You may be very well acquainted with all the rules of good essay writing. You know how to find the best topic, how to avoid stylistic mistakes, but your essay is still not perfect. In order to create a really impressive essay, you must pay great attention to editing. So check out below some of the most common editing & style mistakes and how to avoid these:
Overuse of Adjectives & Crowded Topics
Many people believe that using all those fancy adjectives is a good thing. However, filling your essay with words such as “excellent”, “beautiful”, “amazing”, “brilliant”…will only crowd your text and you will miss the point. Instead of overusing all those adjectives, try to use common words and phrases to describe a person or a situation. You will make the essay much easier on the eyes, and you will avoid making your essay sound like a huge praise filled with some fancy words. You will add more value to your essay.
Then, stay away from using too many topics within your essay. Firstly, you will not have the ‘space’ to develop all these topics enough and secondly, you will only complicate the entire paper. Instead, focus on one or two main topics, and work on developing them well enough to draw powerful conclusions. Again, your paper will gain more value and it will become less crowded.
Passive Sentences & Run-on Sentences
You should definitely stay away from these two mistakes throughout your essay. A run on sentence will make the reader get lost in your text. He is not able to understand well your point, because the sentence is incredibly long. Instead, make sure to check a grammar book and place all the important commas within your sentences. Let people read a beautifully exposed essay with clear and concise sentences.
Also avoid using passive voice in your sentences. This will only lead to the creation of very awkward sounding text. Instead of saying “The pizza was eaten by Jim”, use “Jim ate the pizza”. It sounds better, it is less complicated and much more correct. Now read your entire essay, and revert all passive sentences to active voice.
Avoid Plagiarism at All Costs
Before handing in your essay, you must make 100% sure that your essay is free of plagiarism. Ensure to cite all your sources properly at the end of your essay. Never use the words of someone else within your text without citing the source. That is called plagiarism. You are allowed to rephrase and put in your own words something that has been said by Charles Dickens for example. However, on the last page or within a parenthesis at the end of your sentence you will cite the reference.
Check out online free MLA and APA style guides to learn the basics of citing your sources correctly. This way, you will avoid plagiarism and you will hand in an essay that is 100% unique and creative and which will bring you a good grade.
Author’s Bio: John Wilson is an educator, an essayist and a professional review writer on essay writing service – EssayWolves.com. He provides educational assistance to students and helps them achieve success in their studies.