Scribd
Upload
235 views3 pages

Revising A Final Edit

The document provides a checklist for revising creative nonfiction works. It includes questions about meaning, tension, time, setting, characters, dialogue, tone, scenes, narrative structure, emotional arc, transitions, openings, endings, clarity, titles, and overall effectiveness. The checklist aims to guide authors and critics in evaluating elements like character development, narrative logic, emotional threads, descriptive elements, and how well the work achieves its intended purpose and meaning. Revisers are encouraged to consider these components and how the work might be strengthened in its presentation of events, people, atmosphere, and key ideas.

Uploaded by

Princess
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
235 views3 pages

Revising A Final Edit

The document provides a checklist for revising creative nonfiction works. It includes questions about meaning, tension, time, setting, characters, dialogue, tone, scenes, narrative structure, emotional arc, transitions, openings, endings, clarity, titles, and overall effectiveness. The checklist aims to guide authors and critics in evaluating elements like character development, narrative logic, emotional threads, descriptive elements, and how well the work achieves its intended purpose and meaning. Revisers are encouraged to consider these components and how the work might be strengthened in its presentation of events, people, atmosphere, and key ideas.

Uploaded by

Princess
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Writing Creative Nonfiction: Revising Your Work

Roxane Gay

REVISING CREATIVE NONFICTION


The following checklist may be used for revising your own creative nonfiction prose, may
be helpful in offering useful critique to your peers or even when discussing published

MEANING OR ABOUTNESS
What is the piece about? State what you think the essay is about in one sentence.

Is the essay’s “aboutness” SHOWN not TOLD? Are specific illustrations and examples provided instead of
just an overview of what happens?
Is the leap of significance made for the reader?

TENSION
Where does the tension in the essay lie?
Are there several kinds of tensions at work?
Are there tensions left unresolved?

TIME
How has the writer treated the movement of time?
If there are varying time periods, does the writer move the reader through it smoothly, effectively?

SENSE OF PLACE
Is the setting rendered in sensory detail? Do the details heighten the atmosphere?
Are they authentic, believable?
Does the author’s treatment of the setting enhance the reader’s understanding of what the essay
is about?

CHARACTERS (the same litmus test as fiction and this includes the first person (I) of the nonfiction essay)
What complexities do they reflect?
What details of the lives move you?
Identify details, actions, speeches that enhance the essay’s sense of character.

DIALOGUE
Identify dialogue in which the characters’ voices seem especially in tune with who they are.
Is there any dialogue that doesn’t ring true or seem believable? Forced?
Does the dialogue work on multiple levels to MIC? Move the story, inform the reader and charac-
terize?
Too much dialogue?
Too little dialogue?

PAGE 1 of 3
Writing Creative Nonfiction: Revising Your Work
Roxane Gay

DIALOGUE
Is the tone of the essay consistent?
Do the words, sentences, rhythms used hit the same note?
Do the words, sentences, etc. suit the time, place, situation?

SCENE
Consider the way in which the writer has used the fictional element of scene.
Is each scene fully rendered? Any missed opportunities?
Any parts of the essay that would be better enhanced by the use of scene?

COMPOSITION LOGIC/NARRATIVE STRATEGY


What is the logic behind the way in which the writer has presented the world of the essay?
Is there another sequence or structure that might be better suited to the material?

EMOTIONAL OUTLINE
Is there an emotional thru-line?
Is the emotion in synch with the movement of the story?

TRANSITIONS
Where are they?
How do they work to make the story of the essay vivid and continuous?
Are there places that need stronger transitions?

THE OPENING
How does the first line, the opening paragraph prepare readers for what the essay will be about?
What promises does it make to the reader?
Does the opening break the contract with the reader?
What evidence of the “about” is found at the beginning?

THE END
In what way does the essay come full circle?
Is the ending satisfying?

CLARITY OF PROSE
Do the sentences actually say what you mean?
Any awkward sentences, paragraphs?

TITLE
Is it effective? Appropriate?
How could it be better?

PAGE 2 of 3
Writing Creative Nonfiction: Revising Your Work
Roxane Gay

Use these questions to formulate your critiques and to revise—feel free to vary from these
questions as they are designed to simply get you started and to be a guide.

SOME OTHERS TO CONSIDER:


Did you like the essay? Why or why not?
What works well? What does not?
Were you genuinely interested in what happened in the essay? Why or why not?
Are there grammatical errors, misspellings?
Is there awkward language or metaphors that don’t work?
Are there parts of the essay that retard movement or have no purpose?
Can the essay be trimmed?
Expanded?
Is this the most effective order of scenes?

PAGE 3 of 3

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy