I really dig this revision process. It's especially good for people who hate revising, aren't sure what the heck revising is, or are always in too much of a hurry to bother with revising in the first place.
- Draft as much as you can as fast as you can; don’t stop until you hit the “end”.
- Highlight your key points.
- Delete anything that isn’t related to your key points.
- Patch up transitions and sentence structure as needed.
- Read aloud, correct remaining errors and then file.
This process took less than 20 minutes and cut the original document from 2500+ words to just over 900. Not bad.
So, you gonna give it a try?
If you want to try some other content revision strategies, check these bad boys out:
- Revision: Where the action is: A revising strategy focused on verbs (that's what's happenin'!)
- Revision: The 3 Es and Idea-Details: Two revising strategies using details like evidence, explanations and examples.
- Revision: More reader-friendly writing: Revising strategies including word choice, sentence fluency and more.
- What would Don Draper Do?: According to one Mad Men episode, he'd revise.