Preview this article: A Study of Professional and Experienced Writers Revising and Editing at the Computer and with Pen and Paper, Page 1 of 1 < Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/rte/21/4/researchintheteachingofenglish15568-1.gif

Some theoreticians and practitioners view editing as a superficial task, often no more than the mindless following of a set of prescriptive rules for grammar, syntax, and style. In addition, the editor-author relationship is typically perceived as an interaction between an editor and words. However, drawing upon rhetoric and cognitive psychology, I argue in this article for the complexity and importance of the editing process and the writer-editor relationship. This perspective is tentatively supported by a study of the revising and editing patterns of professional and experienced writers. The study suggests that revising and editing may be equally complex tasks. Further, the complexity increases if editors and authors discuss their changes as opposed to legislating them. Several methods for imparting this perspective and related knowledge to students are discussed.

The author presents the results of a comparative study of experienced writers editing and revising at a word processor and with pen and paper. Seven writers performed four writing tasks, each of which provided several kinds of data. Among these are statistical analyses and graphs of a chronological record of changes made in both modes and summaries of interviews with the subjects after each writing task. Results suggest that the word processor directly alters a writer's composing style.

Preview this article: Comment and Response, Page 1 of 1 < Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/ce/44/7/collegeenglish13685-1.gif