How to Write Great Essays

HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS

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reader into the scene (see Chapter 2 for a review of pinpointing, or replacing vague lan-
guage with words and phrases that are more specific).
Some of my earliest memories are of sitting behind the counter in my family’s feed
store. I would listen to the ring of the cash register, and watch as my mother care-
fully entered the sale in a large book. I became fascinated with the rows of num-
bers—a fascination that continues to this day as I plan a career in accounting.
The goal of editing is to make certain your essay works well on the sentence and word
level. By checking and correcting your writing this closely, you will eliminate words and phrases
that don’t work, as well as unnecessary verb tense shifts, and confusing pronoun usage. Your
writing will be fresh, original, and clear, and there will be enough variation to keep your
audience interested.
STYLE GUIDES
Writers and editors use style guides to help maintain consistency, and to conform to
formatting standards. These guides explain everything from how to write a bibliogra-
phy to how to indent paragraphs and when to use commas. The three most popular
and frequently used style guides are the MLA (Modern Language Association),
Chicago Manual of Style, and APA (American Psychological Association). If you have
not been directed to use one of these guides (or a similar one), you may consult one
to answer any style questions that come up during the editing process.
In addition to using existing style guides, some writers and editors create their own
style sheets that are specific to the project they are working on. These sheets are sim-
ply lists of key words and phrases that are repeated in the writing. For instance, if your
essay is about former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, you want to be sure
you spell her name correctly each time it appears. Including it on a style guide gives
you an easy reference.
You might also include the following on a style sheet:
◆ specific grammar points
◆ spellings
◆ abbreviations
◆ dates
◆ references
◆ weights and measures

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