The Art of Revising
Once you’ve written your message from beginning to end, you may be ready to move on to your next task. Before you do that, it’s time to clarify, refine, and reorganize to make sure your message is exactly what you want it to be.
Revising is the rearrangement and fine-tuning of a fully developed—if not completed—draft so that the thesis or hypothesis is aligned with the writer’s purpose, the audience’s needs and characteristics, the development of the argument, and the persuasive conclusion.
A Critical Step
Revising, for many writers and teachers of writing, is the most critical step in any writing process. It is also the step that often frustrates many writers because it can be hard to maintain objectivity and focus when looking so closely at your own work.
Many writers find it beneficial at this stage to have someone else read the document they have been working on. Remember that when you ask someone for a critique of your work, you are not asking for praise for your brilliance but rather asking to have your work made even better and more effective for its purpose. Also, keep in mind that just because someone makes a suggestion doesn’t mean you have to accept it — unless that person is your boss, of course.
The need to revise acknowledges the likely scenario that no one’s writing is perfect and can always be improved. Willingness to revise means that the writer recognizes the dynamic nature of communication and that revisions are required in order to clearly articulate ideas and meet the expectations of the audience. Effective written expression is the result of careful revisions.
A Two-Step Revision Process
In the revising process, the writer does two things:
- Ensures the final message accomplishes the goal identified in the planning step. This is content evaluation.
- Ensures the grammar and proofreading step has corrected any errors. This makes sure the wording is easy to read for the receiver and that the writer’s reputation is well-served by a professional document.
Proofreading Skills
Fragments
A sentence fragment is essentially a group of words that has been punctuated as a full sentence but does not express a complete thought. It lacks either a subject, a verb, or a complete thought, making it unable to stand alone as a sentence. As you read through your draft, make sure there are only whole sentences.
Run-Ons
On the other side of fragments are sentences that go on and on and on. Beware of run-on sentences as they can make text difficult to read and understand, leading to confusion about the writer’s intended message. By spotting and correcting run-ons, writers can ensure their ideas are clearly and effectively communicated, enhancing the overall coherence and readability of the text.