Let’s start with your current thoughts on revision. Take a few minutes to write about the questions below, and then read “Hawks and Dachshunds.”

Prep: Answer the following prompts in your notebook.

View: What is your working definition of revision? (Don’t look anything up at this point; just jot down your current understanding.)

Process: What is your revising process? What do you do, and how do you go about doing it?

Expectation: Imagine looking at several drafts of a manuscript by an experienced writer (kind of a time-lapse view of revision). What would you expect to see? How would this compare to a view of several drafts of one of your manuscripts?

Goals: What do you hope to learn over the course of this regimen?

Read: “Hawks and Dachshunds”

Reflect: 

In what ways did this essay confirm your views of revision?

In what ways did this essay challenge your views of revision?