Writing Like a Graduate Student: Revision

If you have reached the revision stage of your graduate writing project, you’re almost there . . .. But this part of the writing process can feel like a huge challenge, too!

The last part of the writing process that I’m going to cover in this blog is revision.

Having been writing about writing for the last few months (and spending a lot of my professional hours working with writing in one way or another), I have had the opportunity to think a lot about the writing process – particularly at the graduate level. And from the swirl of issues and ideas and research, three concepts have emerged. You might think of these as three guiding principles for writers. They are genre, process, and audience. And each of these principles relates to revision.

Genre

I frequently meet with students who say things like, “I’m just not a good writer.” Or even “I used to think I was a good writer, but now I’m now so sure.”

Now, I am not going to pretend that everyone is just as accomplished a writer as everyone else or that Dostoyevsky (for example) was not uniquely brilliant. But you do not need to be Dostoyevsky – or even Malcolm Gladwell – to write a solid thesis or dissertation. All you have to do is master the genre. (Well, obviously, you have to ask an interesting question and do some sound research, but this series is about writing. And for writing, genre is key.)

Poetry is a genre of writing. So is a news story. So is a murder mystery. And so is graduate-level academic writing. Like other genres, it also has a lot of subgenres, so writing as an engineer is not going to look like writing as an historian. Genres have rules, conventions, and idiosyncrasies that separate them from other genres. As discussed in earlier posts, you can learn the generic conventions of academic writing through both inductive and deductive means.

Genre and Revision

When it comes to revision, you need to keep generic conventions firmly in your mind. Get your MLA Guide, your APA Style Manual, or whatever style guide your field uses. Keep it handy. These guides are invaluable for larger editing tasks (In what order should I present my information? Have I left out something important? Am I referring to and constructing tables properly? Do I have enough sources?) and smaller proofreading details (First person or third person? Passive or active voice? All caps or title case? How do I form the plural of a letter?)

Your job in revision is to make your document conform as closely as possible to the expectations of the genre in which you are writing.

Time to Make Tough Decisions

Revision is the part of the writing process where you need to be ruthless. You can be creative in the prewriting phase (What if I explore this connection?) and permissive in the drafting phase (I’ll leave that in and see how it sounds!). In the revision phase, you need to get out your scalpel and your red pen, and approach your document with the eye of an objective observer, rather than a loving creator.

Process and Revision

Remembering that writing is a process is helpful here. Don’t get discouraged by the amount of work that remains at this stage. It’s part of the process. Don’t feel frustrated with your drafting self who wrote sentences – even whole sections – that didn’t make sense. This is the part of the process where you correct that. Don’t fling the style manual across the room, declaring that you will never get all those headings right. Polishing is part of the process, and that’s where you are. And if your work in the revision process alerts you to the fact that you need to return to some prewriting or drafting activities . . . no problem. It’s an iterative process, after all.

Really, there are at least three aspects of the revision stage. There’s editing, where you deal with big issues – missing pieces, organization, irrelevant information, checking quotations and sources. Then there’s proofreading, where you are looking for grammatical and mechanical issues. Then there’s polishing, where you focus on formatting – details like headings, page numbers, and margins. You can hire some of this stuff out, and it’s certainly helpful to get another set of eyes on your document at this time. Never forget though, that this is your project. You are ultimately responsible for all editorial decision making.

Audience

Revision is where you really need to be thinking about your reader. In one sense, your reader is your chair, advisor, or committee – and you do need to pay close attention to what these people suggest and ask for. In another sense, your reader is the publication gatekeeper(s) at your institution. You need to study their formatting and style guidance and make sure you are following these exactly.

A Broader Audience

But you should also think about audience in a broader sense. Who might benefit from reading your study, and what do they need to know? At this point in your writing process, you have invested months or years in research and writing. There are people for whom your work will be interesting and helpful. Think about these people as you consider organization. Make an attempt to lead your reader smoothly through your argument with logical order and transitions. Remind your reader what it is you are trying to figure out, and connect your results, discussion, and conclusions clearly to your research question.

Think about this reader as you do more granular revision as well. Do sentences make sense? Are words defined? Have you used words with the most precise meaning possible? Is your phrasing clear and appropriately concise? Have you varied your sentence length for interest and emphasis? Have you checked for parallel phrasing in lists and in sentences with multiple clauses? All these things will make reading your work a more enjoyable experience for whatever audience it ultimately gains.

And even if all you want to do at this point is get this thing finished (we’ve all been there), paying attention to revision will aid (and probably speed) completion. While elegant writing is no substitute for solid research, I promise that your committee will appreciate the effort you put in to make your work clear, accurate, accessible, and interesting.

How the Well-Ordered Mind Can Help

If you are looking for help with the writing process, external accountability, or time management and productivity tips as you work on your academic writing process, I’d love to talk to you! Set up a free consultation to learn more about how the Well-Ordered Mind can support your graduate journey!

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