Introduction: Connecting Your Learning
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As you learned in Lesson 1, good writing does not just happen. It is a process. Writing is revising, and revising is writing. The two are connected and if you try to have one without the other, bad writing is the result. Even the best writers must revise and edit their work. In fact, a good writer revises and edits his or her writing numerous times.
Creating a well-written document takes practice. When you skip over the revision and editing process, the end result may be a poorly written document. Writers of all experience levels revise and edit to ensure their writing is clear. It is important to learn how to revise and edit your own work to create well-written materials. |
| Readings, Resources, and Assignments | |
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| Required Readings | Read the following before starting this lesson: |
| Multimedia Resources | |
| Required Assignments |
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Focusing Your Learning
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Revise and edit written work.
Presentation
Revising and Editing
Effective writing has many important steps. Revising and editing are essential in the writing process. They are often passed over too quickly or outright ignored. Many writers handle revision and editing by neatly rewriting their draft and nothing more. This is a mistake. Even the best writers need to revise and edit their work.
Revising and editing are two distinct steps in the writing process and must be separately performed.
Think of the writing process as you would think of the steps to building a house.
- Designing blueprints to determine the exact design of a house is much like prewriting about your topic.
- Building the outside structure of the house is like writing a first draft.
- Adding big changes such as plumbing or walls is much like revising your draft.
- Painting the walls is like editing your draft
- Cleaning up the building site is like publishing your final document.
When you revise and edit, you should start by focusing on the big concepts listed below:
- Ideas
- Organization
- Style
Practice
When you think about revising and editing, you may be tempted to start by looking for punctuation errors. It is far more important to start with the important concepts.
The resources below will prepare you to complete the practice activity Revising an Essay.
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Make sure that you review the required reading, Finding Common Errors and Steps for Revising your Paper. |
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Watch the video Three-Step Revision Process-YouTube. |
Complete the following interactive lesson.
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Revising an Essay: Print the essay that you submitted in Lesson 1: Writing an Essay.
In order to begin revising your essay, take out a sheet of paper and write the prompt at the top of the page. Under the prompt, write your thesis statement. Now look at your essay from a big picture viewpoint by asking yourself the following questions:
- Does the thesis statement directly answer the question?
- Is the thesis clear and concise?
- Does each of the body paragraphs have a strong topic sentence?
- What is the first point of support?
- What is the second point of support?
- What is the third point of support?
- Does each point work to prove the thesis?
- Is the order of the body paragraphs correct? Should the order be changed?
Make changes to your essay as you answer these questions. Maintain your focus as you defend your thesis. This reflects your thought process as you consider important issues. Start with the big picture.
Summarizing Your Learning
Remember to think of writing in the simplest of ways. Whether you are writing one paragraph or a complete essay, your thesis is your argument. It is your only focus. Your job is to prove your thesis. You prove your argument or thesis by including specific and relevant support.
Assessing Your Learning
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Now that you have practiced, it is time to show what you know. Complete the following assignments. |
- Revision Checklist Worksheet
- Revising and Editing an Essay
Submit the Writing: Checklist Worksheet.