When I imagine revising writing, I picture it as taking my work and seeing why it isn’t perfect. How at times it could be highlighting the wrong points. Is the message presented clearly? and Is it enjoyable to read?
In my Senior year of High School I had almost finished my 8-page research paper on an uninteresting topic and during my revision I deleted the whole thing and started again. From this experience I became more attentive to how my writing sounded to others and not just how it sounded in my head. From my experience the very first step in the paper writing process is to write the first draft and then afterward revise it, change around sentences or paragraphs to have the paper better portray your arguments in a clear manner. and then lastly edit and proofread, check for typos, redundancy and grammatical errors.
In Revising Attitudes by Dethier. Deither writes ” Revision is trivial, the nitpicky correcting of superficial niceties.” In the past I have thought of revisions in this matter . I viewed revisions as simply proofreading and editing and failed to recognize what it truly was. Dethier also mentions “Revision is drudgery; only the first draft is creative” This statement I also found to be true. If you go into the revision process with a negative attitude you will find that you are simply going over work you know way too much which can be extremely boring, However if you go into the revisions with an attitude of “How can I improve this paper?” You’ll find revisions to be one of the most helpful processes you could undergo in your history of being a writer.