1. Short Story Revisions

2. Peer Evaluation Directions Writer -- state what it is you want your group to focus on BEFORE you begin reading your piece out loud.

3. Listeners – consider the following… Apply the tension formula to this piece – desire + danger = drama. Could the desire be intensified? How about the danger? How? Are there two or more characters to care about? Are they equally matched? What specific details/image could be used to increase the tension in the piece? What is your favorite image in this piece? Identify places where the images could be made more powerful, alive, and focused.

4. Revision Techniques Work with the strategies: energy, images, tension, pattern, and insight Consider your word choice – look for specific verbs, nouns, etc. Heighten the patterns – images, sounds, motifs Don’t start at the beginning; focus on one strategy at a time. Translate general into specific; show don’t tell

5. Editing questions to ask yourself Is my writing clear? Is it easy to understand who is talking, who is in the piece, where we are, and what is happening? Do I rely on weak verbs including is, are, should, could, would, might, and may? Do I overuse filters, words that describe mental activity such as seemed, felt, realized, and thought? Do I explain too much? Do I include too much description? Do I use unnecessary adverbs?