Revision for Narratives

What is Revision?

By William Killian

First - What isn't revision...

Editing is not revision.
Editing is correcting Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar, and Capitalization.
Revision is an entirely different thing.

Then what is revision?

Revision is the altering or changing of writing with a goal.

Revision works with the ideas and organization of writing.

Examples of Goals

"I want to make this story seem scary and then terrifying."

This is a goal for mood.

"This story needs to be funny."

This is a goal about reader response.

Examples of Goals

"Bill said the whole story needs dialogue. I need to add dialogue."

This is a goal to meet external criteria.

"I want to change the conflict because I can't figure out how to make the character grow."
This is a goal around organization.

​Revision Categories

Changes to:
Length (shorter is awesome)
Dialogue
Character Development
Mood
Reader Response
Voice

Read this

"Hurry up! You are creating a situation where I could possibly become tardy and that is intolerable." he said.

Open Ended

Revision Goal

Rewrite this quote as your main character would speak it. This would be a character development goal for dialogue.

"Hurry up! You are creating a situation where I could possibly become tardy and that is intolerable." he said.

Now What?

In the next slide, you are going to create a goal for your revision today.

Remember it is not editing.

Open Ended

Create a goal for your revision.

then start working on revision your narrative.