In composition, revision is the process of proofreading a text and making changes (in content, organization, sentence structure, and word choice) to improve it. We know from Research and Science in Composition Studies, a sub-discipline of writing studies, that professional writers can review a paper twenty, thirty, or even fifty times before submitting it for publication. Many writers rely on revision to generate their most creative ideas to find the best shape for a document. Case studies and interviews with authors @ work provide overwhelming evidence that revision is a major concern of authors when composing. To become a butterfly, a caterpillar must lose its body. It will be something completely different. Similarly, revision is much more than editing. It is a metamorphosis. When I first learned revision in class, it was like a big revelation to me, for some reason. I think I had a kind of misconception about leaving pieces of work “as they came to me”. I thought there was something magical about inspiration. But now that I`ve learned to look at my work more critically, I realize that I can improve all my so-called “inspired ideas.” Constantly revising parts taught me how to improve inspiration, and when I really got started, it turned out to be a godsend. Now, I really like to dismantle my writing because I`ve learned that it allows me to write better than ever.

— Student in the United States During the revision phase of the writing process, authors can add, delete, move, and replace text (the ARMS processing). “They have the opportunity to question whether their text communicates effectively with an audience, to improve the quality of their prose, and even to rethink their content and perspective, and possibly change their own understanding” (Charles MacArthur in Best Practices in Writing Instruction, 2013). The terms revision and editing are sometimes used interchangeably. However, experts in the field do not consider editing to be synonymous with revision: interviews and case studies of authors @ work repeatedly illustrate that writers perceive editing as an artistic and creative process deeply shaped by inchoaten and preverbal feelings and intuitions. In the workplace and at school, people use a variety of terms to describe revision, including “Leon approved of revision,” says Lee Child in his novel Persuader (2003). “He was very happy about it. Mainly because the revision was about thinking and he thought that thinking didn`t hurt anyone. See observations and recommendations below. See also: These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “revision.” The opinions expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. Review Strategies – How to Review provides a structured approach to critical review. This guide is based on research and science in writing studies, especially qualitative interviews and case studies by authors @ work.

Inexperienced writers may not be aware of the importance of a review for successful communication. For example, a student at a university in the United States writes: Photo source: This image is based on Julia Folsom`s Butterfly and Chrysalises. CC SA 2.9 Perhaps the most damaging assumption that inexperienced writers make is that polished A-level essays are the product of an inspired mind, a born writer. As Lafcadio Hearn argued in his lectures at the University of Tokyo between 1896 and 1902, many inexperienced writers mistakenly assume that they should wait to be inspired before writing: rewriting ten times is not uncommon. Oh, disturb the mess, mark them as much as you want; What else are they used for? Mark everything you notice. I can consider one thing forty-nine times; But if you consider it, it is considered 50 times, and a line viewed 50 times is 2% better than a line viewed 49 times. And it is the last 2% that make the difference between excellence and mediocrity. — George Bernard Shaw In “Understanding Composing,” Sondra Sondra Perl, English teacher and expert in writing studies, claims writer, speaker, knowledge worker. Don`t start writing until you have an idea of what they want to say: “When you give writers a subject, the subject itself evokes a sense of purpose in them.

This theme evokes vaguely blurred images, words, ideas, and feelings embedded in the writer`s body. What is evoked is therefore not only the product of a spirit, but of a spirit living in a living and sensitive body” (p. 365). The authors use a set of interconnected basic cognitive skills when revising. Examples of critical and cognitive processes that authors use when revising identify and eliminate revision refer to critical cognitive processes and creative, intuitive processes that authors use when re-reading a text and thinking about how to rewrite it. “It always took me a long time to finish poems. When I was in my twenties, I found poems that lasted from six months to a year, maybe fifty drafts or something like that. Now I regularly pass more than two hundred drawings and work on things for four or five years or more; too long! I wish I hadn`t taken so much time. James Hall Nothing has been more productive in hurting young literature students than these stories or legends about great writers who have written great books in a very short time. They propose what must be impossible in a million cases as a common possibility. It is much more valuable to remember that Gray spent fourteen years correcting and improving a single poem, and that no great poem or book, as we now have the text, represents the first form of the text. “There will come a time when you believe that everything is ready. That will be the beginning.

“Writing and rewriting is a constant search for what you say.” -John Updike It`s hard to put words on paper. Nothing I write is good enough in the first draft, not even personal letters. He has to write important works over and over again – up to six or seven times. — James Michener Students whose works receive poor grades or confused looks from readers may have unreasonable expectations. They may not have taken the time to think about their writing processes. Unlike professionals, they may assume that they should write a text in just two or three drafts. When looking at a failed project, look for the pieces in the rubble that can be reformed: “There will come a time when you believe everything is ready. That will be the beginning. Etymology Louis L`AmourDu Latin, “visit again, look again” Almost everything Tennyson composed was changed and changed and changed again, so much so that the text differed in almost every edition. Above all, do not imagine that a good job can be done without immense pain. — Lafcadio Hearn.