Very few writers sit down, write a first draft of a paper, and submit it for a successful grade. More typically, writers work on a draft in chunks, circling back occasionally to reread and rewrite. You may find that your instructors build time into an assignment for feedback, revising, and editing. Even if they don’t, it’s useful to set aside some time so that you can move comfortably from a first or second draft to a final piece. Revising and editing a multimodal composition may take substantially more time than revising and editing a traditional essay.
Writer’s Help includes advice about revising and editing. For the purposes of this brief discussion, keep in mind the following distinctions:
In general, revising involves
rethinking your point or purpose
reshaping your approach to fit your audience’s needs
reorganizing or strengthening evidence to help you achieve your purpose
rearranging whole parts of your composition
revisiting your message
In general, editing involves
checking to see if sentences and paragraphs progress logically
adding transitions where necessary to improve coherence
changing wordy phrases
deleting sentences that are off-topic
making sure that word choice is precise and tailored to the purpose and audience
When revising and editing a traditional, words-only document, a writer might move around, add, or delete whole passages or sentences in a word processing program. The writer might print out a draft to mark corrections, changes, or points that need more clarification.
The processes of revising a multimodal project, however, might be quite different, depending on the modes used. But it often involves
seeking and using feedback
revising and remixing
editing across modes
The overall point of revising and editing, whether your composition is multimodal or monomodal, is to make your work stronger, clearer, better organized, and on target for your purpose and audience.
Related topics:
Revising your own work
Editing your own work