College Composition

College Composition Study Guide

Chapter 7: Revising and Editing Objectives 1. To pinpoint issues within you writing and identify the best ways to deal with those issues. 2. To understand and use the revision process and the editing process. 7.1 Revising vs. Editing Most people use the words “revise” and “edit” interchangeably. However, this is a mistake. Revising and editing are two distinct processes that serve different purposes. Revising is “re-seeing” the text, subject, prompt and purpose. The revision process focuses on the larger concerns of good writing -- higher-order concerns -- such as a clear thesis with appropriate support, the organization of the writing and whether the author’s points have been properly developed. Adding another argument to support the thesis would be an example of revising. Editing focuses on the details of good writing -- lower-order concerns -- such as grammar, spelling and word choice. Changing a sentence from active voice to passive voice would be an example of the editing process. While both processes are equally important to do before turning in an assignment or hitting “send”, the revising process should always happen before the editing process. If you edit first, you may spend time correcting the grammar in a paragraph that you later decide to remove or change. The revising process focuses on making sure the text meets the writer’s goals. The editing process focuses on making sure the writing is clear and understandable and that the spelling and grammar are correct. 7.2 Revision When revising, you make sure what you have written meets your rhetorical goals. For example, you may add a personal narrative to strengthen a persuasive essay. For academic writing, the revision process will also include ensuring that the requirements of the assignment or writing prompt have been met. If the prompt asks for an essay that compares and contrasts, for example, revising would include being sure that the essay includes similarities and differences. The revision process will look to make changes on an essay level, and on a paragraph level. On the essay level, your changes may broadly be referred to as adding, limiting, switching or transforming. Adding to a text is putting “more” into it. Many beginning writers may be tempted to simply repeat previous points, but experienced writers will add to the writing by providing more details or explaining their points more completely. Many essays can be improved by:

©2020

Achieve

Page 50 of 56