- On page 117 of “Revising Attitudes” Brock Dethier writes “…For most of us, revision is the only road to success.” What does he mean by this? What’s your response?
Dethier acknowledges some writers’ sentiments that ‘revision is a sign of failure, and criticism a personal affront’, and comes from a place of understanding when he says that most writers have to revise. This implies that the minority of writers take revision and criticism at face value rather than accepting them and revising their work, which they must have seen as perfect and close to their visions. But I believe too that revision is the only road to success if success means a satisfactory piece of writing. Some writers seem to be stuck in an endless loop where nothing they ever create is ever good enough for them, thus not fit for others’ reading either. However, revising and being objective about one’s own work comes ever closer to the ideal product.
2. On page 124 Deither uses the metaphor of working on a car to think about revision. What’s a metaphor you have for revision? What can you compare it to?
Revising drafts is like brushing teeth. Some people like brushing their teeth, others don’t. Some are indifferent and do it out of habit. At the end of the day, everyone brushes their teeth because they want to maintain standard oral hygiene. In the same way, revising may not be for everyone, and everyone has a different attitude, approach, and reason for doing it. Revising will objectively make for a better piece of writing.
3. Respond to one of the following from Donald Murray’s “Revising Your Own Manuscripts”:
a. “Good writing is essentially rewriting.” (pg 101)
From personal experience, nothing I write ever stays the same. Whether it’s just one sentence or a thesis or even entire paragraphs, sometimes for the sake of a good, cohesive piece of writing, I find the need to just let go of some things. For example, we all have that one sentence we think we absolutely need to include in an essay; but no matter how we look at it, the sentence just doesn’t fit into the context at all. You could change the sentence but then you run the risk of losing its intended impact. Perhaps you could revise the sentence, and try to set it up better beforehand instead of shoehorning it in as is.