Revising 101

On pages 111-112 of my English textbook I read about revising a complete draft of a piece of written work. I read about how important revising really is to have a final product. The text suggests that you should let the draft sit for a little after you’ve finished it because when you return you’re more likely to realize what needs to be revised and details. Also, the textbook mentions how technology is such a large tool in editing a draft. I’m surprised at how focused this textbook has been on technology. In each section you can find some reference to the technology that can help make things easier for the various things done in the English course. I began to understand more about peer editing from reading these pages. I’ve always thought that I didn’t need another person to read my work before it was final because I could revise it just as well, but the textbook emphasizes that outside sources can provide feedback that can provide suggestions or new ideas. It’s important to have more than one person’s opinion of the draft, as well.  The last part that was in these pages of the text was a “Writer’s Workshop” about “Responding to Full Drafts”. This section provides questions to use as guidelines that may be useful when editing someone else’s complete draft. Today in class we used these questions and I found it to be very useful. The questions helped me put all my thoughts together while I was reading another girl’s narrative essay and stay organized. Also, when I was reading the responses to the questions someone had made about the narrative essay I wrote, I was able to clearly follow them. The questions were good because they pointed out key things to pay attention to while editing that may have otherwise been forgotten. Although I have been writing essays and many class assignments over the years of schooling, this review on revising has definitely helped me improve my own writing and editing skills.