“Good writing is essentially rewriting,” said Roald Dahl. Google “writing and revision quotes” to find that dozens of world-famous authors agree: The real work of writing is revising.
Re-vision is re-seeing. You take a step back to look at your work through your readers’ eyes. Steps 1 and 2, planning and drafting, are mostly about you and your material. Step 3 is about readers.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who are my audiences?
- What do I want them to know, believe, or do?
- Did I share this goal with them up front?
- Have I told them how we’re going to get there?
- How much does this draft assume that they already know about the topic? Should I revisit that assumption?
- Have I provided enough evidence to help them arrive at the goal?
- Is the material organized to make it easy for them to get there?
It’s not easy to look at your own material through someone else’s eyes. Here are a few tips for revising anything longer than a quick email.
- Allow as much time as you can between drafting and revising: at least overnight. The longer the document, the more you’ll benefit from leaving it alone for a while.
- Consult your audience profile – or develop one.
- Start over with a parallel draft.
- Write the main idea – what you want the audience to know, do, or believe – at the top of the new document. Refer back to it often as you revise.
- Plan on more than one round of revision. When you fix five big problems, five (or more) smaller issues will emerge.
During the revision, you’ll also need to fill in the blanks you left as you were drafting.
Revision may be the hardest step of the writing process. If you don’t have a lot of practice, you are likely to need help. I’m here for you!