There's another way to include revision in your classes. And that's by what I call teaching revision. When you teach revision, you give students techniques they can use not just on the writing they're currently working on but on all the writing they do going forward. As we mentioned, most revisions will be done based on specific comments. Suggestions on a specific writing with the primary goal to improve that writing. But it's also possible to teach revision in such a way that students learn ways to think about revision. And learn techniques to try in revision. That can be helpful not just in the paper they're working on right now, but in writing they do in the future as well. Another of my favorite quotes about revision comes from John Irving. Who said more than half, maybe as much as two thirds of my life as a writer is spent rewriting. Now while it's true that Irving is a professional writer and highly successful one of that. If he spends 2/3 of his writing time in revision, it strikes me that at any writing class students should spend at least some of their time revising. When you teach revision, you go into the activity with your number one goal to practice revision. You focus on techniques rather than on one specific writing. And on one technique at a time rather than trying to consider the whole writing. Students apply the techniques to their own writing. But it's more important to practice the technique than to improve the particular writing. Once they learn the technique, students can apply it to any writing where it might be helpful. Here's a very simple example. In a particular form, let's say, persuasive paper or a research paper or informative paper. Students are having trouble coming up with a strong introductory paragraph. The revision technique, you're going to teach them is how to improve opening paragraphs. To do that, bring in the opening paragraphs of a number of published writings in that form. And these should be successful paragraphs. But also paragraphs that take different approaches. As a class, make a list of the different techniques and possibilities being used. How are they presented? What does each approach accomplish? And then have students return to their own essays and try one or two of those techniques with their own first paragraphs. And I think it's important that they try more than one, again, to see that there are different ways to do this, okay? That we're not looking at the way that will work best with this particular essay. But we're looking at different ways to write an effective introductory paragraph. Now, in the end they can choose the one they prefer, but let them try a few. This is also sometimes known as targeted revision. Targeted revision goes beyond the usual response, which says here is how you might improve this particular section in this particular writing. To instead encompass, here are techniques you might use to overcome a challenge such as the one being presented in this particular section in this particular writing. It's a technique you may use whenever you face this particular challenge in all of your writing. Here are a couple of other types of activities that promote revision techniques. One I call find a hole, identify a spot in your paper where you could add at least one sentence. Insert that sentence in the hole between the two current sentences. What has the new sentence added? And two, tighten the writing, choose a paragraph or section that feels overwritten. Count the number of words. See if you can reduce the word count by 10% without removing anything important. Now read the new version allowed, does it flow better? And the thing about these two techniques and all of the techniques that go into teaching revision? I can say the student find a hole and identify a spot where you could add at least one sentence. The student may add that sentence and then stop and say, well, wait a minute, this sentence hasn't made this better. It's just added more words and that's okay. They can just take that sentence out of that particular spot for that particular writing. But in trying this technique, when they get to a place in that paper or in a future paper where more needs to be said, they can use this technique. And look for a hole, look for a spot between two sentences where they can fit in that extra sentence. Same thing with the second approach, it might be that when they take out 10% the writing has gotten to spare or they couldn't do 10% without taking out important things. And now the writing is less effective, that's okay. They can always go back to what they had before. But this idea, when they have written something that does feel like it's overwritten or it's got too many words, it's just worthy. This is one way they can approach it. And say, okay, let me see if I can take 10% out, maybe I can, maybe I can only take out 7% for this particular writing. But chances are down the road, they'll be one where [LAUGH] I can really take out 15%. This whole idea, again, it's a technique that can be applied to more than one particular writing. And in fact if it doesn't work with the writing that they try it on, that's still okay. Because it will likely work with a different writing. The writer's toolbox article which is in the next lesson has several exercises like this. And also in the next lesson you'll find a number of strategies and practices for teaching revision. Most revision will be done based on specific comments and suggestions on a specific writing. And the primary goal will be to improve that writing. But it's also possible to teach revision in such a way that students learn ways to think about revision and learn techniques to try in revision. That can be helpful not just on the paper they're working on right now but in writing they do in the future as well.