Revising Your Writing
Checklist for Revision
Revision is an important part of writing. It is the time a writer revisits his or her work for the purpose of making it better. Writing is not finished until it has been revised.
A Revision Process for Your Drafts
Instead of trying to revise an entire draft in one swoop, break your revision process into a series of smaller, more manageable steps. Here is a suggested process:
| Rethink | purpose, thesis, and audience |
| Rethink | ideas and evidence |
| Rethink | organization |
| Rethink | clarity and style |
If you have written an effective essay, you should be able to answer “yes” to the following questions:
- Do I feel I have something important to say to my reader?
- Am I sincerely committed to communicating with my reader and not just with myself?
- Have I considered my audience’s needs?
- Do my title and hook attract the reader’s attention and help set up my thesis?
- Does my thesis statement assert one main, clearly focused idea?
- Does my thesis and/or blueprint give the reader an indication of what points the essay with cover?
- Do my body paragraphs contain the essential points in the essay’s discussion, and are those points expressed in clearly stated or implied topic sentences?
- Is each major point in my essay well developed with enough detailed supporting evidence?
- Have I stayed on my topic, or have I strayed and included unnecessary information?
- Are all the paragraphs in my essay smoothly linked in a logical order?
- Does my concluding paragraph provide a suitable ending for the essay?
And most important:
- Has my essay been effectively revised so I am proud of this piece of writing?