Re: Revision: Who Else Hates It?

[csjhs@eiu.edu (Jeanne H. Simpson)]

My experiences with revision vary a lot. From time to time, I seem to have
to write a clunky, awkward, dull, truly wretched first draft from soup to
nuts. And then I have to acknowledge that it is graceless and throw the
whole thing away and start over.  Sometimes composing and revising seem to
happen almost simultaneously for me.  And I enjoy the process of trimming
and polishing, shifting and rearranging, of getting a new insight. 
Frequently, a draft doesn't go where I intended it to go at all, ends up
in Florida when I thought I was headed for Minnesota.  I like that kind of
surprise, though it creates an interesting revision dilemma for me.
And, frequently, my revision experience involves sitting around the
conference table with the Academic Affairs team and pounding away at some
document until we are all satisfied that it is short enough, readable
enough, and logical enough that it might not come back to haunt us too much.
Find these revision efforts very satisfying.

I agree with Barry that it is unwise to assume someone else's model(s) of
revision match our own. Good to check it out first.

Jeanne Simpson
csjhs@eiu.edu