Minutes a day n e w y o r k

R e - v i s i o n i n g
You can look at your essay with “fresh eyes” in two ways—literally, by giving your work to a trusted reader for feed-
back, and figuratively, by examining your own work as if you’ve never seen it before.
L E S S O N
Revising:
The Big Picture
L E S S O N   S U M M A R Y
This is the first of two lessons dealing with the revision process. It shows
you how to revise for three important “big picture” issues: fulfilling the
assignment, stating a clear thesis, and providing strong support.
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If you think professional writers work alone, think again. They know how important it is to get feedback
before they send their work to the publisher—it’s not uncommon for them to share their work with a number of
trusted readers first. That strategy is important for your essays, too. Readers can help you pinpoint the strengths
and weaknesses of your writing. They can tell you what works well, and what doesn’t; what comes across clearly
to them, and what confuses them.
When you share your writing with people you trust to give you honest feedback, ask them:
■
What do you like about my essay?
■
Is there anything that seems confusing or unclear?
■
What do you think my purpose was in writing this essay?
■
Is there anything you need to know more about, or that needs more explanation?
■
What do you think I could do to improve this essay?
These questions can also work when you direct them to yourself. But before you reread for revising, take a
break. The best revisions take place a day or two after you’ve completed your draft. That time lets you approach
your work with the “fresh eyes” we mentioned earlier in this lesson.
Try reading your essay aloud. Read as if you are presenting it to an audience, and listen to your words. This
technique can help you find places where your wording sounds awkward, or where your sentences are confusing
or too long. You can also hear where your writing simply doesn’t convey what you intended it to. Mark those areas
that sound as if they should be revised, making notes of ideas for how to improve them. Remember to keep in mind
the following:
■
Does my essay fulfill the assignment?
■
Is my thesis statement clear? Is it easily identifiable?
■
Are my ideas well supported with examples, evidence, and details?
Reworking
Once you’ve got feedback and have taken your own notes on what could be improved, it’s time to make changes.
Those changes could be additions, deletions, or rewordings. The second type of change is probably the hardest.
Especially if you don’t consider yourself a strong writer, you may feel unwilling to give up a paragraph, or even a
sentence. But revising is about keeping what works, and fixing or eliminating what doesn’t. If it doesn’t work, it
detracts from the rest of your essay and needs to go.