Category Archives: revision

revising? try a four step approach

Posted on November 1, 2021 by pat thomson

Many people approach revising as if it is a single shot process. They tell themselves, “I’m just going to sit down now and revise my paper”. But revising and refining a text are not one activity, they are several. The … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, communication, revision, revision strategy, supervision | Tagged communication, Pat Thomson, revision, revision strategy, supervision | 2 Comments

revision – the “make it better” exercise

Posted on September 20, 2021 by pat thomson

Occasionally I offer strategies that you can try to see if they work for you. If they do, and not everything works for everybody, then you can add them to your academic writing repertoire. Today I’ve got an exercise designed … Continue reading →

Posted in make it better, revision, revision strategy | Tagged academic writing, make it better, Pat Thomson, revision, revision strategy | 2 Comments

revising – nine steps for making meaning

Posted on May 10, 2021 by pat thomson

In 1973 the late Donald Murray published an essay in The Writer in which he argues that writing begins when the first draft is completed. From then on, he says, the writer revises, reads and changes their words, closing in … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, revision, revision strategy, thesis revision | Tagged Donald Murray, Pat Thomson, revision, revision strategy, writing as making | 1 Comment

required, desirable and delightful elements of academic writing

Posted on May 3, 2021 by pat thomson

This is the time of year that I run writing workshops and courses. And because I’m preoccupied with teaching, I’m also thinking about new and different strategies for authoring and revision. Authoring and revision strategies are inter-related – heuristics used … Continue reading →

Posted in examiner, Kano Analysis, revision, thesis | Tagged authoring, examiner, Kano Analysis, Pat Thomson, revision, thesis | 4 Comments

making your writing authoritative – a citation revision strategy

Posted on April 19, 2021 by pat thomson

Readers expect academic writers to know what they are talking about. We meet that expectation by grounding our writing in good scholarship – and making it sound authoritative. Authoritative. You can see the words author and authority contained within authoritative … Continue reading →

Posted in authority in writing, citation, citations, laundry list, revision, revision strategy | Tagged citation practice, citations, Pat Thomson, revision strategy, writing with authority | 8 Comments

ghosts in the text

Posted on April 5, 2021 by pat thomson

Pentimento is the term used to describe the traces of an earlier work glimpsed through layers of paint on a canvas. Marks from the previous composition bleed through the newer surface, a reminder of what went before, a sign of … Continue reading →

Posted in pentimento, revision, thesis revision | Tagged Pat Thomson, pentimento, revision | 5 Comments

a very neat hack to avoid repetition and duplication

Posted on March 22, 2021 by pat thomson

Do you repeat yourself? Most of us do. It’s not unusual. Repetitive writing takes many forms – several sentences that say the same thing using different words, a word or phrase used over and over, paragraphs and sentences that have … Continue reading →

Posted in concision, duplication, repetition, revision, revision strategy | Tagged concision, duplication, Pat Thomson, repetition, revision | 5 Comments

editing your writing – lessons from chefs?

Posted on March 8, 2021 by pat thomson

You can pick up helpful ideas from the most unlikely places. Like cooking shows. Yes I watch cooking shows, it’s one of my guilty pleasures. I’m sure I’m not the only one, given their popularity. Sometimes they offer more than … Continue reading →

Posted in citations, editing, revision, revision strategy | Tagged citations, editing, Pat Thomson, references, revision | 8 Comments

use a structured abstract to help write and revise

Posted on February 22, 2021 by pat thomson

Most journals don’t expect an abstract to be written in a particular format. But some do. They require writers to follow a particular format – a pre-structured template. These templates – structured abstracts as they are called – are specifically … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, conference abstract, Pat Thomson, revision, revision strategy, structured abstract, structured abstracts, thesis abstract | Tagged abstract, Pat Thomson, revision, structured abstract, writing exercise | 4 Comments

meeting your readers’ expectations – a revision strategy

Posted on February 15, 2021 by pat thomson

There are multiple ways to revise a paper. If you’re revising, you’ll find a load of strategies on this blog, just search using the key word revision. While none of these is The One Way to sort out your writing, … Continue reading →