“Revision is not going back and fussing around, but going forward into the highly complex and satisfying process of creation.”May Sarton
In an essay titled "You Are Insane," Kim
Addonizio writes that your first draft always sucks, so
you must revise. "Think of it this way: Build a city, then blow it up
to save it."
“Re-vision
[is] the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of
entering an old
text from a new critical direction….”
―Adrienne
Rich
“Writing
it all out for the first time is painful because so
much of the writing isn’t
very good….But now I don’t mind at all
because
there’s that wonderful
time in the future when I will make
it
better, when I
can see better what I should have said and how
to change
it. I
love that part!”―Toni
Morrison
“I've
found the best
way to revise your own work is to pretend that
somebody else wrote it
and then to
rip the living shit out of it.” ― Don Roff
"All writers writer the same way:
they put something down and then have to come up
with a strategy to put something else down."
John Gallaher, Poets on
Teaching: A Sourcebook
That
we need to revise is obvious to most of us, but how to go about it is
not quite
as clear. For better or worse, the only way to revise is to do it, and
the it is a lot of work.
The
first step in revision is rereading. Reread the instructions, reread
the draft
you’ve written, and reread any feedback you’ve already received on your
work.
Then,
ask yourself these questions.
1.What’s
the take-away from this draft? What’s my ultimate purpose?
If
you can answer those questions, move on.
If
you don’t yet have a satisfactory answer, keep writing
until you do.
2.Does
each paragraph of the essay work toward the take-away/purpose you
identified in
question one?
If
yes, move on.
If
not, keep writing until they do.
3.How
do you figure this out?
Well,
you can do an outline of what you’ve already
written and see how well that outline matches your purpose.
Or,
you can title every single paragraph and
see how those connect back to your purpose.
4.Does
each paragraph or event in the essay come in the best order?
If
yes, move on.
If
no, reorder them. Strategies for working
on the organization of a text include writing the events of the essay
on
notecards and re-arranging them. Or, print a copy of the essay and cut
the
paragraphs apart into separate pieces and then rearrange them.
5.Is
there enough development/reflection/detail? Does this development
support your purpose?
If
yes, move on.
If
not, keep writing.
6.Is
there a clear introduction and conclusion?
If
yes, move on.
If
not, get busy on those.
7.Are
there sections you can delete to make what you have more concise, more
powerful?
If
yes, delete them, but don’t throw them out.
Open your rough draft on the computer and select “save as.” Then,
rename your
document as “deletedpartsnameofessay.” Close that document and re-open
the one
you were working one. Then you can delete the unnecessary bits but all
of your
old material is still there, untouched, in the other file.
Sometimes
revisions are messier than first drafts. It happens and it’s okay.
Sometimes
the entire focus of the essay changes during revision. That’s okay too.
If
you feel like the first draft was a total mess, you can always start in
a fresh
word document and refer back to old one as necessary
At
many points in the process you may need to start over at the beginning
and see additional
feedback. This is what we mean when we say that writing is
recursive—the steps
repeat and overlap as a rule.
The
Recursive Writing Process. Creator of the above image unknown.
If you find yourself in a ditch, that's normal, too.
Other
Tips for Revising
The
general purpose of all revision is to make our own writing
clear and effective. However, each writing scenario defines these
goals
differently. What is effective for one audience might fail for another.
What is
clear for one set of readers might confuse another. There are certain
strategies we can employ for revision that work for many kinds of
writing, but
ultimately what kind of revision a piece of writing needs is determined
by the
context in which the piece is being written and read. There is no one
way that
always works, but there are many possible options that might be used
effectively.
General
strategies for holistic revision
Print a hard
copy of your draft,
hand write changes you need to make on the hard copy and then sit down
at the computer to enter the changes into the draft word document.
Start fresh. Open a new
word document and at the top write your main idea/thesis statement.
Begin a new essay that reflects your main idea/thesis. We sometimes
call this a memory draft, as you’ve already written one draft, which is
in your memory, but you’re starting fresh on a new one only pulling
from the memory draft as needed. This technique is especially helpful
when, in the process of writing your rough draft, you changed your
purpose or main point. It also helps when you feel like the rough draft
is so messy you don’t know where to begin the revision.
Make a reverse
outline. To do this
you take your paper apart paragraph by paragraph and make an outline.
We call this a reverse outline because you do the outline after you’ve
written the essay. This outline can be in list or outline form and
should note every main idea and supporting points for each paragraph.
If you’re missing supporting points, this technique can show you where
you need more info. This technique is especially helpful for organizing
essays. It can also help you determine the points you want to begin
with and highlight in your conclusion.
Get feedback from others,
verbally or in writing. Use the peer workshop process to your
advantage. Have others ask you questions about your essay or ask them
questions about your revision concerns.
Have someone
else read your draft to you. Hearing your
own words through the voice of someone else, and hearing where they
stumble to make sense of your prose, can be a big help when fine
turning the sound and style of your essay.
Specific
strategies for
editing/proofreading final drafts
Learn your own
weaknesses and problem-solve those weaknesses. This requires
using a grammar and usage handbook wisely. The best thing to do is read
the handbook when you’re not working on a paper. Mark (with post-it
notes) the examples and pages that are most helpful to you, that best
represent your own problem areas. Then, when you are editing your
essays, you can easily reference the sections you need.
Revise for one
thing at a time. Read your
paper through for one kind of error or problem at a time. So, once you
would go through and only check to make sure you'd done your commas
right. Once you might look just at quotes. You get the idea. You might
check for: word choice, passive voice, subject-verb agreement,
punctuation, etc.
Read your essay
out loud. Slowly. If you read it
fast you will skip over or automatically correct the errors in your
head. By slowing it down you can catch things you didn't notice before.
Having someone else read it out loud to you is even better. You can
listen for and read for errors at the same time.
Revision ChecklistAdapted from
Jean Wyrick’s Steps to
Writing Well
Revise for
Purpose, Thesis, &
Audience
1.Do
I understand the purpose of my essay?
2.Is
my purpose reflected in my controlling idea (thesis)?
3.Do
I have a clear picture of my audience?
4.Have
I fulfilled the objectives of my assignment?
5.Did
I reread the grading criteria (rubric)?
Revise for
Ideas & Evidence
6.Is
there a clear relationship between my controlling idea (thesis) and the
major
points presented in my essay?
7.Did
I write myself into a new or slightly different position as I drafted
this
essay? Do I need to modify my working thesis to reflect this new
position?
8.Have
I given my readers sufficient background on this topic?
9.Have
I been specific with my examples and support?
Revise for
Organization
10.Are
my major points ordered in a logical, easy-to-follow pattern?
11.Is
there a smooth flow between my major ideas? Have I used transitions
effectively?
12.Are
parts of my essay out of proportion? Too long or too brief to do their
job
effectively?
Revise for
Clarity & Style
13.Are
my sentences as clear and precise as could be for readers who do not
share my
perspective?
14.Are
there any sentences that are unnecessarily wordy?
15.Can
I clarify and energize my writing by adding “showing” details and by
replacing
bland, vague words with vivid, specific ones? By using active verbs
rather than
passive ones?
16.Can
I eliminate any pretentious or unnecessary jargon or language that’s
inappropriate for my audience? Replace clichés and trite expressions
with
fresh, original phrases?
