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Revision is NOT about tightening
up your rough draft, correction mistakes, checking spelling or
pumping up your vocabulary. It is not punishment inflicted on
you by a grammar obsessed English teacher. It is NOT the last
thing you do. All writing is revision. |
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Revision is about reassessing
what you have produced with new ideas, and making choices about
what to do next. Revision may involve changing your thesis, restructuring
the essay, or adding or deleting evidence or examples. Revision
most certainly should involve a thorough questioning of thesis,
organization and support. |
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The ingredients of a good essay
are: A first draft, a bit of distance from it to make your reading
more clear sighted (it makes you more like your reader than the
writer, permits you to see what an outside observer would notice
in the way of inconsistencies, areas that need more detail, etc.);
comments by another reader (ideally both an instructor and peers);
and your own reflective choices about how to change what you
have done into a smooth, clear, interesting paper. |
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Step-by-step guide: |
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1. |
Read without making any changes
or pauses to give yourself a sense of how your essay reads. |
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2. |
Read aloud (to yourself or to
a friend). What sounds good probably is. Note areas that sound
like they need work. |
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3. |
Ask big questions of the draft.
Ask these questions on a printed copy of your draft, or on a
separate sheet of paper. Questions to consider include: |
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A. |
Am I conveying something significant
to my readers? (Significant means: interesting, other-than-obvious.)
What job do the details I use perform? (Details in and of themselves
aren't worth much, but can convey a wealth of descriptive, emotional
and persuasive force). |
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B. |
What is my thesis? What am I
trying to prove? What's the purpose? How could I prove it or
strengthen it? |
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C. |
What are the strengths of this
draft? (You don't want to undo your best work, although you may
have to change it to fit everything else. |
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D. |
What are the weaknesses of this
draft? |
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E. |
Does this draft fulfill the requirements
of the assignment? (Always go back to compare what you've done
with what was requested) |
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F. |
Does the organization make sense?
Is it effective? |
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4.
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Start to work on major revisions.
Again, I strongly urge you to make revisions on paper, not on
the computer screen. Computers only let you see one paragraph
or so at a time, and it's easy to get lost in revisions, losing
the overall sense of the essay.
Never start your major revisions with the first paragraph. Introductions
and conclusions are the most difficult part of any essay. It
is almost always best to postpone working on them until your
last task. Think about what paragraphs, sections or examples
you might want to take out, or add to your draft. Find ways to
apply your answers to step 3, in order to improve your draft.
Do not be afraid to change things! Be messy! Significant major
revisions are a requirement for a successful essay. Don't be
afraid to radically alter your thesis. One of the most important
elements in revision is the ability to delete. Don't fall in
love with your writing too soon, Your instructor looks more favorably
on efforts to improve with thorough revising than a timid attempt
to save what you did the first time without many changes. |
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5. |
Think about the structure or
organization of the draft. Write in the margins of each paragraph
a few words summing up the main idea of the paragraph (maybe
it doesn't have one yet!) Ask yourself if your paragraphs seem
to flow logically. Make sure each paragraph has a clear main
idea. Ask yourself if any point is repeated, or never developed
or refined. |
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6. |
Enter all your changes: your
draft should be a real mess. Read your revised draft out loud
to yourself again. Make sure all the revisions flow together.
If not, go over the draft and smooth things out again. |
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7. |
If you are not satisfied with
the draft, write a paragraph to yourself about how the process
is going and go through the entire process again. Keep working
on major revisions until you are satisfied. |
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8. |
NOW move on to minor revisions.
Worry about grammar, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, tenses,
spelling, etc. Have someone else read it if possible. |
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9. |
At least one hour later, proofread
your paper. Remember that running the essay through a spell-checker
doesn't guarantee against spelling mistakes. A good trick is
to proofread backwards; start with the last sentence of the last
paragraph and work your way back to the beginning. This will
help prevent you from missing typos due to your familiarity with
your writing. |
