Revision doesn’t have to happen by yourself. You can call upon your peers to help you develop and clarify your draft.

Talk it Out

Find some peers and have a conversation about your piece of writing. Have a conversation where you tell them your ideas and verbalize each of your points. If possible, record your conversation. Then listen to the recording–sometimes valuable ideas or insights will come out of this conversation. What did you say more clearly in the conversation than you wrote in the draft? What did you say that needs to be included in your draft? What kinds of questions or points did your peers make that could be included in your draft?

What I really mean is

Ask a friend to read through your draft, and mark places where difficult or complicated ideas don’t seem to be coming through clearly. Then, look at each passage and explain to your friend what you meant to say in that passage, and ask your friend to write down what you are saying. Sometimes verbally articulating an idea helps to clarify it.

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