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Revising and Responding

Writing a first draft is like planting a garden. It’s hard work, but it can go quickly, getting all those seeds in the earth and watering them. Revising is like tending your garden—training branches, weeding the soil, digging trenches for drainage, adding fences to ward off voracious bunnies. . . . Revising involves reorganizing, cutting, adding, and redoing as you help your writing grow.

Even experienced authors spend a lot of time revising. Author Kelly Barnhill notes, “That’s the magic of revisions—every cut is necessary, and every cut hurts, but something new always grows.” This chapter equips you with trait-tools for revising and helps you get a partner to lend a hand.