The ability to paraphrase is a highly coveted skill in today’s economy. If you can turn someone else’s words into something original and memorable, it can add tremendous value and elevate your work substantially. 

But how do you actually paraphrase like a pro? What does it take? 

That’s the purpose of this guide. Whether you are summarizing an article or rewriting one from the ground up, this article will help. 

Grasp The Core Idea

The first step is to grasp the core idea presented in the text. Consigning this to your working memory allows you to play with it and put it into new words, designed for the new audience. 

For example, let’s say that you want to paraphrase the findings of a research article in a blog format that provides friendlier reading for users. First, you’d read the segment of the article you want to paraphrase, spend some time digesting it, and then put it into new words that appeal to readers. 

Rearrange Sentences

To avoid claims of plagiarism, you’ll want to rearrange sentences and, preferably, add corroborative information from elsewhere. Putting together multiple sources based around the same topic reduces claims of “spun” content, where you simply take someone else’s blog and put it into new words. 

Rearranging sentences can also help with understanding. If you think you can introduce audiences to a topic with a shallower learning curve, then it is a good idea to do so. For example, you could begin with a basic outline of a subject and then explain its significance in more depth. 

Incorporate Your Voice

Adding your personal tone or style to the content is also a great idea. This way, your readers know it is you who is adopting the narrative voice, not the person who wrote the original text you’re using to paraphrase. 

Again, this strategy reduces the risk of being accused of plagiarism. Adding elements that make it distinctly “you” almost always works and throws even the harshest editors and critics off the scent. While the core ideas might be the same, those aren’t copyright (and never can be unless under some other restriction, like an NDA). 

Use Paraphrasing Tools Wisely

You can, of course, use various paraphrasing tools these days, like Grammarly or Quillbot. These keep the essence of the message, but write it in a different way to avoid plagiarism. 

However, it isn’t a good idea to rely on these exclusively. While they can be helpful, they are also prone to AI detectors, which will flag them automatically most of the time. 

You should also check that these bots don’t change the original meaning (which is something that they often do). Many of these tools can’t tell fact from fiction, which is why they haven’t seen wider adoption in writing and marketing more generally. 

Compare And Revise

During the paraphrasing process, it helps to compare and revise. Checking if your version is similar to the original is essential. You want to check that you’ve retained the meaning and that it all makes sense within the wider context. 

Paraphrasing is difficult for this reason, because you have to do so many things at the same time. Not only do you have to understand the original text, but you also have to have a feel for the context in which it is being used and whether it makes sense to lead with it into the next topic. 

Paraphrase Ethically

During the paraphrasing process, you should also be ethical. You want to ensure that you are following all the standard rules of conduct. 

Remember, the goal of paraphrasing isn’t to disguise another person’s work as your own. Instead, it is about communicating their ideas in your words (without quoting them directly). 

The problem is that a lot of writers believe that simply using synonyms and similar idioms is enough to avoid accusations of plagiarism. However, that’s not the case. If another writer has written about something specifically and it is their ideas, paraphrasing and passing them off as yours is unethical and against standard writing practices. 

The easy way around this is to simply cite them in the writing or provide a link if posting online, mentioning their name. This gets around the issue that you are trying to pass their ideas off as yours while also reducing accusations of plagiarism substantially. 

Overall, paraphrasing is challenging, but with a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it. It’s all about being as fair and as original as you can be.