8/10/2015

UW20 News & Notes: How to Revise (NOT JUST EDIT!) Your Writing and Get Better Results

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HowtoRevise(NOTJUSTEDIT!)YourWritingandGetBetterResults
EverysectionofUW20requiresstudentstosubstantivelyrevisebetween25and30pagesofwritingeach
semester.Weplacesomuchemphasisonrevisionbecauseofourownexperienceswithusingwritingtobegin
tograspdimlyperceivedideasandtowrestlethemintoshape.Revision,theprocessofassessing,developing,
andexploringideasproducedingenerativedrafts,isacrucialstepinproducingpiecesofwritingworthreading.
InthisarticleFirstYearWritingProfessorsChristyZink,RachelRiedner,PhilipTroutman,andPhyllisRyder
teachyouwhatyouneedtoknowtorevise(NOTJUSTEDIT!)likeapro!
1.Itscrucialtomakeamentaladjustmentandseerevisionasanormalpartofthewritingprocess
ofeventhebestwriters.Prof.Zinktellsherstudentstoletgoofthedeeplyheldnotionthatifyouwerea
better,smarter,moreadept,savvier,moreintellectualwriteryouwouldn'thavetorevisesomuch.JustLet.
It.Go.Themostbrilliantwritersintheworldaretheoneswhodon'tdoubtforamomentthatanypieceworth
anythingisgoingtotakerewriting.Infact,thebetter,smarter,moreadept,savvier,moreintellectualawriter
youare,themorelikelyyouaretobuildintimebothfordraftingandthecraftofrevision.
2.Youneedtomakeadistinctionbetweeneditingandrevision.BothProf.RiednerandProf.TroutmandrawfromtheworkofJoseph
Harris(Rewriting:HowtoDoThingswithTexts)tomakingclearthedifferencebetweeneditingandrevision.
AccordingtoProf.Riedner,Whenyouedit,youworkatthesurfacelevelofapaper.Youfixerrors,tinkerwithsentences,andfinetunea
document.Editingcanimprovethedesignandflowofadocument.Revision,ontheotherhand,revisitswritinginordertorethinkitsaims,howit
workswithmaterialitinterprets,howitdevelopsideas,etc....Revisionrethink[s]theideasandexamplesthatdriveyourthinkinginanessay.
Prof.TroutmanpointsoutthatInrevising,youarechangingyourmind,shiftingyourclaim,anticipatingnewcounterclaims,bringinginnew
evidence,reorderingyourmajorpointsyouareengagingyourtext,perhapsevenstrugglingwithit,wrestlingitintoanewshape.Inediting,you
arefixingyourtext,bothintermsofcorrectingerrors(syntax,citationformat,etc.)andintermsofgivingitfinalform(fontchoice,wordsmithing
forstyle,etc.)youarenowtreatingitlikeanobject,abeautifulthingyoucannowshow.
3.Youneedafunctioningprocessformakingrevisionsystematic.Thiswillprobablyvaryaccordingtoyourneeds,butherearesome
suggestions.Allofourexpertssuggeststartingbyanalyzingyourdraft.
Prof.ZinkadvisesbeginningrevisionbyFiguringoutwhereyouaremoststuck.Onceyou'veidentifiedthisidea,section,passage,oreven
sentence,findsomeonewhowilllistentoyoupeerfromtheclass,roommate,paramour,randompersonmutteringtoselfinlocalpark,or
professorsitthatpersondowninfrontofyou,andtalkaboutwhatthetroubleis.Letthatpartnerknowallheorshehastodoislisten.Explain
what'snotworkingandwhyyou'reconfusedandwhyallofthisisgivingyouaterrificheadache.Letthepersonnodobliginglyasyoustammer
throughyourconfusion.Chancesare,injustafewminutesoftalkingabouttheissueoutloud,you'llcometosomedegreeofclarityandevena
solution.
Prof.Ryderoffersathreestepprocess:A.Gothroughyourdraftandchunkitidentifythemainsectionsofthepaper.Lookateachbig
chunkandtreatitlikeaminiessay:Doesithaveacohesivepurpose?Willreadersknowwhatit'sdoingintheessay?Howmightyouclarifythe
purposeandargumentasyoumoveintothatsection?
Afteranalyzingyourchunks(soundsgrossIknow!),B.Gothroughthedraftandwriteanswerstothefollowingquestionsinthemargins
foreachparagraph:Whatismymainpoint?Whatisthepurposeofthisparagraph(isitmakinganargument,providinganillustrationfor
somethingalreadysaid,introducinganewsectionofthepaper,describingmymethod?).
C.Thenlookattheoverallstructure.Arethingsintherightorder?Couldsectionsbecombined?Istherealogicalprogression?Finally,becritical
about"flow."Anythingcanflowintoanythingelse,butthatdoesn'tmeanitshould.Canyoudescribethelogicofwhyeachpartgoeswhereitgoes?
LikeProf.Zink,Prof.Troutmanurgesyoutogetsomeonetohelpyouanalyzeyourdraft,buthasyourinterlocutorplayamoreactive
role.Peerresponsesarekey,sinceyoucan'talwaysseewhatotherreaderswill.Butyoumusttrainyourreadersotherwisetheywillprobably
focusonlyongrammarandspelling,andthat'sediting,notrevision.Askyourpeertoreadthedraftwithanyofthefollowingpurposesborrowed
fromPeterElbows&PatBelanoffsSharing&Respondinginmind(onlyoneattime,though).Afterthey'vereadyourdraft,askthemto:
A.Writeadescriptiveoutlineofthepaper,twosentencesforeachparagraphinthepaper:Onesentencesummarizingpreciselywhatthe
paragraphsays.Onesentencedescribingwhattheparagraphdoesandwhywhatitsroleisatthatmomentinthepaper(e.g.,establishingother
scholarlyviews,layingoutthepaper'sagenda,presentingevidence,discussingacounterclaim,connectingtwomajorsubclaims,speculatingabout
possibleimplicationsoftheclaim,etc.).Thisletsyoufindouthowyourreaderperceivesnotonlyallthethingsyouaresaying,butalsowhyyouare
sayingthosethingsintheorderyoudo.Doesyourreaderseealternatewaystoorganizeit?Doyou,basedonhowheorsheoutlinedit?
B.Restateyourcentralclaim,butonlyintheformofquestions:E.g.,Okay,soareyoutryingtoarguethat...?orisitmoreaboutthe
questionof...?Thisgivesyouthechancetoreflectonyourclaimsandthequestionofwhetheryourreadersawthemasyouintendedratherthan
simplytodefendthem.Yourpeermightevenseeamoreinterestingclaimyoucouldbemaking.
C.Believeeverythingaboutthedraft:itscentralclaim,itsevidence,itsuseofscholars'work,itsorganization,itsstyle,itswordchoices,itstitle,
etc.Respondwithideastofurtherwhatisalreadygoingonwiththesethings.
D.Doubteverythingaboutthedraft:itscentralclaim,itsevidence,itsuseofscholars'work,itsorganization,itsstyle,itswordchoices,itstitle,
etc.Respondwithideasforaddressingtheobjectionsthatariseoutofthisdoubt.
Changeyourmindsetaboutrevisionandtryoutsomeofthesetechniques.Yourewritingwillbericher,smarter,moredisciplined,andmore
interesting.Youllhavelearnedmoreandsowillhaveyourreaders!
Letusknowwhatyouthink!
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PostedbyGWUniv.WritingProgramat2:51PM
Labels:advice,Howto,Riedner,Ryder,tips,Troutman,Zink

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http://gw-uw20.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-revise-not-edit-your-writing-and.html

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8/10/2015

UW20 News & Notes: How to Revise (NOT JUST EDIT!) Your Writing and Get Better Results
EricDrown March3,2009at9:36PM
EricDrownsaid...
Thesearegreatsuggestions.
I would add that in order for real revision to be successful, writers have to be so confident that they can generate so many ideas worth
writingaboutthatthey'rewillingtothrowawayonesthataren'tgoodenough,relevantenough,orproductiveenough.
Likewise,goodwritershavetobesoattunedtomeetingtheirreaders'needsthatthey'rewillingtojettisonwords,paragraphs,pages,and
structureswhentheydon'tworkforreaders.
Revisionisn'ttinkeringit'softenwholesalerewriting,rethinking,recomposing.Holdingontowords,ideas,orstructuresjustbecausethey're
alreadyonthepageisthesurestwaytosabotageyourbesteffortsatrevision.
Hopethishelps!
Reply

Caroline March5,2009at9:48AM
Thanks so much for all these wonderful suggestions! I'm holding group conferences with my students this week, and I sent out this post
afterwemettoinformthemofadditionalrevisionstrategies.Inourconferences,we'vebeentalkingalotaboutneverunderestimatingthe
power of a good topic sentence. And, we've been using those topic sentences to write up afterthefact outlines of one another's papers.
That'sreallybeenhelpingmystudentsseewheretheirorderworksanddoesn't.Having students expand upon that activity with the ones
listedaboveisreallygoingtohelpthemwritesomefabulouspapers.Thankseveryone!
Reply

WritingaResearchPaper November26,2009at7:12AM
Manyinstitutionslimitaccesstotheironlineinformation.Makingthisinformationavailablewillbeanassettoall.
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