Benjamin Miller
Volume 5
Chapter Description
This essay recommends that writers use digital tools to keep track of what’s changing as they write—and to include a quick comment with each notable change, saying what they’re trying to achieve. These revisitable histories are helpful in several ways. First, when we notice what we’re changing (often unconsciously) on a small scale, like words and phrases, we can think through our reasons for those changes—and then ask if similar reasoning, and similar revision strategies, might also apply at larger scales of paragraphs and beyond. Second, by sharing and discussing these reasons and strategies, we expand our repertoire of revision moves, moving further along the spectrum from novice to expert. Third, if our writing is interrupted—whether by other classes or by world or life events—re-reading the revision notes can help writers recapture momentum and pick up where we left off. And finally, recording what’s changing helps us see and celebrate small victories, and realize that there really is progress happening, even when it might not look like it. For example, if each new draft is a scrap-and-start-over of the same three paragraphs until we’ve clarified our goals for the essay, revision histories can show the progress that word counts alone would leave invisible. Without tracking these mid-draft changes, writers’ celebrations can otherwise feel delayed until the project is over, or until a grade comes back—or, worse, never. Noticing and naming progress can generate feelings of interim success to keep ourselves going through difficult stages in the writing process.
Alternate Downloads:
You may also download this chapter from Parlor Press or WAC Clearinghouse.
Writing Spaces is published in partnership with Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse.