If I used to be to establish one vital writing course of that’s most uncared for by pupils, I’d pose revising their writing. Why is that this important technique so generally uncared for?
In my ‘Closing the Writing Hole’ e-book, I suggest that ‘revising’ writing is misunderstood and confused with ‘enhancing’. So, what’s the distinction between these admittedly related facets of the writing course of? I like to make use of the next definitions:
- Revising is ‘making adjustments to the content material of the writing in gentle of suggestions and self-evaluation’.
- Enhancing is ‘making adjustments to make sure the textual content is correct and coherent.’
Am I simply splitting hairs right here? You possibly can argue the 2 processes might be blurred, which is a good declare. Crucially although, every time I observe writing in lecture rooms – or recall my very own pupils’ efforts – pupils try and edit, however they don’t actually revise what they’ve written. Virtually all their consideration goes to enhancing their spelling, use of capital letters, together with checking a number of punctuation errors.
Pupils have to know that enhancing on a written draft is not only making a neater model and correcting the odd spelling. Actual-world examples can assist. Each day newspapers are revised to provide totally different slants on tales. Science analysis is revised and rewritten for extra common audiences.
Well-known authors rework nice prose or rewrite seminal sentences. For instance, famed US creator, Ernest Hemingway rewrote the ultimate web page of ‘A Farewell to Arms’ no less than thirty-nine occasions to get the phrases proper! Now that is revising your writing for high quality.
George Orwell radically revised many components of his well-known work, ‘1984’ – see right here:
In main college, given the demand on impartial writing for 12 months 6 assessments, the power to revise your writing with out steering can show essential for pupils to fulfill the ‘anticipated customary’ or higher. Alas, too typically, pupils (each younger and outdated) don’t revise with their viewers in thoughts. This hampers writing high quality and stunts enchancment.
Placing revision entrance and centre within the writing course of
A key motive why pupils could neglect revising their writing is that they’re overwhelmed by the sheer mass of strikes required to enhance on their preliminary writing efforts.
If they have to contemplate spelling, accuracy, utilizing fascinating vocabulary, a spread of sentence constructions, displaying off their information, and rather more, is it any shock that revision will get dropped?
We are able to make pupils extra more likely to revise their writing independently by chunking revision down into extra manageable steps. The next approaches might provide manageable approaches to place revising writing on the forefront of pupils’ pondering and actions:
- Add, take away, refine. Too typically, precisely the best way to revise one’s writing is unclear. Academics can disaggregate it into clearer steps. First, pupils add to enhance e.g. including extra proof, info, or compelling type options. Then they learn and revise to take away any pointless language, or sloppy sentences. Lastly, pupils refine their sentences, akin to including in adjectives for impact, or reorganising a paragraph to make a clearer level.
- The creator’s chair. We are able to make suggestions and revisions extra audience-focused by asking pupils to sit down within the ‘Writer’s chair’. When pupils learn a few of their writing to friends – an actual viewers – they get the expertise of studying it aloud and getting focused suggestions. It wants delicate dealing with, however it will possibly provide wealthy, even transformative, suggestions.
- ‘Ask the Editor’. Throughout the strategy of revising writing, pupils are given the instruction that they’ll ask the instructor – the ‘Editor’ – a selected variety of questions to assist them revise their writing. By rationing suggestions on this manner, it will possibly get pupils pondering extra selectively and in refined methods about what to revise.