We’ve all been there: it’s 11pm and your essay is due tomorrow morning, but you want to finish it before heading to bed. You may be tempted to overthink it by adding unnecessary information or quickly scan it to catch any final mistakes. Thankfully, there are four more effective ways to improve your essay at the last minute:
Read it out loud—or even better, have someone else read it to you. This does wonders for uncovering any glaring grammatical errors or awkward phrasings. Another human is the ideal option, but there are computer programs, both free and paid versions, that can also perform this function. Alternatively, if you can’t find someone else to read your essay and your eyes are glazing over because you’ve read it too many times to see the problems, it may help to record yourself reading the essay, and then listen to the recording as you edit. Here’s a tip to ensure that the recording copies your essay verbatim: focus on recording the exact words, rather than their meanings. You will likely catch multiple errors in the recording process alone.
Check the overall structure of your essay:
Does your introduction contain an unambiguous thesis statement that provides the structure for your essay? In other words, have you presented your argument clearly and methodically, avoiding rabbit trails (i.e., discussing topics that are unrelated to proving your thesis)?
Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence, and are transitional words and phrases used appropriately throughout your essay?
Is your concluding paragraph too similar to your introductory paragraph, or does it summarize your essay in a fresh and thoughtful way?
Remove any contractions, slang, idioms, and colloquial (i.e., informal) expressions. It’s best to avoid these in formal, academic writing, which requires clarity and concision. Ensuring that your language is formal without straying into unreadable territory with flowery or ambiguous phrasings is one of the best ways of catching (and keeping) the attention of an academic reader. A good writer keeps the audience in mind during the composition process.
Send your essay to an editor for a final proofread. Depending on the length of your essay and the amount of time remaining before the deadline, this is a great option to ensure that the final version is error-free. If you have a morning deadline and your editor is available, you could even head to bed for the night or catch a few hours of sleep while your essay is carefully proofread. This service is great for a writer on a tight deadline since it requires little to no commenting; once you’ve received the proofread copy and reviewed the changes, you should be ready to hand in your essay!
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