Would you like to learn a simple tip on how to write a good, no, outstanding term paper? Write your paper all the way through and then… edit your term paper carefully. In fact, it helps to have someone you trust edit a term paper for you. If that is not possible, here are some guidelines to editing your own term paper. First, put the completed term paper aside for at least 24 hours. It’s common for students to wait until the last moment to write a term paper so it’s important to remember that you will need an additional 24 hours to prepare you to edit. You will need to edit your paper for four different issues: spelling, grammar, writing style, and presentation.
In this day and age, there should be no excuses for misspelled words. With the exception of basic text editors, all word processors (MS Word, AmiPro, Pages, WordPerfect) have spell checkers. You will still have to be careful that you selected the correct version of the word you are using, for example, there – is a location and their – is a possessive pronoun. Most word processors also have grammar checkers. After you have run both your spell checker and grammar checker, the next step is to read the entire essay aloud. You will be surprised at the mistakes you will catch by using this method. Next, check your paper for style, if you were assigned a persuasive term paper – did you persuade the reader? Or did you merely inform the reader? Are your quotes followed by the proper citation styles? Did you talk in the past in one sentence and then speak in the present in the next?
Take the time to check the presentation, use the page setup to ensure your margins are correctly set. Use the Format features to indent your paragraphs and space your lines apart correctly. Another tip to check your paper, change the view (or Zoom) to multiple pages (choose to display all the pages – unless you have more than eight pages). This helps you identify missing indentations or have too many (or not enough) spaces between lines. Some of these tips may sound a little picky, while most people don’t consciously look for mistakes, they do see them and a little distraction can lose a lot of comprehension.
