4.5 Revising
This is the step in which you are likely to spend the majority of your time. This section is different from simply editing and proofreading because you are looking for larger context issues; for example, this is when you need to check your topic sentences and transitions, make sure each claim matches the thesis statement, and so on. The revision portion of the writing process is also where you will need to make sure all of your paragraphs are fully developed as appropriate for the assignment. If you need to have outside sources present, this is when you will make sure that all are working properly together.
You may think that a completed first draft means little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revision.
Understanding the Purpose of Revising
Revision means to “re-see” the piece of writing. It isn’t proofreading your paper or correcting grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. Revision is stepping back and looking at your paper as a whole and seeing if you are effectively saying what you intend to say. It is giving your paper a thorough look to see how you can make it stronger. Your goal should always be to write clearly, concisely, and in an engaging way. When you revise, you take a second look at your ideas. You might add, cut, move, or change information to make your ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing.
In other words, revising is about the bigger picture and ideas.
At any point in this step, you might ask others to review your work. This process would be called a peer review, and it is often a practice completed in English Composition courses. When it works, both giving and receiving peer feedback can be a great learning opportunity. If you look at other people’s work in progress, you undoubtedly get some ideas about how you could do something different or better in your draft.
How do you get the best out of your revisions? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them over this semester; then keep using the ones that bring results.
- Take a break. You are proud of what you wrote, but you might be too close to it to make changes. Set aside your writing for a few hours or even a day until you can look at it objectively.
- If you don’t have time for this step, reread chapter 1!
- Peer review! Ask someone you trust for feedback and constructive criticism.
- Pretend you are one of your readers. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied? Why?
- Use the resources that your college provides. Find out where your school’s writing lab is located and ask about the assistance they provide online and in person.
Creating Unity and Coherence
Following your outline closely offers you a reasonable guarantee that your writing will stay on purpose and not drift away from the controlling idea. However, when writers are rushed, tired, or cannot find the right words, their writing may become less than they want it to be. Their writing may no longer be clear and concise, and they may be adding information that is not needed to develop the main idea.
When a piece of writing has unity, all the ideas in each paragraph and the entire essay belong and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense. When the writing has coherence, the ideas flow smoothly. The wording indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph.
Completing a Peer Review
After working so closely with a piece of writing, writers often need to step back and ask for a more objective reader. What writers most need is feedback from readers who can respond only to the words on the page. When they are ready, writers show their drafts to someone they respect and who can give an honest response about their strengths and weaknesses.
You, too, can ask a peer to read your draft when it is ready. After evaluating the feedback and assessing what is most helpful, the reader’s feedback will help you when you revise your draft. This process is called peer review.
You can work with a partner in your class and identify specific ways to strengthen each other’s essays. Although you may be uncomfortable sharing your writing at first, remember that each writer is working toward the same goal: a final draft that fits the audience and the purpose. Maintaining a positive attitude when providing feedback will put you and your partner at ease. The box that follows provides a useful framework for the peer review session.
It may not be necessary to incorporate every recommendation your peer reviewer makes. However, if you start to observe a pattern in the responses you receive from peer reviewers, you might want to consider that feedback in future assignments. For example, if you read consistent comments about a need for more research, then you may want to consider including more research in future assignments.
What you should do in the Revision
- Review your main point and supporting information – Is the point held consistently throughout the text, or does it wander at any point? Making a list of each point will help you analyze. Each paragraph should address one key point, and all paragraphs should relate to the text’s central idea.
- Carefully consider all feedback – Based on that feedback from readers—peer reviewers, tutors, your instructor, friends, etc., where can you make your essay more reader-friendly? Where does it need more effort and focus?
- Revisit the assignment sheet – If there are evaluation criteria, use them to evaluate your own draft. Identify in the paper where you are adhering to those criteria and where you feel like you still need work.
- Consider your sources – Are you engaging with required source materials as much or as deeply as you need to be? Would your paper be stronger if you reread the sources another time to better understand them? Do you need more source support in the paper? Do you need to enhance your source integration (signal phrases, citations)?
- Visit the Writing Center– It never hurts to have an objective pair of eyes look over your work. Bring the assignment sheet with you so that the Learning Center tutors can see what the instructor’s requirements for the assignment are. Communicate to the tutor about your key areas of concern or areas of focus.
- Read your paper aloud – slowly – This can help you to hear any missing words or components. We often miss things when we only read because we read so quickly.
- Ask for instructor feedback – If you have questions about any specific area of your paper or your argument in general, talk to your professor and ask for some guidance. It is best to visit office hours or schedule an appointment with your professor several days before the due date of the essay.
Attributions
The Writing Textbook by Josh Woods, editor, and contributor, as well as an unnamed author (by request from the original publisher), and other authors named separately is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
This chapter has additions, edits, and organization by James Charles Devlin.
