Revising Your Writing

Your best writing does not come in your first draft.  While students have for years cranked out last-minute assignments, with many even managing to get away with decent grades when doing so, any writing can be improved from that initial effort.  Indeed, I now look back at some of my "A" papers from my undergraduate years and cringe.  Adequate?  Yes--but my best work involved, and all of my work now involves, a careful revision process.

Revision is not a one-pass work over.  The best, most in-depth revision process involves layers of work.  Think of the process as a funnel, beginning broadly and ending with a careful, focused fine-tuning.  In other words, get the basic, structural and developmental elements right.  I call this the S.P.S. approach: Structure, Paragraph, Sentence.  While it might better read Structure, Stanza, Line for a poem, the main thrust remains the same: start with the big picture, and then narrow your focus as you refine your work.

Structure

In an essay, this relates primarily to the order in which you present your argument.  Have you created a coherent, cohesive argument?  Do your thoughts build on each other, moving inexorably to your conclusion?  Have you set it up in a way that makes sense?  In a novel or short story, this will relate to the sequence of events, to the relation of them to each other in a way that works.  And in a poem, you should build a structure that complements the theme of your poem.

One way to test for this is to outline your work.  We typically think of outlines as laying out our thought processes before we draft--and this can prove valuable in organizing thoughts before we write.  Afterward, though, outlining what you have written, as opposed to what you plan or expect to write beforehand, can reveal structural gaps that may be difficult to identify just by re-reading what you've written.  Particularly if the text is dense or nuanced, this bare-bones structural map can clarify problems your writing has obfuscated.

Once you identify potential gaps in your thought process or story, fill them in.  Find the argument that answers a currently unanswered objection, or add in the detail that helps your story make sense.  Complete the architecture of your writing.

Paragraph

Once you have a cohesive structure in place, begin fleshing out the writing that carries that structure.  In an essay, this usually means answering questions: How?  Why?  So what?  Paragraph by paragraph, ensure that your point carries the writer back to your thesis.  How does your point apply?  Why is what you wrote true, valid, or important?  Why should anyone reading your essay care?

In a story's paragraphs, the focus will be on packing the paragraph densely.  This may not mean fully-developed thoughts in each paragraph, as you need in an essay.  It does, however, require you to decide whether everything your paragraph must show is on display.  Have you engaged the reader's senses?  Is your character true to his/her personality, socioeconomic or historical situation, etc.?  Or, in a poem, has your stanza meant something, something that deserves an encapsulated stanza unto itself, connected to your poem's theme but distinct in some way?  Build your writing, flesh it out, engorge it.

Sentence

Finally, your structure is strong and the ideas and thoughts are developed.  Now, play with the language.  Go sentence by sentence, or line by line in a poem.  Does your sentence structure strengthen or diminish your writing?  Does every word matter?  Does your punctuation achieve the proper pacing for your writing?  Every phrase, every word, every comma should accomplish something for you.  Excise extraneous adverbs and adjectives.  Tighten phrases.  Eliminate passive voice (unless you have a good reason to use it).  Give your reader moments to pause when needed, and force that reader to hold on and fly with you when it helps you.  And make sure the sentences transition well from one to the next.

A Final Word

I have laid out an onerous process, but one that will give power to your writing.  The important takeaway: do this in order.  If you begin at the sentence level, your work may not matter when you re-create your structure.  Answering the middle questions follows from what you are trying to build in the first phase.  Take the time to make your writing the best it can be.