Page 242 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

To see your work again, you need to create a mental distance
between yourself and the work. You can best achieve this mental

distance with time. Lay the writing aside for at least twenty-four hours.

When you return to it, words that are not precise, sentences that are

not clear, and explanations that do not explain enough will be easier to

spot.

It may also help to have someone else look at your work. Ask your

reader to focus on content and to question any point that does not

seem clear. Because the written word carries no facial expression, no

gesture, and no tone of voice, it is more open to misinterpretation than

face-to-face communication. Discussing your work with a reader can

help to close the gap between your intention and your reader’s
understanding.

In addition to letting your work “cool” for a day or so and enlisting the

help of a reader, you can also check your essay point by point to

make sure that it fulfills the purpose you had in mind. The revision
checklist on the following page will help you go through your essay

section by section to make sure each part is doing the job you intend it

to do.

Writers on Revising
Books aren’t written—they’re rewritten.

—Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and winner of an Emmy for screenwriting

If a teacher told me to revise, I thought that meant my writing was a broken-
down car that needed to go to the repair shop. I felt insulted. I didn’t realize
the teacher was saying, “Make it shine. It’s worth it.”

—Naomi Shihab Nye, winner of four Pushcart Prizes for her poetry