Suggestions for Revision

It's revision time. But what does that really mean?  Typically, we think about revision as "fixing things" (e.g. putting in citations, correcting grammar, tidying up sentences).  This editorial work is important, but revision, as the name implies, involves more than that.  It involves "re-seeing," which can mean anything from scrapping a first draft and starting over again with the real subject, or clarifying and developing a new question or thesis.  The problem with this, of course, is time. Student writers are understandably reluctant to surrender to the inefficiency of re-seeing.  So why do it, other than hopes of getting a better grade?  Because there can be a lot of pleasure in discovering what you didn't know you knew, and at being surprised at what you have discovered.  A major theme of the course is that we write to learn.  If we let it, writing can lead thought, not trail behind it.

As a practical matter, though, how do you begin revision?  Here are my suggestions:

1. Re-read a draft, set it aside. and then fastwrite for as long as you can about what you noticed about the piece, what you're thinking now about it, what you might be trying to say but not quite saying.  Explore what you think is working and what might need work. Think through writing about what you've done in a draft and what you might do.
2. Attack it physically.  Sometimes we can't seem to escape the pull of a first draft enough to see it freshly.  One solution is to literally take it apart so it doesn't look like the thing you started with.  This is especially useful for research essays.  For how to do this, see " Exercise 5.3: Cut and Paste Revision" on p. 196 of Curious Researcher.
3. Start with the most important thing:  What is the draft trying to say?  What is the SOFT?  To re-orient yourself to this, answer this question in writing:  What do I understand now about this topic that I didn't fully appreciate when I first starting writing about it?  Then tell yourself the story of how your thinking evolved from the beginning.  Skip a line, and answer the question you started with again.  Write this on a notecard and pin it above your desk.  Now go through your draft and ask yourself, "Does the information in each paragraph move the readers towards understanding what I'm trying to say on that notecsard?"
4. Multiple leads.  We've done this before as a class exercise.  But I can't overstate how powerful different beginnings can be in revision.  Work towards finding a place to begin that establishes the purpose of your essay:  the question, dilemma, problem, or idea that you're interested in.

I'll talk more with everybody in conference next week about their specific questions.