The following article details how to edit an English essay in the best ways.

First of all, make use of your computer software’s spell-checker. Secondly, use the appropriate style guide or manual to ensure your citations and references are formatted correctly. Finally, consider enlisting the help of a qualified editor from a professional editing service, such as FirstEditing.com.

Whether you’re in high school, community college, or university, at some point, you will be forced to write and edit an English essay. While some students cringe at the thought, there are ways of making the process a little less painful.

Once you have your content written, you’ve done the hard part. Now comes the polish! Read on to discover three of the best tips on how to edit English essays.

Spell-check Your English Essay

First, always make sure you take advantage of your computer software’s built-in spell-checker. A spell-checker comes in handy, especially when there are certain words you often misspell.

However, the spell-checker will not always show you how to correct errors involving context. For example, Microsoft Word’s spell-checker says the following sentence is A-okay:

Their coming too sea if its reel.

Obviously, this should read:

They’re coming to see if it’s real.

So you still need to be the final judge of what you are writing; however, a spell-checker can be a big help in flagging not only spelling errors but mistakes in grammar as well.

Style Guides

After you have your content, spelling, and grammar down, take a look at your citations and references and the overall formatting of your paper. For example, most English essays follow MLA style and formatting specifications.

On the other hand, if you have written a comprehensive undergraduate paper, you will probably be safe following the basic rules of Turabian style.

If your professor or teacher requires MLA, make sure you have the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing to double check the manner in which you cite your sources. For Turabian, have A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations handy.

Lastly, if you are not 100 percent confident in grammar, spelling, or citing sources, consider enlisting the help of a professional editor. Editors cannot only double-check your grammatical and mechanical errors, but also give you tips on how to perfect your content, flow, and organization.

If it’s an important paper and you want to ensure a high grade, a professional editing service can take your document from great to perfect!

To sum up, to properly edit an English essay, make use of your computer’s spell-checking software, follow the correct citation/formatting guidelines, and consider hiring an editor for professional editing services. Good luck, and happy editing!

How to Edit an English Essay

The following advice from a professional editor discusses four important steps to editing an English Essay: Use your computer’s spell-check program, make sure you cite your sources correctly, format your paper according to your professor’s preferred style guide, and enlist the services of a professional English essay editor.

Are you worried about submitting an excellent English essay to your professor? Not sure whether you’ve edited and formatted it correctly?

Well, have no fear! I am a professional editor and here to provide you with some sound advice on how to polish your paper to ensure that A+!

How to Edit an English Essay – Use Your spell-checker

First of all, take advantage of your computer’s spell-check program when you do your initial edit. Although this is computerized and therefore fallible, it is an excellent starting point for reducing the number of spelling errors in your document. For example, it will take the following sentence:

Shakespere’s Hamlet is one of the most farmiliar works of Renaisance litrature

And recommend you change it to the following:

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most familiar works of Renaissance literature.

Trust me; this will save you A LOT of grief, and you won’t be forced to explain to your English professor why you couldn’t be bothered to check one of the essential elements of the English language.

Citations

Secondly, always make sure to cite the sources of your essay and know how to cite them correctly. If you don’t cite at all, you are putting yourself at a huge risk of being accused of plagiarism, even if you do paraphrase and include a reference list.

Failure to properly cite your research can result in serious academic sanctions or even expulsion from a university.

Formatting

Third, once you edit for spelling and grammar and you’re certain you’ve given your sources their proper credit, make sure the entire paper is formatted correctly.

For example, many professors in the humanities (i.e., English, History, Philosophy, etc.) require papers to be written using MLA style. Professors in the social sciences (i.e., Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, etc.) typically request that articles be written using APA style.

Always ask your professor if he/she prefers a particular style. They can be somewhat finicky, and you don’t want to lose valuable points on your grade for something as minor as formatting!

If you’ve followed the three steps listed above, you can be fairly confident that you’ll have a nicely formatted and readable paper. However, it can never hurt to get help from a professional editor. First of all, spell-check does not correct for all errors and can’t tell you that the following sentence is completely wrong:

Eye halve a spelling checker; it came with my pea sea.

Plus, a professional editor can edit your grammar as well as the content and quality of your essay and make sure that you’ve formatted everything correctly.

Professional Help Editing an English Essay

No matter how advanced computers have become, they still don’t know how to tell the difference between language that makes sense and language that is complete gobbledygook. There is no substitute for another set of (human) eyes!

So there you have it! Always use spell-check, don’t forget to cite your sources, make sure you format the paper correctly and consider enlisting the help of a professional editor. Good luck, and happy writing!