Commit to Revising your Writing

I know. It's not always easy. You just sweat blood and tears for that first draft. And well, heck, you kind of like it. Just. As. It. Is. So what is all this malarkey about revision? And why do it?

Let me start with quotes from a few people far more qualified to talk "writing" than me:

"Books aren’t written- they’re rewritten.  It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”  Michael Crichton

“Half my life is an act of revision.”  John Irving
“Books are never finished, they are merely abandoned.”  Oscar Wilde

“There are two kinds of editors, those who correct your copy and those who say it’s wonderful.” Theodore H. White 

“I have rewritten–often several times–every word I have ever written. My pencils outlast their erasers.” Vladimir Nabokov  

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”  Ernest Hemingway

Good writing is thinking made visible. Thus, good writing is re-writing. But how to go about it? Should you carefully edit for spelling errors or the like? Well, sure you could do that. But right now, at this point we are talking about a re-vision of your work: re-seeing it from a new perspective or angle. Think about global changes you might make to content and structure.

Allow yourself to re-vision your draft. Try to divorce yourself from the writing as a product and see it as a process. Yes, you're thinking, but that is so much easier said than done. Especially when deadlines are involved. Can't I just click the "submit" button and be finished? Well, perhaps, but this semester, we are going to flex, sharpen and put into practice our re-vision, and revising, skills. That's the way to get to the finish line, with practice and determination. Step-by-step.

You have to take the shots

Welcome to the English 100 Class Blog Landing Page. From here, you can link to each class member's individual blog. This semester, you will have to chance to contribute your own original blog content, and also read what your classmates have to say.

This adventure will probably be filled with highs and lows, great amazing ideas and at times--writer's block and an empty screen. Each post you write though is the opportunity to add your voice to not only the academic debate, but the culture at large.

So remember what Michael Jordan said, and go ahead and "take the shots." Because it's only by not ever trying that we ever really fail.

Every time you write a post, that's a success. No idea is too big or too small. So what are you waiting for? Jump right in, shoot the ball and join the conversation.