The Craft of Revision
1. REWRITE BEFORE WRITING. Why Do We Resist Rewriting? An Invitation: Write with Me. How Do You Find Something to Write About. Be Specific. End-of-Chapter Interviews. Interview with a Published Writer--Elizabeth Cooke. 2. HOW TO GET THE WRITING DONE: TRICKS OF THE WRITER'S TRADE. Nulla Dies Sine Linea. Establish Achievable Deadlines. Break a Writing Assignment into Small Daily Tasks. Know Tomorrow's Task Today. Keep a Daybook. Rehearse. A Writer's Place. 3. READING FOR REVISION. Test Readers. Where Do We Find Test Readers? What Test Readers Do. The Danger of Test Readers. Setting the Reader's Agenda. Reading Writing in Process. Techniques of Responding. Methods of Reader Response. 4. REWRITE WITH FOCUS. Elements of Focus. Clarity. Premature Focusing. How to Focus. How Do I Make an Instructor's Idea My Own? How Do I Make the Boss's Idea My Own? Focus Repair. Diagnosis: No Focus. Say One Thing. Frame Your Meaning. Set the Distance. Interview with a Published Writer--Christopher Scanlan. 5. REWRITE WITH GENRE. Choosing the Genre. Genre Provides Meaning. Diagnosis: Ineffective Genre. Genre Communicates Meaning. Discovering the Genre for the Draft. The Essential Narrative. Design Your Own Genre. Case History of a Student Writer--Maureen Healy. 6. REWRITE WITH STRUCTURE. Diagnosis: Disorder. Answer the Reader's Questions. Outline After Writing. Interview with a Student Writer--Kathryn S. Evans. 7. REWRITE WITH DOCUMENTATION. Diagnosis: Too Little Information. The Importance of Information. The Qualities of Effective Information. The Basic Forms of Information. Where Do You Find Information? Writing with Information. Interview with a Student Writer--Jennifer Bradley-Swift. 8. REWRITE TO DEVELOP. Diagnosis: Superficial. Techniques of Development. Rewriting Starts with Rereading. Read Fragments. Read What Isn't Written. Rewrite within the Draft. Emphasize the Significant. Pace and Proportion. Length. 9. REWRITE BY EAR. What Is Voice? Hearing Your Own Writing. Diagnosis: No Voice. Hearing the Writer's Voice. Hearing Your Own Voice. Case History of a Professional Writer--Donald M. Murray. 10. REWRITE WITH CLARITY. Twenty Ways to Unfinal a Draft. The Attitude of the Editing Writer. Interview Your Draft. Solutions to Common Editing. The Craft of Editing. A Student Case History--Roger LePage, Jr. 11. THE CRAFT OF LETTING GO. Why Writers Don't Let Go. How to Let Go. When You Let Go.