Revisions (Revs)

Revisions (Revs) are Xs taken to the next level. Revisions are pieces you present to your writing group for their response and advice. They are an intermediate stage between the exploratory work you do in the Xs and the two finished projects that will be the culmination of your work for this course.

In this course there are three basic ways to revise:

Develop:  This is probably the most common form of revision. It involves identifying a piece you find promising or interesting, and then adding to or extending the work you’ve done in it.

Refine: On occasion, when you have a piece that you feel is almost ready to submit for publication, you may want to concentrate on polishing and editing it to meet the requirements of a particular journal or website. I will only accept this form of revision when you identify a specific publication that you plan to send your work to.

Restart: Sometimes, after having tried a particular approach to an X assignment, you may realize you now have a better idea about how to go about it. You are free to start over in revision—although you will now be doing so for a letter grade rather than simply a check.

Revision is the moment where you begin to commit yourself to a piece. It is thus also the moment when you are most likely to profit from a close and focused reading of your work. When you prepare a revision for your writing group, then I will expect you to preface your text with a paragraph in which you state your goals for your writing and list any questions or worries you have about the piece as it stands. And when you submit your revision to me after your writing group meets, I will expect you to add another paragraph in which you summarize the responses you received, outline your current plans for the piece, and tell me what kinds of feedback you would most like from me. I will keep this in mind as I write my own responses to your revision.

Revisions will earn a letter grade—but since each of these four pieces will only count towards 1/16 of your final grade, you should still feel free to experiment in them. You may revise the same piece more than once. Indeed, since you are required to turn in four revisions but only two final projects, this is likely to happen.

We’ll discuss all this more as we go through the semester. Good luck!