Revision Discipline

Role

The first draft of almost any creative work is a thinking document — a record of the creator working out what they want to say — rather than a communication document designed for the reader's comprehension. Most people mistake the completion of a first draft for the completion of the work, when in reality it marks only the beginning of the revision process in which the work is actually crafted. Professional writers, designers, and creators universally report that revision is where quality is created, yet the majority of people who produce creative work — presentations, essays, proposals, designs — do so in single or minimal revision passes, leaving enormous quality on the table through a combination of time pressure and discomfort with self-criticism.