8.8: Tips for revising

• Reading your writing aloud will often help you find problems with unity and coherence. Listen for the clarity and flow of your ideas. Identify places where you find yourself confused, and write a note to yourself about possible fixes.
• When you reread your writing to find revisions to make, look for each type of problem in a separate sweep. Read it straight through once to locate any problems with unity. Read it straight through a second time to find problems with coherence. You may follow this same practice during many stages of the writing process.
• Having more to revise is better than having less.

Sometimes, in writing studies, editing and revising are the same thing. And they can be the same thing. But revising can sometimes mean completely rewriting your paper, and that is bigger than just editing. Revision can also be called global content editing. Below is a chart for clarification purposes.

Chart: Clarifying “proofreading” and “editing” and “revising”

Copy editing / Proofreading	Editing	Revising (global content editing / global editing / content editing)
Grammar errors	Organizational errors	Major organizational errors
Spelling errors	Topic sentences	Content addition and deleting
Formatting	Style issues such as allusion, word choice, repetition, rhythm,	What is being argued
Typos	Research items: is it the best source?	Main focus, main point, main thesis or claim
White space, font		Focus of paper
Placement of captions, pictures		Intent for audience total effect
Citation accuracy (MLA or APA, etc)		Completely rewriting

Chart: This chart lays out the ways the words “proofreading” and “editing” and “revising” are often used in writing studies.

Parts of this chapter came from: From Business English For Success.

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