Chapter 5 Reading Reflection

A friend once told me about the process that aspiring authors must go through to try to get a book published. This process sounded long and arduous. It included multiple drafts, revisions, readings and re-readings, more revisions, added ideas, and more revisions. All this to create the final product that we, the readers, can enjoy. This example highlights the importance of revising and editing text, a key skill in business writing.

Contrary to popular belief, revisions include more than simple grammar corrections. Another acronym can help us remember what we need to revise. DOCS shows four levels of revisions: design, organization, content, and sentences. 

Design refers to correct formatting and appropriate visual appeal. This type of revision normally does not require an extensive, detailed reading, but rather a skim of the overall document. Basically, the design should be reader-friendly, catching the readers' eye before they even begin reading.

A revision of organization can also be done with a skim of the overall document. When revising organization, we can ask questions like "Does the structure and order make sense?" and "Does the document contain an opening paragraph, body, and closing paragraph?"

The third step in a successful revision process is checking the content. This can be done by verifying that the content is clear, complete, correct, and compelling. Also, it is effective to use the CLOUD method to revise paragraphs on their Coherence, Length, Organization, Unity, and Development. This part of the revision requires a more in-depth look at what the writer wants the reader to understand.

We finish the DOCS revision process by evaluating the "sentences" aspect. This boils down to people's normal belief about revision- checking for grammar errors. In this section, the person that is revising should pay attention more to each individual sentence rather than the overall goal of the writer.

A DOCS revision (or perhaps repeated DOCS revisions by multiple people) will strengthen the quality of the writing. But the writer and the person revising the work must respect each other's opinions and work together to achieve success. Prospective writers follow a similar, albeit more thorough, revision process, and business people can benefit from revisions as well.