[THEME MUSIC]
-I think, to demystify what revision is, really, it's some combination of four different strategies. One, what can you add to make it a stronger piece? Two, what can you cut that's going to strengthen it, or bring it into sharper focus? What do you need to clarify? Lots of times I'll write something that I think is perfectly clear, then I'll bring it to my group, and somebody will say, "Well, I was confused about, you know, when he says this, did he mean this, or did he mean that?" -And then, I'm writing everything down that anybody's saying, in terms of the feedback. And then, somebody else and-- I'll think to myself sometimes, of course I meant that. And then, somebody else will say, "Yeah, I was confused by that too." And then, it's like, oh, and that second voice chimes in. You need to clarify. So add, cut, clarify, and the fourth strategy is reordering. If something is buried in the third paragraph on the third page, but would make a great opening, say. How can you-- maybe putting it someplace else is going to really make it pop out and be more noticeable. -So, those are really the four strategies. Some combination of the of those, and I certainly feel that writing is 90% revision, and lots of patience as the revisions going on. And so, those are the-- I'm using the strategies all the time, and trying to share those strategies with other people too. -I guess, probably, when I was teaching at the college level, the most useful thing that I taught was-- or tired to model, was humility. I was working with college students who thought they were pretty good, and didn't need to go too far beyond the first draft. And so, when I started there, having taught younger kids for a number of years, suddenly, I was faced with students who were a little bit offended that I didn't see the genius that they saw in a first effort. -And so, I would bring in piles of my own stuff, and I'd say, "OK, here's draft one. And here's draft two." And, I'm mean, for a short story, I would sometimes come up with a thickness that looked like the new York phone book. And so, little by little-- and when they began to see the payoff of opening your ears, and opening your mind to the fact that you can make it better, that was that was when things begin to really turn.