Paper Writing

In his novel, How to Become a Straight-A Student, Cal Newport describes strategies for editing papers. He tells us, “Begin to read your paper out loud. Don’t cheat. Use a strong voice and articulate every word… the goal of this pass is to root out small mistakes that might otherwise distract a reader from your engaging thesis” (Newport 193). Using this simple strategy suggested by Newport, I was able to identify grammatical errors and adjust sentences that were unclear that I failed to notice while reading in my head. While reading in my head, my subconscious tends to patch over mistakes, and I don’t notice these mistakes until I read my paper out loud. Newport also states that you should write in quiet isolation to maximize your productivity (Newport 188). I followed through with his advice and found that while writing in my room, I was much more productive than I was writing in the living room. I found that in a silent environment, I was able to formulate ideas more quickly and efficiently. What are your strategies for writing and editing essays?

Newport, Cal. How to Become a Straight-A Student. New York: Broadway, 2007. Print.