How to edit your essay when travel writing or in the classroom.
You’ve researched a perfect topic for your essay, you’ve gone ahead and written your essay, but that’s not all you need to do, as there is one last crucial step remaining: editing. This is one of the toughest steps because it involves stripping down your own writing, which has to be done ruthlessly if you fancy any chances of scoring that much-coveted A.
Not to worry though because this article aims at making this process a breeze. In here, you’ll learn how to edit your essay like a pro editor.
Read it Aloud
Yes, with your voice, advises https://writercheap.com homepage. But don’t wake up the neighbors though as if you’re preparing for a choral verse recitation. Just read it loud enough so you can hear yourself. This is one of the oldest editing strategies and it works without fail. By doing so, your ears can catch errors your eyes can’t. As you read, stay alert to ensure you catch off sentences in your prose. If you hear an odd sentence., stop and investigate it like a crime scene and don’t leave until you uncover the problem. Be sure that anything odd to you will also be odd to the reader.
Cut Out Unnecessary Words and Phrases
Are all the phrases and words in your essay necessary or are you in a race to hit a certain word count? This includes your word choice. Take, for example, the sentence in a travel article, ‘the journey was great’. The word great doesn’t evoke any emotion. It’s flat.
What if you replace it with ‘terrific’ or ‘excellent’? These words evoke tons of emotion and connect with the reader and make them feel more as if they are traveling with you.
Also, make sure you use as few words as possible to pass your message across. Don’t use 25 words where 5 are enough.
Avoid Ambiguity
Remember, you’re trying to put your thoughts across regarding specific topic. These are your opinions and arguments. You’re not a politician, therefore, ambiguity will not work in your favor.
Instead, find fitting words to help you communicate your words in a clear, concise and effective manner. Furthermore, be careful when using unfamiliar language lest your risk creating confusion among your readers.
Avoid Pompous Jargon
Even read a line of pompous drivel in some travel book? This is one of the most common problems students face when writing their essays. They want to impress the reader by their knowledge of heavy words, their sophistication, and authority in the given subject matter.
As a result, they end up throwing the reader in limbo without a clue of what the entire paragraph or sentence meant. However, this is easy to cure.
If you feel the urge to use such heavy words, pause and ask yourself whether the reader will understand what you’re trying to say.
Even Your Best Sentences Require Editing
This is where it becomes tricky since here you have you have your killer sentence, yet it doesn’t belong in that particular section. Only one step is left: cut it out.
Yes, it’s painful but necessary. Remember, if you want to score that A, you have to be ruthless even with your best sentences. This is how great writers churn out brilliant pieces. Your readers may not pick out your brilliance but you can be sure they’ll do so with an inappropriate word or sentence.
All this may seem like a daunting task for you but it’s necessary for the sake of your readers. Besides, you’ve put in so much work in your research and writing, thus it’s only fair that you present the best possible essay.
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About the Author: Other Voices
Other Voices has written 1178 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
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