Effective Revision Strategies

Revision is a crucial step in the writing process. Although many students forget how important it is or confuse it with editing, revision can make a huge difference because poor grammar, punctuation, spelling, or the wrong overall structure can hurt your grade even when the content itself is brilliant. The wrong style or grammar can prevent you from developing your ideas effectively. Most often, problems with structure and style are caused by poorly developed ideas, and revision is what can help you evaluate the overall quality of your writing in terms of ideas, structure, and grammar. Thus, writers from Writers House decided to share some useful information with you.

Many students revise their writing while working on the first draft. Although such an approach is counterproductive, they choose it because they are simply afraid of the writing process. In this case, revision serves as a distraction so students can forget about the writing process itself for a while. We recommend that you never choose this approach. Write your draft first, and then revise it. Don’t think of your first draft as the final one. Most good writers know that they have to create several drafts before their paper will be ready. Simply put, the revision process is the writing process itself.

The most effective method is to write your first draft as quickly as possible. Just focus on your ideas and write what you want, trying to create a comprehensive and interesting piece of content. When the first draft is finished, you can revise and polish it, making sure that everything is clear and properly written.

1. The general picture
Take a look at your first draft and think of whether you managed to fulfill the overall purpose of your writing. Did you cover all the necessary materials? Did you take into account the specifics of your audience? Does the general structure of your paper reflect your intentions? Did you establish and prove your authority?

2. Development
You should make sure that the main idea of your paper is supported by the necessary pieces of evidence. Your supporting materials should be clearly related to the key idea of your paper.

3. Overall structure
Check the structure of your paper. Your main idea should be easy to trace throughout all the sections of your paper. You should also make sure that your paper remains focused on the main idea and all the paragraphs link to it. Besides, every paragraph must have a topic sentence and end with a transition to the next paragraph or a brief conclusion.

4. Sentence structure
Make sure that all the sentences are clear and easy to understand. Consider each sentence in particular and evaluate the logical order of words. If you’ve written some sentences in the passive voice, replace it with the active voice. Make sure that your word choice corresponds to the type of audience.

You may print a new draft of your paper after every step of the revision process. Once you’ve checked the structure of your paper and its logic, don’t forget about proofreading. You should fix any grammar mistakes and make sure that there are no typos or missed commas.

Sometimes, students revise their papers in small groups because it’s easier to revise someone else’s papers. You may try this approach, or you may also order professional proofreading and editing on Writers-House.com. In this case, you will be sure that your paper is perfect.