How To Snatch Victory From The Jaws Of Disastrous Writing
You spent the last week working on your planning and drafting stages, putting your best effort into it. Now, you’re editing your work and – oh my God – it sucks. You can try using an English writing assistant, but if your piece is flawed in structure and content, it’s not likely to be of much help. What are you gonna do?
Every writer worth the eye bags from his all-nighters has been there, so don’t worry. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, all that hard work manages to produce nothing but a dud. It’s part of life.
When you chance upon such an unfortunate predicament, there are two general ways to go: start from the beginning or rescue what you can. Obviously, if you’re pressed for time, the latter is your only likely option.
Evaluate your writing organization. Did you present things in a timeline, order of importance or some other form of organization? How would it look if you rearranged the presentation using a different approach? It could drastically change everything.
Evaluate your arguments. Do your supporting arguments hold enough water to successfully carry the piece? Are you hanging your central ideas on weak mounts? Return to your outline and see how you can improve it. A new paragraph that ties everything better may be all you need.
Evaluate your main point. Is it clear enough for the reader? More importantly, is it clear enough to you? Try detaching yourself from the work and put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Will you get the point based on what’s written alone? If not, you may want to either simplify it or expound on your reasoning further.
Evaluate your overall impact. Do your strongest materials appear up top? Most people will read the beginning of your piece and decide whether to proceed. If your best paragraph is nowhere near the top, there’s a good chance they’ll never get to it. Similarly, look to end strong, as it will help leave a more lasting impression.