Revision

When I think of revision, I think of changes to your writing that generally result in improvements. Revisions are something very important to good writing, but are also greatly overlooked when presented with time constraints. When I am writing, revising is low on my priority list — rather, I focus on just getting it done and getting it turned in because I often have several essays due at the same time and don’t have time to worry about revising.

When I do revise, I usually will read the essay aloud and see where I stumble. I review the notes I took about the outline of the writing and make sure I hit all the necessary points and gave them the amount of attention and detail they deserve. I will often have a friend listen to it and have them give me any feedback about anything that is confusing or that they found interesting but I didn’t explain enough. Also, this allows me to find any words or phrases that I overuse but wouldn’t have noticed just reading it on paper. Afterwards, I will print out the paper because it is always easier for me to find errors in print as opposed to on the computer. I will sometimes map out the main points of each paragraph and make sure they are in a logical order and see if any could be moved around to more effectively prove my point.

Overall, I think my style of editing is fairly effective. I usually do notice improvements in my writing if I make time to revise, although that doesn’t always happen.