Looking to master your writing and get better grades on essays? These tips will teach you exactly how to edit essays like a pro!
I might have created my own blog, which is 95% written content, but I would not say that I enjoy writing. I absolutely love to read books and write these articles, but not essays for school.
It’s not that I am bad at it, I simply just don’t like doing it. And let’s be honest, who does?
Regardless, we all have to do them. Three years into high school, I realized there is no point complaining about them: it was easier to just get better at writing them.
And that came mostly from learning how to edit essays.
When I write essays, my first draft typically sounds like the writing level of a 4th grader.
I really wish I was joking about that. I repeat words, use run-on sentences, and have a bunch of grammatical errors. But I do this to get all the information onto the paper. Then, I edit.
This post is all about how to edit essays!
Reread. Then reread again. Then do it again. And one more time just for good measure
I am not joking when I say I read my essays at least four or five times if I have the time.
It can never hurt to reread. I always seem to find something that should be changed every time I read. When I truly mastered how to edit essays, it came mostly from doing this step.
Control+F will save your life
If you write like I do, once you get a big word in your head, you use it a million times. And sometimes it is hard for my brain to even notice I am doing this.
If I am typing my essay on the computer, I will use control+F and search for a bunch of keywords I may have used too many times. Then I use an online thesaurus to fix it.
This tip has helped me SO much when I edit essays.
Listen to your essay
This one only really works if you are typing your essay.
To find any typos, copy and paste your essay into google translate. But instead of choosing a different language, click the listen button. Then the computer will read your essay to you.
Listening to it finds a bunch of grammatical mistakes that your brain just skips over when you read.
There are also websites that will read it aloud for you, but I think google translate is the easiest.
Edit essays with online resources
There are so many websites that will grade essays and point out any mistakes.
My top two favorites are PaperRater and EasyBib.
However, with these websites, you want to make sure you are not solely relying on them. They typically only check for plagiarism and grammatical errors, not content.
That being said, it can’t hurt to run your essay through them, just be sure to do other stuff as well!
edit essays with the rubric
My 8th grade English teacher once said “If a teacher gives you a rubric, they want you to get a 100.” And to this day I always think about this when I write an essay.
If the rubric is given, use it! Read it before and during and after writing any essays. Figure out what the prompt is asking and what the rubric is requiring.
Read your essay backwards (paper only)
If you have to write out your essay, I always read it backwards to check for spelling mistakes.
When you read it normally, you brain sometimes skips over misspelled words because you are reading an entire sentence.
However, when you read it backwards, it is only one word at a time so your brain notices the mistakes. And coming from someone who literally does not know how to spell, this trick works.
This post was all about how to edit essays!
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