Re: Revision: Who Else Hates It?

[kdavis@mailclerk.ecok.edu]

Here's what I've learned about revising for publication: it's easy
when an editor has correctly identified my intentions and wants me to
clarify them, but it's darn near impossible when an editor wants me
to change an article away from my original intentions.  

For example, Mickey recently asked me to revise a piece, and it was a
snap: her questions and comments clearly guided me down my own path. 
But another editor recently asked me to revise a piece which would
have meant totally abandoning what I thought I was saying, a task I
decided to pass on.

And the writing center applications are obvious.  But it isn't easy
to identify intentions and to see possibility in someone else's
writing without leading them too far down your own path.  And I'm
wondering if revision roadblocks--our own and our students--aren't
often precipitated by such well intentioned yet neo-directional
comments from readers.

kevin
kdavis@mailclerk.ecok.edu