Write and Review

When you think about all the parts that make up good writing (clarity, an appropriate tone, solid organization, grammar etc.) and then combine them with the specific requirements of an assignment, the task can seem overwhelming.  The good news is that most writers don’t have to accomplish all these things in the first draft: that’s what revision is for. Making time for a robust revision process is probably the single most important thing you can do to improve your writing. 
Revision focuses on improving “big picture” issues in a writing project, like the content and organization. Checking for typos and sentence-level errors will come later. As you revise, ask yourself the following questions:
 

1. Does the paper meet the assignment requirements? This is the #1 most important thing to check – after all, they are what your grade is based on. Now is a good time to go back and check with your instructor’s assignment sheet or even your instructor herself to make sure that you have all the required parts of the paper in place.

2. Does it stay on topic? There’s always a chance, when you get in the writing “zone” that you will slide off topic and forget about the purpose of the paper. If you’re writing a typical persuasive research paper, one good way to check for this is to read through what you’ve written and make sure that every paragraph clearly relates to your thesis. A Reverse Outline can be particularly helpful for doing this.

3. Is it organized clearly? Even if your paper stays on topic, the organization that made sense as you were writing may not make sense to your reader. When writers or readers say they are having problems with “flow,” this is often what they mean. Again, a Reverse Outline can be helpful for diagnosing these problems.

4. Does it accomplish the goal of the assignment? Different assignments have different goals (see #1 in this section), but in most persuasive research papers the goal is to persuade the audience to accept an argument. This means that in addition to being clear and well-researched, your paper should also be convincing. Consider your paper from the point of view of a skeptical reader (or even better, find a real skeptical reader to give you feedback). Once you identify the weaknesses of your argument (every argument has some), you can strengthen them and arrange your paper to emphasize your most convincing points.

Revision can be a wearying process. Here are some tips to make it go more smoothly:

• Take care of “big-picture” things first.  Perfecting sentences that will ultimately end up on the cutting room floor is a waste of time, so first spend your time working on the ideas, organization, and purpose of the paper. 
• Make a Reverse Outline.  Reverse outlines give you a clear view of what you have written and help identify problems with organization, flow, and content. They can be used on paragraphs, sections, or whole essays. 
• Don’t be afraid to change or delete content.  It can be tempting to decide you’re done once you’ve met your word count, but that’s not actually how most writers work. Revision means changing a draft, often substantially. If you absolutely cannot bear to part with a problem sentence or paragraph, cut and paste it into a new document and then get on with your work – chances are that you’ll realize later you don’t even need it.