| Reasons we hate revision | Solutions |
|---|---|
| “Revision is too time consuming.” | Always set a “Draft Date” and a “final Date” when completing a paper, even if there’s only a 1-day difference between them. That way, you’ll always have a little chance to revise. |
| “It’s too hard to critique my own work.” | Hone your skills through peer revision or by critiquing other published work first.
Work with a tutor at the campus writing center when you try to revise. |
| “I feel like I don’t catch the right problems or fix the right stuff.” | Place completed/graded essays next to your new work. Read through the old work and look for patterns of errors (for instance, three comma errors on one page shows trouble with commas).
Make sure you understand where your past grades have come from. Schedule conferences with your instructors after receiving a grade if you have questions. |
| “I don’t even know where to start.” | Keep your assignment guide ready. If one wasn’t handed out, create one as part of your assignment analysis, and then use it as a guide when revising.
Ask your instructor if there’s an available rubric (a type of grading scale) for an assignment, and use it to figure out where to pay attention. |
License
Better writing from the beginning Copyright © 2017 by Jenn Kepka is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.