Revision Is Where The Money Is At

This reading made one point very clear to me: Revision is the single most important step in writing. This could not have been written any more resolutely. Ballenger devoted almost twenty pages to the topic of revision. In these pages Ballenger goes over many different strategies pertaining to the “re-searching” of topics. I thought that it was very interesting the way that he broke down the roots of the word ‘revising’. Taken literally, revising means, “looking again” which makes the word a lot more helpful. We are simply ‘looking again’ at our previous draft. There are many ways in which we can revise our drafts, and every technique offers a different benefit. Some of these methods are, getting an outside opinion, attacking the draft by cutting your paper into pieces, examining your thesis and listening to your voice. These are all good strategies for revision, but in my opinion, listening to my own voice is the most effective method. Using this technique, I read the essay out loud to myself. I have always loved using this method. When a writer gets bogged down by work, it becomes very easy to start using canned phrases. The writer fills page after page with words that, while they make sense, do not make the writer’s voice readily apparent. Whenever I use this process I come across entire paragraphs in which I ramble on in someone else’s words; not making my own voice heard above the din of clichéd subjects and everyday predicates. Typically when I read my work out loud to myself I keep a pen or marker on hand, instantly rewriting sentences that do not sound like me.
Another great benefit of reading your draft out loud is that it makes grammar adjustments go much more smoothly. A lot of times a sentence will seem to have perfect structure on paper, but when you try to read through it out loud, you get caught on certain parts of the sentence. This fact makes this particular method even more beneficial for someone who does not have people to help with the correction of papers. It is amazing how much your ears pick up, that your eyes do not.