Somewhere towards the end of the writing process, you’ll be ready for revision. Or proofreading? Or both!
You see, revision and proofreading are two different things. Revision is the process of reviewing and improving our writing for clarity, conciseness, and to make sure it fits the prompt/serves our purpose as well as seems accessible to our target audience. It focuses on global, or overarching, concerns in our writing: things like organization, argument, evidence, continuity, clarity, and flow. Proofreading on the other hand is all about double-checking local, or minor, concerns like grammar, spelling, syntax, and word choice. While both are essential, they represent two separate stages in the writing process. Revision should happen after initial drafting, while proofreading occurs as a final step before turning in a piece of writing.
The “Intuitive Sequence”
Harris (How To Do Things with Texts) describes the “labor of writing” as involving three steps:
- “Drafting, or generating text.”
- “Revising, or working with the text you’ve created, rethinking and developing what you want to say.”
- “Editing, or working on your text as an artifact, preparing the final version of your
document.”
These steps form the “intuitive sequence”; the process of transforming ideas into words on the page, reconsidering, revisiting, and reworking what you have written, and, lastly, editing, formatting, or in other words, proofreading your final document.
It is important to remember however, that, in practice, much of this work overlaps. Many, if not most, writers revise and edit as they move through their draft, although as Harris notes, it is not usually recommended to spend too much time “polishing” a draft before you are even sure it will make it to the final cut (or version) of your essay. Sometimes, revision can include drafting new material to incorporate into your paper, or editing can lead you right back to the revision stage if you find your paragraphs, sentences, or arguments could use some rearranging.
Remember! Aim for good enough, not perfect. No piece of writing will ever be perfect, which means we’re always aiming for ‘good enough.’
Tips for Approaching Revision, Proofreading, or Both
This is not an exhaustive list! For example, in both stages, you’ll want to be sure that you are
appropriately citing the work you get from another author or authors.
Revising
- As you begin revising, start by taking a “funnel approach”: begin with general concerns and gradually move to those more specific.
- Reexamine the topic and structure of your writing. Do you stay on topic throughout your essay? After
revisiting your transitions, should you rearrange your paragraphs to change the ‘flow’ of your paper? - Check out the language used; is it too wordy? Redundant? What is your tone? Are your arguments clear to an external reader?
Proofreading
- Avoid relying only on spelling and grammar checkers. They make mistakes too, so you will need to double and triple check your work, even with software helping your writing.
- Fix one error at a time. This will help you avoid having to skim or reread to catch errors that weren’t addressed the first time you caught them.
- Read the text backwards. Sometimes the brain automatically corrects written mistakes!
Both
- Ask a native English speaker to read your paper out loud. This will help you catch minor grammatical
errors you might have missed, as well as allow you to hear the ‘flow’ of your essay. - Double-check. It’s always a good idea to read through your draft at various stages of the writing process.
- Know when to stop working on it! You’ll reach a point at which you’re not substantially revising or improving a piece of writing, just tinkering with it or nit picking (which generally isn’t helpful). It’s important to know when a piece of writing is good enough.
Ask for Feedback
While you can create a clear, powerful piece of writing on your own, it’s impossible to know whether it reads that way to an audience without talking to someone about it. Be sure to have peers, friends, family, or tutors give you feedback on your writing to make sure it’s communicating what you want it to.
Visit the Writing Center for additional help during all stages of the writing process!
Works Cited
“Editing & Proofreading Techniques: University Writing & Speaking Center.” University of Nevada, Reno, www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-
Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts, Second Edition on JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.
“How to Revise: A Step-by-Guide to Revising Your Writing.” Grammarly, 17 June 2022, www.grammarly.com/blog/revise/