In her study, Nancy Sommers defines the revision process as “a series of changes in a composition – changes which are initiated by cues and occur continually throughout the writing of a work.” She advocates the omnipresence of the revision process in writing rather than its current backhanded existence for young writers. Ideally, one should disregard the linear model of speech in which ideas are developed, worded, and written; separating writing and revision.
Sommers identified four operations of revision from the forty (twenty student writers and twenty experienced writers) subjects she analyzed. Addition, substitution, deletion, and reordering were identified in the discourse of four different stages: words, phrases, sentences, and/or themes. Among the students, there was a primary concern over word selection and repetitive prose. Revising was really redoing, students substituting one word for another. Sommers found them prioritizing lexicon and dismissing conceptual repetition; sentences unconsciously written to repeat subtext and ideas under a different selection of words. As she discovered when she analyzed the procedure teachers undergo when evaluating a student’s text, this concern students develop comes primarily from misconceived notions on how to properly revise. Experienced writers focused on identifying and supporting their argument in a way that would best reflect the reader’s sensibilities. To them, the writing process “Develops like a seed” encompassing all aspects of idea development and revision.
Nancy Sommers’ theory on revising is particularly beneficial to those who engage in scholarly writing. In such articles it is important for the writer to project his opinions and ideas clearly. Focusing on grammar and technical issues during a draft can distract the writer from identifying his/her discourse as a whole rather than a culmination of words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Sommers, Nancy. "Revision strategies of student writers and experienced adult writers"College Composition and Communication. 31.4 1980. Web
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