, it is important that your paper flows well. Professor Lathbury recommends the following techniques to edit your paper for clarity:
Many people rely solely on their computers to check their spelling. Computers can be a helpful tool in detecting errors, but try pasting the following sentence into your writing program: Bobby seas there read wagon. The sentence should obviously read “Bobby sees their red wagon,” but your spell check program will probably tell you that the sentence is correct. Your spell check program cannot detect words spelled incorrectly for the context in which you are using them, so it is best to read through your completed paper yourself to make sure you used the words that you meant to use.
This task proves often proves difficult because many writers are so absorbed in their papers that they read what they meant to say instead of what is actually written. To avoid this mistake, Professor Lathbury suggests reading the paper backwards or using an index card with a small box cut out of the middle to isolate each word of the text. Trading papers with a friend can also be helpful.