How to Revise a Writing Project

You may not want to follow these suggestions in the order I've written them in.  Be conscious of your own writing process; think about what will help you to revise meaningfully.

Suggestion 1.  Review all the assignment materials, especially the sections in The Call To Write that your writing project was based on.

  • Analysis of Literacy Event/Literacy Narrative--Chapter 1
  • Rhetorical Analysis-- Chapters 2 and 3
  • Letters Project -- Chapter 4
  • Informative Document Project--Chapter 8
  • Profile Project--Chapter 7

Suggestion 2.  Review all the drafts and in-class activities and notes and exercises that you did for this writing project.   Are there good questions or ideas that didn't get addressed in your current draft?

Suggestion 3.  Reconsider your audience.  Have you chosen the most effective audience for what you want to accomplish?  Have you fully specified a real audience that you can realistically reach?

Suggestion 4.  Rethink how you present yourself as a writer in your text.  What is your ethos (see Ch. 3)?  Have you connected yourself and your concerns to what you're writing about, established a relationship with the audience you're writing to?

Suggestion 5.  Imagine your audience's response to your writing.  What would they say?  What questions would they have for you?  What would they want to do in response to your writing?  Try to build your own responses to their responses right into your text in some way.

Suggestion 6.  Get feedback on your writing from someone new.  Read your text out loud at at the dinner table.   Visit the Writing Center!  Make sure your reviewers understand what your project is, who your audience is, and so on.

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