Embrace Dreadful First Drafts & Other Ideas for Your Revision List

Here are additional ideas for your revision list. My colleague Patricia Hibberd shared them with me after reading my April post, Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference.

She shared her reflections as addenda to specific items on my original list. Her thoughts are in blue italics. For some of them, I have added my own reflections in purple italics.

Readers, I welcome you to chime in!

Read Out Loud

• Read your draft out loud. This is a good way to identify long or awkward sentences, typos, and unclear points.

PH: If you can’t say it smoothly, you will never be able to sell it in a presentation.

Polish Sentences by Paying Attention to the Words You Use

• Revise the word “issue” out of every sentence in which it appears. Everything in public health is an issue. The word is vague, overused, and meaningless.

PH: Revise the word “however” out of your life. You will see that dropping the word reduces word count and loses nothing.

JB Response: “However” has been bothering me for a while, for a couple of reasons. First, it often feels awkward and lazy when used to start sentences and paragraphs. For many years, I used it all the time, particularly to connect two sentences with a semicolon. Showing off my ability to use a semicolon properly gave me great pleasure. And I have a penchant for writing overly long sentences. Now I almost always read “however” as a symptom of linguistic lassitude.

• When a sentence is 3 lines or longer, consider breaking it up.

PH: Get a new goal of 10 words or less for sentences. Push to 14 if absolutely necessary.

JB Response: This one is really hard for me. I just counted the words in each purple sentence above. Only one has fewer than 10 words. The rest range from 11 to 17. I’m ok with that. Embracing the challenge is what matters most. I failed to come in under my self-imposed word limit, but I was making conscious choices about each word. That is the essence of writing as deliberate practice.

Some Thoughts on How to Use a List Like This

Remember: Writing = Revision

• Write messy (dreadful) first drafts. Let the words flow, with the understanding that you will be revising. DO NOT worry about the items on the list as you are working on a first draft. You don’t want to censor yourself as you are getting words on the page. Instead, use your list after you have written to help you revise.

PH: If it is not dreadful when you start, you won’t start. It is supposed to be dreadful so it can get better.

• DO start the writing process early so you have time to revise and share with peers or colleagues for feedback.

PH: Think ahead — when will you need feedback? (e.g. due tomorrow – good luck!!)

Choose One or Two Things to Work on at a Time

• Don’t try to do everything on the list in a single sitting or draft. Pace yourself. Choose one thing to work on at a time. This entails reading each sentence and then making conscious decisions.

PH: In other words, write sentences with less than 10 words!!!

JB Response: Sometimes revision feels like a chore, particularly when I’m working on a revise-and-resubmit. I’m often chafing at reviewers’ demands and feeling panicked because I want to meet the journal’s resubmission deadline.

I don’t feel like I have time to luxuriate in words and punctuation while finessing my sentences to get them incrementally closer to expressing what’s in my head. If feedback is a gift from someone else, then reveling in revision is a gift I give to myself. It’s the time and place where I can try to bring some creativity to even the most technical journal manuscript.