SUGGESTIONS FOR REVISING AND EDITING ESSAYS 
The following suggestions reflect some of the most common pitfalls of college writing. Some of them are obvious, while others you may not always consider. All of them, however, go toward establishing the credibility of your essay. As the heading indicates, they are only brief suggestions, and cannot take the place of a thorough understanding of good writing principles. Following these guidelines will not ensure that you earn the grade you want on your essay, but if you set aside some time to use them as a checklist before handing in your paper, the likelihood of making a better grade is greatly increased.
 

• Follow all the requirements concerning format and length and submission requirements as they appear under Class Policies to avoid losing points.
• Hand your essay in on time. If you hand your paper in after I collect everyone's essays, it loses points.
• Proofread your essay for word-processing errors such as duplications of words or extra / needed spacing between words.
• Check the spelling of your finished work using your WP program. Now go to a college dictionary and look up every word in your essay that you are not absolutely certain has been used correctly. Many homonyms are commonly confused, and word-processers usually do not recognize these errors. Some of the most obvious include the following: its / it's, their / there, to / too, affect / effect, accept / except, and so on.
• For the most part, avoid beginning your sentences with "it" or "there." Beginning a sentence in this fashion often reflects repetition, carelessness, and lack of revision in an essay.
• Unless otherwise specified, write using a formal or semi-formal tone. The register, or level of formality, should be appropriate for the essay's purpose and audience. This means that you want to avoid slang, regionalisms, and colloquial or cliched language.
• Cut words and phrases from your essay that are not needed to develop a thought. Of course you want to be specific, but you also want to be concise. A good way to begin cutting dead wood from your writing is to look for words we often use in our informal, everyday speech patterns but that do not belong in essays when used unconsciously. Some examples include "basically," "really," "definitely," totally," "a lot," and "thing(s)."
• Avoid using "etc." to conclude a sentence. "Etc." is the abbreviated form of et cetera, meaning "and other things." However, the contemporary college use of the term often means "I can't think of another example to add to this list so this is how I will stop."
• When you use a direct quotation, attach it to your own writing in some way. Do not let it stand alone in the middle of the paragraph. Try to vary the patterns you use when integrating your direct quotations.
• Within the framework of the assignment, choose a topic or approach that you think is original. That way, your essay is less likely to be judged against twenty other papers on the same subject.
• If the essay treats literature, be certain that your thesis forces you to analyze the work in some way rather than merely summarizing events.
• Always use specific references and direct quotations to support your work, but when writing an essay of two or three pages, do not cite passages in lengthy block quotations without a very good reason. In fact, avoid over-quoting sources in any manner. Your instructor wants to see that you can use sources judiciously, not merely that you can use sources.
• Avoid referring to your own essay: "This essay will try to accomplish three things."
• Avoid  making general, unsupported statements that do not progress your line of reasoning.
• Do not title your essay "Essay #1" or "A Rose for Emily" or "Essay on A Rose for Emily." Give your title some thought. After all, it is the first aspect of the content of your essay that your instructor evaluates.
• Conclude in a manner that does more than simply repeats what you said in the introduction. Give your conclusion some thought. After all, it is the last aspect of the content of your essay that your instructor evaluates.
• When writing a timed in-class essay, use all (or at least most) of the time you are allotted. If you write for twenty minutes and then decide that you are finished, you may want to reconsider. I understand that people work at different paces, but please remember that I evaluate your essays against one another. The purpose of an in-class essay is to respond as thoroughly and specifically as you can within the time you are given. It's your chance to tell me what you've learned and show me how you are able to apply it to a particular writing topic.