How to Switch From Being Writer-Centered to Being Reader-Centered During the Revision Process

Not all people understand the essence of being a writer. Sometimes, most of them underestimate a writer’s capabilities. For them, a writer is someone who writes something like this and like that. Whenever a person is assigned to write something, they take it for granted and the result is that, their contents are of low quality.

But, being a writer takes a lot of challenges and hard work. Besides, not all people know how to be a good writer. A writer doesn’t focus mainly on writing. They also act as a reader for their own write-ups and for the work of other writers as well. They will never know how their contents would look and if it was written properly if they won’t read it first. Most effective and well-written compositions are being created by reading it while these compositions are not yet done.

Now, if you wanted to write effectively, you should also act as a good reader for your work. Then how are you going to do that? First, you need to follow some guides that will aid you on how to shift yourself from being a writer-centered to being a reader-centered person and this usually happen during the revision process.

When you are through on writing your first draft, you need to undergo with the revision process also known as the editing process. Since you are going to edit your work and revise old ideas to a newer one, of course you’ll have to read your work first.

After all the well-meaning advice to picture the reader in your mind as you’re writing, many of us still end up putting down words down geared towards pleasing us instead of our audience. If you’ve partaken in the same habit, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Some people just work more efficiently that way.

However, once you’re past the first writing and into revising your piece, you best put the “reader” hat on. If you don’t, there’s a good chance your work reflects the kind of text that will please you, but not necessarily those who are going to read it.

When it’s time to do revisions, it’s important to switch from a writer-centered focus to a reader-centered one. You’ll have to detach yourself from your writing and look at it with fresh eyes. Different writers have their own styles for accomplishing this. You should try to find your own. A few ideas include:

•Performing the revision one day after writing the first draft.

•Pretending they are reviewing someone else’s work during the revision process.

•Reading backwards, starting from the last paragraph.

•Reading pieces out loud (even recording and listening to them, for some).

•Review your work only after putting it through an English writing software (the changes could be major enough that you end up feeling like you’re reading a different piece).

Reader-centered writing is all about recognizing how the reader will respond to your piece. Done right, you can anticipate any potential pitfalls in your material, particularly those affecting the audience’s overall experience.

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