Editing for content

byThandinkosi

502 followers

10 years ago

Here's a breakdown of what you should look for when editing for content:

1. An interesting opening paragraph that engages the reader and states your main idea.

2. Coherence. Are your arguments and conclusions logical?

3. Does each paragraph have a topic sentence?

4. Include definitions for terms that might not be understood by the reader.

5. Consistency. Do you remain focused on your main idea, or thesis? Are there areas where you've gone on tangents, or made points that contradict your thesis?

6. Fact-checking. Have you made unsupportable claims? Are there areas that need outside sources and evidence? If so, you'll need to put more time into your research.

7. Citations for quotes and paraphrases. Any material borrowed from an outside source should include an in-text citation in the formatting style required by your professor.

8. Over-use of quotes and paraphrases. Essays that include research and peer-reviewed articles as evidence should not be overwhelmed by the quotes and ideas of your sources. Your instructor might have a preference for how much of your paper can consist of outside sources, but generally it should not be more than 20%.