Writing a Paper:

Revising for Writing Goals

Revising to achieve your writing goals starts with planning and reflection. You may have received feedback that, for example, your paragraph lacks a consistent focus and organization or your citations do not meet APA standards. Knowing where or how to start advancing your writing skills can be challenging. To help organize your efforts, we recommend setting a writing goal and using a writing goal journal to keep track of steps taken toward that goal.  

Additional Strategies for Revising for Your Writing Goals 

• Review your previous work and identify any feedback that addresses your goal or a writing skill you want to develop. 
• Use the information on the Revising Based on Feedback web page or How to Apply Feedback After Your Appointment web page for help interpreting and applying instructor feedback to your writing goals. 
• Break your writing goal down into manageable steps. Start small and consider steps that build on one another. For example, if your aim to master APA format, start with citations. Then move to references before tackling more nuanced features of APA style, like headings or abbreviations. 
• Create a specific writing goal for each project you work on. This approach gives you time to focus on a specific skill and apply its application immediately as opposed to trying to achieve all of your writing aspirations in one project. 
• Set a deadline for each step in your writing goal plan. Remember to keep it reasonable and allow room for adjustments. 
• Set up a follow up Writing Center paper review appointment or establish a series of appointments to have your revisions toward your writing goal reviewed. 
• Create a guide of related resources (e.g., webpages and blog posts) on your writing goal for future reference. Consider bookmarking these resources in your web browser for easy access.