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Step 9 - Find Additional Sources/Revise and Rewrite

Revising your paper involves more than just finding grammatical errors. It includes adding words, sentences or whole sections to your paper to elaborate or clarify ideas; editing out any unneeded information; even moving ideas around into different sections to find a better flow to your paper.

Give yourself sufficient time

• Before starting this step spend some time away from your rough draft. When you return you will have a fresh perspective on it.
• Give yourself enough time for a few rounds of revisions of your paper.

Become your own editor

You cannot rely on just a word processor to find all of the errors.

Editing your paper will strengthen your work because only you know what you are trying to say. It can be difficult to edit your own work, but here is one idea of how to do it.

Read your paper backwards! Turn to the last page of your paper and read the last sentence aloud. Once you have grammatically fixed it, read the second to last sentence, then the third, etc. This separates each sentence from the whole paragraph. Ask yourself questions:

• Does the sentence make sense alone?
• Who or what are the "he", "she", or "it" in that sentence? (Make sure there are not too many pronouns that might create confusion)
• Where do I usually make errors? What have previous instructors said about my papers?

Once you are finished with a whole paragraph, read it out loud to yourself to make sure it flows smoothly.

Get an outside perspective

Let someone else critique your paper for another point of view. They may find any grammatical errors you overlooked. The Writing Center is a great place to find an editor. You can choose face-to-face peer editing or you can submit your paper online.

Checklist

If any of these points is not checked off after working on your paper you might want to go back to Steps 4, 5, & 6 to retrieve more sources.

• Do you have the number of sources required?
• Is it the proper length?
• Does it include the required types of sources (e.g. primary source materials, peer -reviewed journal articles, appropriate websites, etc.)

Types of papers

• Analytical
  • Did you write about all points found in the research?
  • Are there any holes in your research?
  • Did you put enough of your perspective into each point of the topic?
• Argumentative / Persuasive
  • Did you take a strong stand on the issue?
  • Did you find sufficient evidence to support your side?
  • Is your thesis statement clear and does it pull together your whole paper?
  • Did you put your opinion into every point of the topic?
• Expository (explanatory)
  • Did you clearly explain the whole topic?
  • Did you find enough research to explain the topic from beginning to end?
• Scientific Report
  • Did you include a clear hypothesis statement that is testable (one thing relates or is influenced by another)?
  • Did you write about the experiment?
  • Have you included all previous research found in your literature review?
  • Are your results and conclusions separate from each other?
• Personal narrative
  • Does your narrative flow smoothly without gaps in the story?
• Thesis statement
  • Have you written a clear statement?
  • Do you need sources (such as a book on thesis statements) to help you write a proper statement?
• Other questions to ask yourself
  • Did you find any new words you might want to use to search?
  • Are there other places to search that you have not tried?
  • What did the Writing Center say about grammatical weaknesses in your paper? (There are grammar resources in the library that can help guide you.)
  • Did you ask the Reference Librarian for additional help?