Revising is the stage where students make necessary edits based on the reviews and corrections their teachers or peers have provided. Have you ever used a grade calculator? Some of these edits may also be based on their own new opinions. Revising gives students an opportunity to reconsider their topic, their readers, and even their purpose for writing. Taking the time to rethink their approach may encourage them to make major changes in the structure and content of their work. If you have any further questions about the revision stage, just let me know.
Generally, the ideal time to revise isn’t right after students have finished a draft (although this is unavoidable at times). They should simply walk away from their writing for a couple of hours. This helps them to gain perspective.
As students enter the revising stage, they should read the draft aloud. Their ears will catch the errors and awkward patches of sentence structure that their eyes won’t. Have you ever used a high school GPA calculator? They’ll just be looking at style, formatting, and language here. They should particularly look for sections where the writing feels different.
Students should let their instincts guide them to the areas where something feels off and visit them later for correction. Some writers identify that their beginnings are excessively slow, their middle sections tend to be messy and shapeless, or their endings don’t have a satisfying note.
Here’s a checklist students can follow when revising their work.
- Does the piece comprise a clear and concise key idea? Is this idea made easily understandable to the reader early in the piece?
- Does the piece have a particular purpose (such as to entertain, evaluate, persuade, or inform)? Is the purpose made clear to the reader?
- Is there a clear sense of organization and plan to the piece? Does each paragraph flow logically?
- Is each paragraph clearly associated with the key idea of the piece? Is there sufficient information in the piece to support the key idea?
- Is the key point of every paragraph clear? Is every point supported with specific details and clearly and adequately defined in a topic sentence?
Concluding Thoughts
The revising stage goes beyond proofreading and editing, as the writer is required to read the essay with an open mind, and a fresh set of eyes. Ideally, revisions should be done after the writer has taken a break from the paper. In this stage, the writer checks whether the idea is presented clearly and concisely, generates interest in the topic, has a purpose, and flows logically. The revision stage will expose flaws with the essay, and the student needs to follow their instinct when something feels wrong. Reading the essay out loud may feel awkward, but it is a great strategy to uncover errors and awkward parts in the sentence structures. The revising stage is a fundamentally important stage in the writing process, as it spells the difference between a great piece and a flawed one.
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