Steps of the Writing Process, Pt. III

15.

Step 6: Revising

Once your essay is on paper or the screen, its time to step back and evaluate it as a whole. In the revision stage, your essay’s structure may under go a radical transformation.

Some questions to ask about your essay at this point include:

• Does it contain a solid thesis?
  
• Do the body paragraphs support the thesis, and are they each singular in focus?
  
• Does the essay flow? Are there transitions?
  
• Does it have a solid conclusion that both summarizes your argument and rewords the thesis?

16.

Step 6: Revising

Which changes would you make to this outline?

Intro ¶: Intro subject; Thesis
Body ¶ 1: Establish value of honest communication in a relationship
Body ¶ 2: Establish challenges of inter-faith couples
Body ¶ 3: Honest communication at the beginning of the relationship
Body ¶ 4: Honest communication and the holidays
Body ¶ 5: Honest communication and family and friends
Body ¶ 6: Honest communication and kids
Conclusion ¶: Summarize; Reworded thesis

17.

Step 6: Revising

At this stage, it is also important to think structurally. Remember, revising is the point at which an essay can radically change shape.

Likewise, essays should be trimmed at this stage so as to keep the emphasis on only those paragraphs that best support your thesis. Do not be afraid to cut a paragraph if it is not doing what It is supposed to do, which is strengthen your overall argument.

18.

Step 6: Revising

First-draft essay:
Intro ¶: Intro subject; Thesis
Body ¶ 1: Establish value of honest communication in a relationship
Body ¶ 2: Establish challenges of inter-faith couples
Body ¶ 3: Honest communication at the beginning of the relationship
Body ¶ 4: Honest communication and the holidays
Body ¶ 5: Honest communication and family and friends
Body ¶ 6: Honest communication and kids
Conclusion ¶: Summarize; Reworded thesis

Revised draft essay:
Intro ¶: Intro subject; Thesis
Body ¶ 1: Establish challenges unique to inter-faith couples
Body ¶ 2: Establish value of honest communication in a relationship
Body ¶ 3: Honest communication and family
Body ¶ 4: Honest communication during the holidays
Conclusion ¶: Summarize; Reworded thesis

19.

Step 6: Revising

These changes took advantage of either swapping, combining (or eliminating paragraphs These changes not only better organized the argument logically, they also increased the flow of the essay overall. Again, major structural changes are appropriate at the revising stage.

Another helpful option at this stage is peer-editing, in which another person reads your essay and offers constructive criticism. It is often helpful to have a fresh set of eyes to review your writing.

20.

Step 6: Revising

Unlike revising, in the proofreading stage the emphasis is on the smaller details; generally punctuation and grammar. By this point, the structure of your essay is in place and so proofreading turns your attention the finer points of the essay.

21.

Step 6: Revising

Proofreading tips:

• Take a break: Many find it beneficial to take a short break between revising and proofreading as a way to refresh your brain.
  
• Read it aloud: Often, your ears are better editors than your eyes
  
• Don’t rely too heavily on your word processing program’s grammar check feature: Though helpful, these features are not very sophisticated and can miss many errors.
  
• Revise on paper: Often you’ll catch more mistakes by reading a printed version of your essay rather than on computer screen

22.

Step 8: Publishing

To make your essay print-ready (or publishable), it must conform to MLA style, the formatting standard of college literature and composition classes.

MLA style includes:

• 12-pt Times New Roman font in black ink
  
• Double-spaced throughout
  
• A right-aligned header containing your last name and page number 1" margins on all sides
• Centered title (never bolded)
  
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch (one tab) from the left margin
  
• Titles of books, plays, epic poems, magazines, films, paintings/sculptures, television programs, and newspapers are italicized; poems, chapter titles, articles, essays, television episodes, and songs go inside quotation marks ("")

23.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Steps of the Writing Process is designed to maximize a writer’s abilities by providing an organized, but still personalized, approach to essay writing. Adopting this technique can help you better focus your thoughts, as well as your time. Give the process an earnest effort and the result may be a better organized and more concise essay.