RevisionRevision

Revision in the Writing Process Although Donald Murray (1982) argues that writing is rewriting, students often see revision not as an opportunity to develop and improve a piece of writing but as an indication that they have failed to do it right the first time. To them, revision means correction. Revision, however, is the heart of the writing process – the means by which ideas emerge and evolve and meanings are clarified. Here's some information that can help in changing students from "correctors" to "revisers."

What is revision? Revision is often defined as the last stage in the writing process (prewriting, writing, and revision). Sommers (1982), on the other hand, sees revision as "a process of making changes throughout the writing of a draft, changes that work to make the draft congruent with a writer's changing intentions."

How much do students revise? For the novice writer, however, revision appears to be synonymous with editing or proofreading. An NAEP (1977) study found that students' efforts at revision in grades 4, 8, and 11 were devoted to changing spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Students seldom made more global changes, such as starting over, rewriting most of a paper, adding or deleting parts of the paper, or adding or deleting ideas (Applebee, et al., 1986).

THE BIG PICTURE 1.Look at the first draft in terms of larger, abstract qualities: –Is the original purpose of the writing fulfilled? –Does the writing cover the required material? - Has the writing addressed the specific audience? - Does the overall structure seem sensible in terms of your intentions? - Is your sense of authority over the topic clear?

FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT Does the main idea of the paper have enough supporting material? Does the supporting materials relate logically to the main idea?

FOCUS ON STRUCTURE Is there a controlling idea that can be traced through the writing? Does your lead into the paper create interest and focus? Do individual paragraphs link to the controlling idea? Do individual paragraphs have clear topic sentences? Does the ending provide a sense of wrapping up ideas?

FOCUS ON SENTENCE STRUCTURE Are sentences clear? Does the word order in sentences seem logical? Are verbs usually in the active voice? Does word choice seem sensible for the purpose and audience?

EDITING STRATEGIES Screen for spelling, agreement, pronoun, fragment, and modification errors. Check for mechanics (capitalization and punctuation) and documentation format. Edit for language-level issues in style, usage, and syntax/word order.

Other editing suggestions Read the entire paper aloud, or have someone else read it aloud. Read the assignment backward. Have a friend read the assignment in this way: read the first paragraph and explain its point and how the point was made; read the rest of the assignment and make a list of places that seemed confusing and why; what counterarguments or criticism could be made of the assignment’s ideas?

EDITING CHECKLIST 1. Check that all run-on and sentence fragments have been corrected. 2. Spell check! Check at least twice. Once with your computer’s spell check and once with a pair of eyes. Spell check won’t find mistakes if you’ve used the word there/their/they’re incorrectly. It is the same with one/won, your/you’re, first/fist… you get the point? CHECK THE SPELLING OF EVERYTHING! 3. Put proper punctuation in its place. If you remember the four types of sentences, it should help you with this. a. DECLARATIVE (.) b. IMPERATIVE (.) c. INTERROGATIVE (?) d. EXCLAMATORY (!) 4. Always look for missing words. These are not always easy to find. We often read so fast, we skip over words that may be missing, especially if the words are not important to the topic like “the” or “and”. 5. Capitalize all proper nouns and words that begin sentences. If you aren’t sure if it should be capitalized or not, look it up! 6. Be aware of your tenses. Are you writing in the past, present or future tense? It is safe to say that if you are writing a biography on Abe Lincoln, you won’t be using the future tense and you’d only use the present tense if you are connecting his life to what is going on today. 7. Be neat and organized. If you keep your thoughts and notes organized as you work, your essay will almost always come out organized, too. If you don’t have the neatest handwriting, type your essay or at least skip lines when writing. It makes it easier to read what you’ve written. Also, keep your finished work in a folder so it doesn’t crumple or tear. Neatness proves you care about your work and your grades will reflect that.

REVISION CHECKLIST 1. Look for overuse of words. If you have used a word so often that it sounds repetitive, use a thesaurus. The shift+F7 key on your computer is as helpful as the book version. 2. Check your paper for misuse of words. Basically, if you don’t know the definition of a word and cannot use it in a sentence, DON’T use it. By all means, use writing as a chance to build your vocabulary but don’t use words unless you feel comfortable using them. If you need to use an unfamiliar word while writing, be sure to define or explain it in the essay. 3. Make sure you have enhanced your writing with strong nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Strive to write at or above your grade level. 4. Another way to make your writing stand out is by the use of figurative language. Similes, metaphors and analogies are great ways to express yourself and make your essay more interesting to the reader. 5. Check your sentence structure. Do you have a subject and a predicate? A noun and a verb? 6. Use a variety of ways to begin your sentences. Nothing detracts from an essay like repetitiveness. Change it up. Be creative. 7. Don’t be afraid to reorganize. Move paragraphs around. Change the order of your sentences. Do whatever it takes to make your writing better. Add and delete. Make it stand out. 8. Make sure your details and examples are relevant. Make sure they fit with what you’ve written. If your bio on Abe Lincoln covers the Civil War, don’t talk about the Revolutionary War unless you can connect it to your topic.

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