So I know we have a lot of writers on here. Revisions. How do you do them? Do you love them? Hate them?

I suck at them personally. My preference is to throw the previous draft out entirely and start again. When faced with a bunch of text I need to keep and somehow shape into something decent in a short amount of time I start dithering like an idiot.

Any and all suggestions would be helpful.

I used to be a one draft writer. That was painful -- every sentence had to be perfect before I could move on. Now I just get an outline together and build up a skeletal draft with the principal points I'm striving to make. Then I tinker with order, etc., and then come "makin' it purdy."

If you're dealing with a lot of text, maybe it would make sense to try to approach it as if you're dealing with an outline. Move the big ideas around.

Anyway, I feel your pain. Looking at a lot of written work product makes it hard for me to move things around. I suppose that's why I'm suggesting you try to treat the text as if you're dealing with an outline of the main points, etc.

Good luck.

I hate revisions, and I avoid them at all costs until the possible last minute. I have no advice, so I'm eager to hear what other people have to say

last possible minute. oops!

With large amounts of info, I usually re-outline. Otherwise, I get totally overwhelmed and start crying and ripping papers. If I have whole paragraphs or pages I need to keep, I print them out and lay them in the outline. I need something fairly visual, so I make a "paper puzzle" on the floor, moving sections around until I'm happy.

I'm hoping this revision is for your conference paper and not your diss. :)

Heh, crying and ripping papers. I totally did that with my masters thesis at three am.

Yes, this is for the conference paper. Though it is coming out of stuff from the fourth chapter and as I work on revising it into a conference paper I realize I'm not happy with it as it is for the chapter and will probably apply these revisions across the board.

So far all helpful. Am re-outlining right now.

I love revising...but I'm very weird! There is nothing better than starting with something good and making it even tighter. I know this will shock you, but I am exceptionally wordy - and I often get myself in to trouble by saying things I really should have kept to myself. But I've gotten better at self-editing and trying hard not to say the things I know will only serve to piss others off.

I always recommend having somebody else read and edit the important stuff, too. It helps when your husband is an impressively brilliant editor. If you don't have that, a trusted friend, who will be brutally honest, is good.

Yes to outside eyes. I used to appreciate another reader, as opposed to editor, so that I could say yeah, thanks, good point, sounds good... then bitch to myself about how wrong he or she was. It would ultimately lead to a re-think, plus a little bit of irritation and indignation, and that would jumpstart the revision.

Also, reading out loud, to the mirror or the cat or the partner. But preferably a human so you can see physical reactions to your points and your argument, particularly if you will be presenting to an audience.

I pretty much vomit all of my thoughts onto the page (great imagery, huh?) and than start organizing, rewriting and getting angry at myself for not knowing what I want to say.

When I get stuck on something, it usually means I'm over writing. When that happens, I stop, step back and think out loud what I'm trying to say. It usually comes out clearer and I write that.

I also agree with Lulutoo that fresh eyes can be very helpful. Though try to go easy them.

Thought vomit is great DGB!

I also thought vomit just to get the ideas on paper, but without the tediousness of developing an outline. (I also never read instruction manuals). Then I go back and re-work it.

But I don't usually have to write extraordinarily lengthy things...not since college at least 100 years ago.

I used to be a full-time technical writer, now it's only part of my job. When I'm doing an important job, I put it away for a night or weekend and then come back fresh, with good coffee. Then I can see if it's crap.