An Aid to Paraphrasing

Greetings again. I hope you had a good week.

As some may recall, the most recent Resource of the Week was a resource useful in learning to paraphrase. The current blog post will describe an approach helpful in paraphrasing (that is, in using one’s own words to state what others said).

I learned this approach from a researcher who is a very good writer. Both of us were speaking at a panel presentation on writing.

When trying to paraphrase, many of us tend to use wording that is too much like that of the author. Thus, we are in danger of committing plagiarism.

When we are looking at something written by someone else, it can be difficult to think of other ways to state the same ideas.

At the panel presentation, the researcher said how she avoids this problem: Before starting to write, she carefully reads the source material (for example, articles and chapters). Then she puts the source material away before writing a first draft. 

While writing, she thus isn’t looking at the source material. So she must say things in her own words.

After drafting the piece, this researcher takes out the source material again. She checks whether she has accurately said what it states, and she makes any needed corrections.

I’ve used this approach. For example, for each section of a large writing project, I first read the source material, and then I drafted the section without looking at it. Doing so helped ensure that I presented the content in my own way.

Wishing you a good week— Barbara