2.2 What Revision Is and Is Not

Stephanie Lenox and Abbey Gaterud

A dark-skinned person slightly out of focus peering through wire-rimmed glasses.
Figure 2.1. Inclusive revision means to look around to see who is left out of the conversation.

Revision means literally “to see again.” It’s not easy to see clearly something that you’re really close to. In order to make meaningful changes and improvements to what is on the page, authors need to step back to look at the text through the eyes of the student reader. When working under a deadline, you might not always have the advantage of a lot of time away from a manuscript to see it with fresh eyes. But you can cultivate a revising mindset by using the strategies and approaches described in this module.

Two distinct purposes govern the writing and revising mindsets. When you write, your primary goal is to get the words down on the page. When you revise, your goal is to fix the words up for the reader. The reader’s experience should guide all changes you make at this stage.“… we see our manuscript through a split lens: through one half, we view what is really there; through the other, what could be.”
— Susan Bell, The Artful Edit

As editor Susan Bell explains in her book The Artful Edit, “When we [revise], we see our manuscript through a split lens: through one half, we view what is really there; through the other, what could be.”[1]

Inclusive revision isn’t just about eliminating exclusionary language; it’s about ensuring that every part of your text serves the needs of students first. An antiracist textbook supports all learners by calling attention to the contributions of historically underrepresented scholars and calling out how your discipline has contributed to systems of oppression that lead to social injustices and disparities. This approach to revision takes considerable time, deliberate effort, and thoughtful reflection.

To begin, let’s take a look at what revision is and is not.

Revision Is . . .

Revision is all about learning to see the possibilities for change. This step involves letting go of the authoring role and embracing the fact that the book is not yet complete. The box below describes some of the essential tasks for inclusive revision.

Strategies for Inclusive Revision

  • Clarify and focus the content to ensure it serves the intended purpose
  • Consider the book’s structure, organization, and flow
  • Diversify the sources or scholars that support the instructional content
  • Maintain a reading level (grades 8-12) suited for the book’s audience and purpose
  • Address issues of tone, style, and voice to enhance the book’s readability
  • Address feedback from peer reviewers, instructors, and students

Your role as revising authors involves looking at how to make macro-level and micro-level changes to ensure that your book will meet the DEI goals of this project. In the table below, you’ll notice that the same topics appear in macro-level and micro-level revision categories with a slightly different focus. Each of the bullets represents examples of how you can focus your revision on macro-level or micro-level issues.

Macro-Level Revision

Micro-Level Revision

DEI focus

  • Check the diversity of representation of sources and examples.
  • Take an active antiracist approach in the text.

DEI focus

  • Use person-first or identity-first language.
  • Use student-centered language that prioritizes the student’s learning experience.

Content

  • Ensure that content matches the learning objectives.

Content

  • Ensure that learning objectives match the content.

Organization

  • Look at how chapters are organized within the book.
  • Look at how sections are organized within each chapter.

Organization

  • Look at how paragraphs are organized within each chapter.
  • Look at how sentences are organized within each paragraph.

Structure

  • Examine how your introduction sets up the chapter.
  • Examine how your conclusion wraps up the chapter.

Structure

  • Ensure topic sentences state the main idea of each paragraph.
  • Add transitional language to guide readers from topic to topic.

Audience

  • Provide relevant examples for students.

Audience

  • Use language that is clear and accessible for students.

If this feels like a lot to keep in mind while you’re revising, don’t worry! It’s not effective or reasonable to attempt to do macro- and micro-level revisions at the same time. Revision often requires multiple read-throughs and attempts, so plan to take several passes at revision during this phase.

Revision Is Not . . .

Revision can sometimes feel like you’re taking a step back. This step back, however, is necessary for you to get clarity on the work. In the long run, it will help your team move forward more effectively and inclusively.

Because revision encompasses many activities, it can help to define it by what it is not. Revision does not fix:

  • grammar
  • spelling
  • punctuation
  • capitalization
  • formatting
  • layout

Revision is not editing. Revision is not proofreading. These are distinct phases of the textbook production process that will take place at a later time.

If you come across a typo or a factual error, by all means, fix it! Just remember that fixing mistakes isn’t revising. Revision is hard, and staying focused on the big picture takes discipline. The next page discusses the “revising mindset” and how to think like an editor to help you move toward a more complete and inclusive textbook.

Licenses and Attributions

Open Content, original

“What Revision Is and Is Not” by Stephanie Lenox and Abbey Gaterud for Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed CC BY 4.0.

  1. Bell, Susan. The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. ↵
definition

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Doing the Work: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Open Educational Resources Copyright © by Stephanie Lenox and Abbey Gaterud is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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