Revision as Pruning

What You Will Learn

• Explain the difference between drafting and revising
• Describe the four levels of editing and why order matters
• Read your own work aloud to hear what needs attention
• Choose the piece you will revise for your final project

Lesson Notes

Pruning Is for Fruitful Branches

In John 15:2, Jesus says the Father prunes the branch that beareth fruit. Pruning is not punishment. It happens because the branch is alive and worth growing. Revision works the same way. You revise a piece because it matters.

A first draft is for getting the story down. Revision is for the reader. Many writers say the real writing happens in revision. Give yourself permission to write a messy first draft and a better second one.

The Four Levels of Editing

Professional editing happens in levels, from the biggest questions to the smallest details:

• Developmental editing: the big picture. Structure, focus, what to add, cut, or move, and pacing.
• Line editing: sentence by sentence. Clarity, clutter, word choice, rhythm, and voice.
• Copyediting: correctness and consistency. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and matching names and numbers.
• Proofreading: the final check for typos and small errors before the piece is shared or printed.

Work from big to small. There is no reason to polish the commas in a paragraph you may cut next week.

Distance and Fresh Eyes

When you have just written something, your mind fills in what you meant instead of reading what is on the page. Set a draft aside for at least a day or two before revising if you can. Then read it as a stranger would.

Use two pen colors: one for drafting, one for editing. Keep your original copy clean and unchanged. You will need it as the before in your final project.

Reading Aloud

Reading aloud is one of the oldest and best editing tools. Your ear catches what your eye skips: missing words, sentences that run out of breath, repeated words, and lines that do not sound like you. Read quietly to yourself if the setting does not allow reading aloud.

Mark any place where you stumble, run out of breath, or get bored. Those marks show you where to revise.

Key Terms

In-Class Activities

Prune the Paragraph

This paragraph was written for this course. Cross out every word that does not earn its place, then rewrite the paragraph cleanly. Try to cut at least a third of the words without losing meaning.

In my opinion, I think that the kitchen at my grandmother's house was really, truly the very heart of the whole entire family. Every single Sunday after church, we would all gather together there in that kitchen. Basically, she would cook and cook for hours and hours, and the smell of her cornbread was really very wonderful. It was a place where I felt that I was safe.

Which Level?

Label each editor's note D (developmental), L (line), C (copyediting), or P (proofreading).

1. The turning point does not come until the last page; consider moving it earlier. 2. The middle section repeats the same idea in three scenes; choose one. 3. This sentence is 52 words long; consider splitting it. 4. Try a stronger verb than went here. 5. Grandma is capitalized here but lowercase on page 3. 6. Comma splice: I was tired, I kept going. 7. Typo: teh should be the. 8. Page 4 is missing its page number.

Assignment: Choose Your Piece

Choose one piece from CWP 221 or CWP 222 to revise for your final project (or another piece of your own writing your instructor approves). Choose an excerpt of about 1,000–2,500 words (about 4–10 handwritten pages).

• Make a clean copy and label it BEFORE. Do not mark on this copy.
• Read the piece aloud (or quietly to yourself) and mark places where you stumbled, ran out of breath, or lost interest on a second copy.
• Write a half-page first-impressions note: three things that are working and three things you want to look at.

Choose a piece from your trusted or public circle (CWP 221, Module 5). It will be read by your instructor and possibly by classmates.

Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.

Reflection Journal

John 15:2 says the fruitful branch is pruned so it can bear more fruit. Where has God pruned something in your life, and what grew afterward? How does that change the way you feel about revising your writing?

Prayer focus: Ask God for patience with the slow work of revision and for the courage to cut what does not serve.

The Branch That Bears Fruit

Anyone who has tended a garden knows that pruning looks harsh. Healthy branches are cut back, and for a while the plant looks smaller. But the gardener is not angry with the plant. She is making room for more fruit. Jesus used this picture in John 15:2: the Father purges the branch that bears fruit, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Revision works the same way. You do not revise a piece because it is worthless. You revise it because it is alive and worth growing. The first draft got the story onto the page. Revision shapes it for a reader.

Editors work in levels, from big to small: developmental (structure and focus), line (sentences), copyediting (correctness and consistency), and proofreading (final small errors). Starting with the big picture saves you from polishing sentences you may later cut.

When Danielle chose her piece for this course, she almost picked the shortest one, hoping it would need the least work. (Danielle is a composite example.) Instead she chose the piece she cared about most. Eight weeks later, she said the revision taught her more about her own story than the first draft did.

Think About It

1. Which piece are you choosing to revise, and why? ______________________
2. How do you feel about cutting words you worked hard to write? ______________________
3. Where has pruning in your life led to new growth? ______________________

Daily Devotions for Week 1

Pruned for More

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.— John 15:2 (KJV)

Pruning is a sign of life. God cuts back what hinders so that more fruit can grow, in our writing and in us.

Reflect: What might God be pruning in your life right now?

Pray: Lord, prune what hinders, and make me fruitful.

Do: Cross out one sentence in your draft that does not earn its place.

Made Again

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.— Jeremiah 18:4 (KJV)

The potter did not throw the clay away. He made it again. A marred draft is still clay in good hands.

Reflect: What in your life has God remade?

Pray: Lord, You are the potter; make me again as seems good to You.

Do: Make a clean BEFORE copy of your piece and set it aside.

Dross Removed

Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.— Proverbs 25:4 (KJV)

Refining removes what does not belong so the silver can become something useful and beautiful.

Reflect: What dross needs removing from your writing?

Pray: Lord, refine my words and my heart.

Do: Circle three filler words in your draft.

Do Not Grow Weary

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.— Galatians 6:9 (KJV)

Revision is slow work. The harvest comes to those who keep going.

Reflect: Where are you tempted to give up?

Pray: Lord, keep me from fainting in well doing.

Do: Read your piece aloud once, start to finish.

Pressing Toward the Mark

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.— Philippians 3:14 (KJV)

Paul did not claim to have arrived. He kept pressing forward. Every draft is a step forward, not a final verdict.

Reflect: What are you pressing toward as a writer?

Pray: Lord, help me press on.

Do: Write three things that are already working in your piece.