The Best Peer Editing Tips for Beginners
Anyone dealing with literature, journalism, or science cannot do without an editor. And we aren’t just talking about revising — to make your writing perfect, you should consider getting peer editing help. This is a crucial component of the writing process for students wishing to attain advanced essay writing skills. Though peer reviewing can make you feel a little uncomfortable (after all, it isn’t easy to expose your brainchild to critique), it’s nothing to be afraid of because it can make your paper better.
What is a “peer review”?
There’s an obvious difference between peer reviewing and self-editing: peer reviewing means handing your essay over to a trustworthy person (family member, mentor, friend, classmate or — in case of an academic paper — editorial board), who can check it thoroughly and provide feedback afterward. This can make you expose yourself to criticism, but you should always be ready to accept the corrections to enhance the quality of your writing (see “100 Ways to Improve Your Writing” by Gary Provost; ““How To Write Any High School Essay: The Essential Guide” by Jesse Liebman).
Why is it so important?
A new perspective opens up at this stage of editing. Impartial assessment makes the prospects of writing clearer and sharper. Two heads are better than one: the second set of eyes can spot mistakes you may have overlooked, as well as issues and arguments you didn’t even think about. A professional peer editor should be familiar with the topic of your essay, while their extensive experience should make them qualified to edit your writing.
Peer editing isn’t only about criticizing, but also providing positive feedback. Mechanical, grammar, and stylistic errors are just as easy to detect as plankton floating on the water surface. Good peer editors are able to show you opportunities for improvement — all you need to do is follow their recommendations!
Sounds promising, right? The value of peer editing reveals the extreme importance of this stage of essay writing. Sad but true — lots of students give up editing for many reasons. This may be either due to lack of time or other duties and responsibilities. Some students may have no clue about the research topic or consider it too dull to explore. Here is what our essay editing service at buy-cheapessay.com can assist you with: professional editors and writing experts can take the proofreading burden off your shoulders and edit your essay as quickly as possible.
The issue of procrastination can be efficiently solved by your own means. The following guidelines will help you peer edit any essay in a high-quality and speedy way and get an A+ grade.
Peer editing guide
STRUCTURE
● Introduction
- Starts with a “hook” (or “lead”) that draws the reader’s attention.
- Has at least 3 sentences.
- Ends with a clear thesis statement.
● Body
- Has at least 3 body paragraphs.
- Each paragraph includes a topic sentence, at least 3 main ideas, a conclusion sentence.
● Conclusion
- Has at least 3 sentences.
- Reformulates the thesis statement.
- Answers “So what?” question or makes a generalization.
COHERENCE
- The ideas make sense and flow logically.
- Transitions are used appropriately.
- There are no unnecessary parts.
- The essay is engaging and interesting to read.
CONTENT
- Every single part of the essay serves the thesis statement.
- Sufficient evidentiary base for each body paragraph.
- Perfect word choice.
- Diverse sentence structure.
GRAMMAR CHECK
- Misspelled words and typos.
- Grammatical mistakes.
- Punctuation errors.
The aim of peer editing isn’t only criticizing, but also providing the positive notes so as not to pour cold water on your writing aspirations. Peer editing is a good chance to correct all the big and small mistakes, and express your critical opinion in the most suitable words, making your essay the best it can be.
