I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.
~ Robert Cormier
To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone--just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again and once more, and over and over. It is to ring changes, not repeat, not fall onto a dead center.
(John Hersey, quoted in The Craft of Revision, by Donald Murray, Harcourt Brace, 1991)
Helpful Websites:
Revision: Cultivating a Critical Eye from Dartmouth College
Grammar Girl's Checklist for Editing
Editing and Proofreading from UNC Writing Center
Editing and Rewriting Process
Tutorial:
Check out this short video about how to use the technique of reverse outlining, from UNC.
Videos:
From Urbana Fuls: Why Proofreading Matters
The Impotence of Proofreading - Taylor Mali
Powerpoint: Editing and Revision
Handouts:
Twelve Common Errors - an Editing Checklist
Reading Aloud - handout
Revision Checklist - handout
Proofreading and Editing handout - pdf
The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say. ~Mark Twain
The wastebasket is a writer's best friend. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer
Click on the links in the editing checklist below to access pages for information
and resources to help you polish your drafts as you revise and edit.
Reprinted from Capital Community College Foundation
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