5 Tips to Editing a Professional Essay - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

5 Tips to Editing a Professional Essay Most students prefer to submit their essay immediately they have finished writing the last sentence. This is because expressing your ideas and arguments in an essay is not a walk in the park, especially if you don’t have a passion in writing. However, the quality of writing is what determines the grade that you will get in the final end. Surprisingly, majority of students tend to ignore the most common mistakes such as typos and grammar. As a student, you must be ready to impress the professor by submitting an essay that implies that you know how to express yourself through writing. Here is a list of tips on how you can edit your essay before clicking the submit button. Fix the Essay Structure This one is a no brainer. Every essay must have a structure in the order of introduction, main body and conclusion. You must ensure that the arguments in the main body are highlighted in the introduction and conclusion. If you have discussed some points that were not mentioned in the conclusion and introduction respectively, you must rearrange the structure altogether or it won’t make sense. And that’s not all. You should read between the lines to confirm that your points follow an orderly sequence. For instance, if you are writing about an illness, the part on treatment can’t come before the part that elaborates on the symptoms. The good thing is that an essay is not like a house; you can reorganize it as many times as you wish. Avoid Long Sentences and Paragraphs After you are done writing an essay, you should never try to edit it immediately. This is because you may not be able to realize the mistakes that you made due to fatigue. You should take a break of at least two hours or three and revisit your writing. If there are long lines and paragraphs, they should be trimmed to two or three segments. Remember, long sentences and paragraphs are hard to follow. They actually discourage the professor from reading because he will definitely forget what was discussed in the first few sentences. Limit the Use of Jargons It’s generally agreed that most students use jargons in an attempt to show off their intellect. Remember, your essay will not be rated according to the number of jargons that you have fixed between the lines. If the reader has to have a dictionary when going through your essay, he or she will not understand your argument. In fact, by overusing jargons, you might use words that deviate away from what you are supposed to discuss. You should therefore aim to use simple words that make it easier for anyone to understand your argument. Remove Repeated Words Most of the essays that are forwarded to the lecturers tend to be dotted by repeated words and ideas. This is because some students use filler words as a strategy to reach the specified number of words. In as much as you want to give lengthy explanations, it’s important you avoid using words that don’t help in getting the message home. Lecturers are actually intelligent professionals and they will quickly notice when an argument has been repeated twice. If this is the case, it will be assumed that you lacked words to express yourself. Spellchecker can’t be Trusted Every computer or laptop has a spellchecker by default. The problem with most students is that they trust it so much because they imagine it’s 100 % accurate. A spell checker can’t figure out all mistakes, especially when the words used are in the English dictionary. For instance, the utility program can’t detect a fault when form is used instead of for because both words are found in the dictionary. There are two ways of dealing with spelling mistakes. You can print the essay and then proofread it and then underline such mistakes. Alternatively, you can submit your essay to an editing service at an affordable rate. Simply type Fix My Essay in the search box of your browser and you will see the editors near your area.