Imagine: You’ve just completed the first draft of your essay. You’ve hit the required page count, penned the last sentence, and saved your document. Congratulations! You’re done!
… or are you?
Writing the first draft of your essay is only the first step. You still need to revise. Your argument may have changed between when you started and when you ended the essay, or maybe you can find a clearer way to express your thoughts. Very few essays emerge fully formed from your mind without needing adjustments. As the English professor Donald Murray put it, “Writing is revising.”
So, how do you revise? What is revising?
Revision isn’t just checking for typos and making sure your formatting is correct. It’s examining your paper as a whole, ensuring that the parts work together to say what you want them to say. Try the following strategies:
- Read the paper aloud. Notice where you stumble and where the flow seems “off.”
- Have someone you trust read the paper for you. Ask them what questions they have.
- Print the paper and cut apart each paragraph. Can you put it back together without looking at the original? If not, you may need to add more transitional language or reorder the paragraphs.
- Have someone you trust try to put the paper back together.
- Take a break from the paper if you can. Come back to it in a few days with fresh eyes.
When in doubt, don’t be afraid to make a tutoring appointment with the SLC. We can help! You can also check out this SLC tipsheet for more revision strategies.
Happy revising!
Photo by Becky Fantham on Unsplash