Revision Strategy #5: Digging for Insight
Essays are almost always built around some idea or insight about the world the writer wants to share with a reader. The hard part is saying something that goes beyond the obvious, that might surprise a little.
- Choose a draft from your portfolio. On the top of a journal page, compose a sentence or two that captures the main point, the thesis, the controlling idea of your essay. For example,
Losing a loved one forever changes the way you see your own life.
- Just below the sentence, brainstorm a list of questions that someone might ask you about the point you're trying to make. Don't censor yourself. Just make as long a list as you can. For example,
- In what ways, exactly, does it change the way you see things?
- Did this revelation come suddenly? When did you first notice it?
- Is "forever" too strong a word?
- Are there other events that might have a similar impact?
- Did you notice anything about how you lived your life today that reflects this idea?
- Is this true for everybody?
- Does it change the way you see "other" people's lives, too?
- Now fastwrite for seven or more minutes, exploring how you might answer some of these questions. Whenever you can, plunge into the sea of experience. Dig more deeply into what you're trying to say.
- Now rewrite your main point using what you've learned. Perhaps you might be more specific, or you might qualify what you're saying, or say something else entirely. For example,
- Revise your essay around the new idea. Add information that develops it and cut information that doesn't.
When my father died, I noticed that certain moments seem haunted with his memory, yet at other moments all I could feel was relief. In loss, I discovered, there is also gain.
From: Bruce Ballenger, Boise State University