How to Revise an Essay Draft

Essays form part of a student’s lifestyle while in school. Students have to write effective essays that communicate their thought process besides contributing to their final score at the end of their academic term.  Because of this, you have to make it perfect as it can get, and this involves revising your original draft once you complete writing it.

With the benefit of hindsight, deciding on whether and how to revise your draft can prove a challenge. You might have additional insights gained from the writing process or deem your original ideas less attractive. As a result, you may feel uncertain about revising or leaving the piece untouched. But, in revising, you will eliminate errors and improve the flow of information. It will further ensure a better grade.   

So how can you revise your essay draft?

Guidelines to Revising Your Essay Draft

  • Set aside your draft. It proves crucial to take a break from your work to allow for extra and objective self-evaluation.
  • Get feedback. It proves counterintuitive to judge your work as you always know the contents of what you want to communicate. Therefore, try and get a fresh pair of eyes to gauge your work and get feedback on whether your work proves clear. You can then discuss the piece with the other person, and through the process, get your arguments clarified.
  • Develop your essay’s backward-outline by identifying the key concepts in every paragraph. You then have to rank their significance to advance your thesis by considering the linkages between the ideas.
  • Rethink your essay’s thesis. You have to base this on the preceding stage in restructuring your argument. To reorder the points and eliminate redundancies and irrelevancies, besides incorporating implications and complications.

Further, work on the introductory and conclusion sections, now that you understand what you have to argue out in the text. Ensure that every paragraph begins with a topic statement, linking the paragraph’s ideas to the thesis.

  • Proofread. Here, you have to target economy and precision in language. So read the text aloud to hear the stylistic infelicities as your ear proves bound to pick up anything your eye might have missed.
  • Revision. It entails reconsidering the thesis as clarity comes from experience. You cannot expect to develop an outstanding thesis without developing a draft first. The best thesis often evolves, as it proves a product of precise and concise thinking that happens through writing. If you want to revise your work successfully, you have to bring the thesis statement into focus.
  • Revision always takes time, and most people will find themselves in a rut because of it. Regardless of how long it takes, you have to avoid shortcuts. As a result, you will reap awesome rewards for your sustained efforts, which will prove clearer, more sophisticated, and more persuasive than the initial draft.

Conclusion

Writing an essay can seem difficult for a student, though when you do it correctly, it can turn out okay. However, you have to revise it to achieve the best results, especially when you want a better essay quality and enhanced grades.

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