Do the terms ‘revise’ and ‘edit’ mean the same? What do you think? Well, they are sometimes used interchangeably even though they are really two distinct activities writers engage in to improve their writing. What do the terms mean?
On one hand, revising is rewriting, that is, changing words, phrases, sentences, even whole paragraphs in a rough draft. It is a process in which the writer adds, deletes, and rearranges ideas in a paragraph. On the other hand, editing is the process of checking the final draft for errors in mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalisation), grammar and usage, and manuscript form (paragraphing, title and heading, footnotes and bibliography) and is done just before a paper is copied over in its completed form. In addition to the two steps, proofreading is one final task in the writing process. This entails careful proofreading of the finished manuscript to insert anything omitted or to catch any errors that might have crept in during recopying or typing. Did you spot the differences among the three terms used? Great. But, if not, kindly take a step back and re-read the explanation.
Let’s now talk about revising your writeup
After working steadily on a piece of writing, it is advisable to lay it aside for a while – perhaps a day or two – before starting to revise. Putting a little distance between yourself and your writing does something for you. It not only clears the head of fixed notions but makes it possible for you to reread the rough draft as though for the first time. You are also less likely to be sensitive about striking out phrases, sentences, even an entire paragraph, if they seem to interrupt the natural flow and unity of your writing.
When you’re revising your writeup, are you like most writers who like to work from the whole to the separate parts? Some prefer that approach. To do this, they read through the entire draft two or three times to get an overall impression of how well the various sentences and paragraphs fit together. Then they start zeroing in on specific aspects of the writeup. You may be wondering what those specific aspects of the writing are. Because this is so important, I’m going to share them here with you. So, follow along, will you?
One major aspect of your writeup that you may need to revise is its organisation, unity, and coherence. Ask yourself the following questions and look through your work to find the answers to them. As you give answers to them, the checklist helps you know areas to finetune.
1. Is your controlling idea clearly stated in the first paragraph and developed in each of the other paragraphs of the writeup?
2. Have paragraphs been arranged in the best possible order?
3. Is the writeup adequately unified? Does it “stick to the point” from beginning to end?
4. Are individual paragraphs well organised and unified?
5. Have sufficient transitional links been provided to connect sentences and paragraphs?
Then you move on the next aspect of your revision – focus on content. Ask yourself the following questions:
1. Does the opening paragraph capture attention and set the tone and direction for the rest of the writeup?
2. Does the conclusion fit the topic and leave the reader with a good final impression?
3. Have the facts and information in the writeup been accurately and honestly stated?
4. Do the ideas and opinions expressed sound logical and reasonable?
5. Has each paragraph been developed in sufficient detail?
6. Is each detail (or paragraph) relevant, appropriate, needed?
7. Will the paper hold the reader’s interest to the final period?
As you spot the need for adjustment, kindly go ahead and effect the changes.
The next thing to consider as you revise your writeup is to focus on style. Consider the following questions:
1. Does the writing sound honest, sincere, convincing?
2. Have you used language appropriate for the audience you intend to reach?
3. Is the wording natural, direct, and concise?
4. Have you taken advantage of opportunities to inject humour or a “light touch”?
5. Are you sure of the meaning of all the words you have used?
After you have taken care of the big matters – making sure the writeup is well organised and gets its points across – you can get down to polishing the wording and phrasing, tightening wordy sections, and adding details or examples where needed. Reading the writeup aloud is one excellent way to test for overall flow and continuity. Doing all these will help your revision process. And that takes you to the next stage – editing and proofreading.
Before typing or copying your writeup in its final form, you will want to edit it carefully to catch any errors in mechanics or usage. Hence, pay attention to the following questions to ascertain you have done the needful:
1. Are all the words spelt correctly?
2. Is the punctuation necessary, logical, helpful in making the meaning clear?
3. Have you used capitals, italics, numerals, and abbreviations correctly?
4. Have you checked pronouns and verbs for common errors, such as faulty agreement, incorrect pronoun form or reference, incorrect form of the verb?
5. Can you spot any glaring errors in word choice or usage?
These questions will help you with your editing task. Your last task before handing in your writeup is to proofread the completed manuscript to catch whatever errors might have slipped in while you were recopying or typing. Ensure that letters have not been switched around or words omitted, copied twice, or misspelt. You will also want to make sure that your writeup is neat in appearance and that you have followed the prescribed guidelines for manuscript form.
Interestingly, two days, two weeks, two months from now you will probably find things you would like to revise in your writeup, but for now, at least, you know you have done your best!
Exercise for you:
Select one of your writeups that you recognise could be profitably revised. Decide what parts need to be changed and what new ideas or examples you might want to add. When you are done with your revision, ask any of your colleagues or classmates to read both the original and revised papers and try to pick out which one is the revision.