Post on 27-Dec-2015
Mike McGuireMV Community College
COM 101
Look, and thenlook again
A seminar on revision strategies(and fish)
When you say something, make sure you have said it. The chances of your having said it are only fair.
– E. B. White
What is Revision?What is Revision?
Like writing, itself, revision is a process
Revision and reading go together
Revision is taking a step back from your writing and looking at it again with a fresh perspective
Once you do this, you can make appropriate changes to better meet the purpose of your message and better address your audience
Revision Is NOT EditingRevision Is NOT Editing
Revision is about “higher-order concerns” Clear communication of ideas Organization of paper Paragraph structure Strong introduction and conclusion
Editing is about “later-order concerns” Sentence mechanics Punctuation Spelling Capitalization Documentation Style
Revision is NecessaryRevision is Necessary
Few writers can produce polished writing on the first pass
Revision ensures that you said exactly what you wanted to say in a manner most appropriate for your audience
Revision involves adding, cutting, moving material, and after that, editing and proofreading.
– Handbook Lynn Troyka.
Risks of Not RevisingRisks of Not Revising
An ineffective message is a waste of everyone’s time
Your reader may misunderstand or be confused by what you have written
Your reader may form a low opinion of your abilities
Careless, hasty, unrevised writingCareless, hasty, unrevised writingis always apparent.is always apparent.
How Do I Revise?How Do I Revise?
Try the ECR methodevaluate, change, reevaluate
Try ACRM methodadd, cut, replace, move
Wait
Be honest with yourself
Throw stuff away
Don’t edit
Look again
Take a Break from WritingTake a Break from Writing
After your first draft, take a break and do something else
Return to it later with a fresh perspective
Switch your role from writer to reader
Let your literary compositions be kept from the public eye for nine years at least. – Horace
To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again and once more, and over and over.
– John Hersey
Activities During RevisionActivities During Revision
Shift mentally from suspending judgment; read your draft critically to evaluate it.
Decide whether to write an entirely new draft or to revise what you have. Don’t be too critical. Most early drafts are sufficient to allow for revision.
Be systematic. Move from higher- to lower-level concerns.
organizationparagraphs
sentencesword choice
Revise on Two Levels…Revise on Two Levels…
Global Levelwhole essay and paragraphs
Local Levelsentences and words
Refer to the Part 1, Chapter 7 of your SF Writer
Do you have writer’s block?Do you have writer’s block?
Fear of writing
Mental paralysis
Frustration
Panic
Procrastination
Avoidance
Treating the BlockTreating the Block
Stop hating the block—refocus your energy Be comfortable with chaos Do a good job at prewriting Turn off the internal editor Picture an image or scene that relates to
your topic Try writing your material as if your were
someone else Avoid staring at a blank page Visualize yourself writing Write about your topic to a friend Start in the middle Use focused freewriting Change your method of writing
An ox at the roadside, when it is dying of hunger and thirst, does not lie down; it walks up and down—up and down, seeking it knows not what—but it does not lie down.
– Oliver Schreiner, From Man to Man
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
—The Elements of Style William Strunk, Jr.
People want to know why I do this; why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy—and I keep it in a jar on my desk.
– Stephen King, on himself
You must become an ignorant man againAnd see the sun again with an ignorant eyeAnd see it clearly in the idea of it.
– Wallace Stevens from “Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction”