Leave time in your writing schedule for revising your paper. Before writing your final draft, put the paper aside for a day or two (another reason to leave time) and then reread it. This way, you will gain a fresh perspective and may detect weaknesses that you hadn’t noticed before.

A rough draft always needs smoothing out. As you reread your paper, ask these questions:

• Does the paper have thematic unity, and do its parts clearly follow on another?
• Is there adequate support for the major claims and interpretations?
• Are the points made clearly and convincingly?

While you examine the overall structure of the paper for defects, you also need to look closely at the language itself. If you have repeated yourself, eliminate the repetition; if you have included material that is unrelated to your theme, discard it. Check the connections between paragraphs to see if the reader can follow your argument. Make sure that you accomplish what you set out to do in your introduction and that your conclusion makes it clear that you have done so. Go over the footnotes or endnotes and the bibliography to check style and accuracy.

Finally, examine your writing for errors in spelling and grammar. Proofread carefully and slowly. At normal reading speed your eyes can go right by major errors. You are so familiar with your paper that you may not see what is on the page. Reading your paper aloud will help you catch unclear phrases. Showing it to a friend will let you know where your readers might have problems.