Editing Strategies - Assignment Example

English 8 June Editing Strategies The work on the essay does not end when the writing itself is completed. The next stage, namely editing, is equally important for assignments. The purpose of editing is to make sure the argument of the paper is clearly conveyed and the thesis makes the impact on the reader. To achieve these goals writers should implement a series of editing techniques and strategies. The main points to be considered during the editing phase are the content, style and form of the paper.

It is important to realize that there are no universal guidelines for essay editing. Everything depends on the writer’s preference and individual style of working on the paper. Yet, a few suggestions that might help to develop editing skills can be made. First, editing should not immediately follow the completion of the written assignment. It is best to take a break from writing in order to get a fresh perspective on the text (“Handbook of Writing Research” 8). The point to remember is that the readers cannot access the writer’s ideas directly, so it is important to make sure that the arguments in the paper are not misleading or confusing.

While editing the content of the essay, it might be helpful to underline or highlight the thesis statement and the topic sentences in the body of the paper. In this case the ‘backbone’ of the essay should look like a plan where every new point contributes to the readers’ understanding of the main idea. Thus, all the topic sentences should be related to the main argument of the paper and develop the thesis step by step. Then, it is necessary to take a look at the highlighted sentences in the context of the whole paper.

In this view, the writer should check whether each paragraph contains only one idea. It is easy to do if the topic sentences are highlighted. What is more, the paragraphs should have transitions between them, so the writer should check if all the points are logically connected. It might be helpful to highlight the transition words and phrases as well to see if the right structures are used to introduce new ideas. Another key point to consider in the essay is its style and form. At this point, the best technique is to read the paper aloud.

Reading aloud can help the author to notice the words or phrases that do not fit the context of the paper. As a rule, such vocabulary units include bookish or formal words, colloquialisms, terms used without sufficient explanation. Having pinpointed those words, the writer should consult the dictionary or thesaurus to find a suitable synonym or explain the terms used in the paper. What is more, highlighting or underlining key words in every paragraph can help avoid redundancy and wordiness. Finally, the paper should be checked for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors.

Then, it is useful to read a paper again aloud slowly, making logical stress on the topic words and sentences, and then quickly. Reading aloud quickly can emulate the readers’ perception. Sometimes the structure of the sentences used by the writer is very complicated and the readers would have to go back to particular areas of the text to get the idea. If the writer finds it hard to find the ideas that should be stressed in the sentences or paragraphs while reading aloud quickly, it means that such sentences would be confusing for the readers.

In this case it is better to opt for restructuring the complex sentences. At the end of this stage the essay can be submitted. Works Cited Handbook of Writing Research. Ed. Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham , Jill Fitzgerald. The Guilford Press, 2008. Print.