Hello, Writer

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Hello, Writer!
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This is AnExperiment
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Once you have words on paper,
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Its time to have fun with revision.
What is revision?
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Look at the word revision again. What do you
see? Using the columns below, make a list

• R E V I S I O N

List any other words you think of that begin re
List any word you think of when you see the word
vision.
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Time to look again at your piece of writing.

• Imagine it with fresh eyes!

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• What will you discover?

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Here are some helpful things to keep in mind
about revision

• Two ways of looking

Globally The Big Picture
Locally The Little Picture
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GloballyThe Big Picture

• What is the overall effect of the piece?
• How is it organized and structured?
• How does its tone serve the piece?
• Where is the reader captured?
• Where might the reader lose interest or get lost?
• Consider pacing Are there places to speed up or
  slow down?

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LocallyThe Little Picture

• Do specific sentences create clarity or
  confusion?
• Are there sentences that can be combined?
• Are there sentences that can be shortened?
• How are specific transitions serving the piece?

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AND THREE APPROACHES
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Remember,to know it, you have to try it for
yourself.
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• It takes guts, to - slice
  - expand - remake
  your precious piece of
  writing.

Having extra copies of your writing means you can
always go back to what you had before. This
makes you brave!
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Youll need scissors and tape to conduct the next
three revisions experiments.

• F I R S T
• Read your piece out loud
• LISTEN TO IT CAREFULLY
• And then,

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ADD

• LOOK AT YOUR PIECE GLOBALLY. TRY THIS
• When reading your piece look for new openings for
  fresh ideasplaces where you can add more sensory
  detail and/or dialogue.
• When you hear that place mark it. Take your
  scissors and slice your piece open right there.
• Tape a new, clean sheet of paper and begin
  writing once again, adding things you want the
  reader to see, hear, smell or taste.
• Do this to at least three different points in
  your paper.

• LOOK AT YOUR PIECE LOCALLY. TRY THIS
• Look at the first sentences of every paragraph.
• Consider adding transitions words such as for
  example next finally then in the first
  places on the other hand etc
• Mark your changes by using the symbol and
  writing the words you want to add above it. So
  when you get back to the computer, youll know
  what to do
• Or,

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S U B T R A C T

• LOOK AT YOU PIECE GLOBALLY. TRY THIS
• Make a commitment to reducing your piece by at
  least one paragraph.
• When reading the piece out loud, locate the
  paragraph(s) you think your reader doesnt really
  need.
• Read your piece without that section. If the
  piece still makes sense, cross it out or better
  yet, cut it out with scissors.
• At that point ,tape your piece together and go on.

• Look at your piece locally. Try this
• Choose the most 50 powerful words in your piece
  and write them down on a clean piece of paper.
• Create a poem, using only those words.
• Consider what new meanings you find in your piece
  by reducing it so drastically.
• How does understanding the essence of your
  writing, influence your thinking about what your
  piece is saying?
• Or,

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R E A R R A N G E

• LOOK AT YOUR PIECE GLOBALLY. TRY THIS
• Takes scissors and tape, making thee last
  paragraph of your piece your first.
• Make the first paragraph your last.
• After rereading it, ask yourself how it sounds.
• What other changes will you have to make so that
  your writing still makes sense?
• As the next step, try telling your story
  backwards instead of forward. What new and
  exciting things happens when you do this?

• Look at your piece locally. Try this
• Find a new opening for your piece by finding the
  most powerful image, point of action or sentence
  in your writing.
• Cut the sentence out at tape it to the top of
  your paper.
• Consider what other changes you will have to make
  in your piece to start at this most powerful
  place.
• What does the reader gain or lose if you start
  here? Do what you can to this change work.
• Next, look for ideas that can be combined into
  one sentence. Or single sentences that can be
  better understood as separate thoughts. Revise
  these sentences.

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So, what happened?

• On a separate sheet of paper respond the
  following question
• How did your ideas about your piece of
  writing--its shape, order, pace, or quality
  change because of your revision experiments?

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A C T I O N P L A N

• What changes will you keep in your final draft?
• Use a separate sheet of paper to plan your next
  steps for revising your piece.
• The end