Context

During my sophomore year I took a Professional Writing and Rhetoric course called Style and Editing. The purpose of the course was to teach students the nuances of style and editing through the lens of professional writing and rhetorical strategies. One of the course's assignments involved working in pairs to edit and rework a piece written by our partner. Though there were various aspects of the assignments: communicating to our partner professionally via email and setting up meeting times to go over edits, the most important component was the actual content changes themselves.  To provide a better understanding of the kind of revisions I suggested, I provided three versions of my partner's document: the original (version 1), my first wave of edits (version 2), and the final product with added edits (version 3).

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Rhetorical Decisions

In making and suggesting changes to my partner's piece, I based my decisions off of a number rhetorical feedback strategies. Most specifically, I used a combination of reading the piece aloud with my partner and asking specific questions about content I was unsure of. It was through these strategies that I decided what to revise. I tried to only alter what hindered the piece from achieving its rhetorical purpose: to clearly inform the audience of the cultural history of LSD among the age of "hippies". This meant clarifying sentences that were confusing, wordy, or obstructed the audience's understanding of the piece's subject. Some aspects were easy fixes that I felt comfortable changing on my own after reading the piece aloud with my partner, while others required more communication with the writer. I asked detailed questions before making large changes in order to avoid making a revision based off a misunderstanding rather than an error. After frequent meetings with my partner, I was free to make larger organizational changes. Speaking to my partner helped me better understand who the intended audience was supposed to be as well as the overall message and rhetorical purpose of the piece. Additionally, having open conversation with my partner made justifying my revisions easier and less stressful. Many of my revisions were backed by the "kill your darlings" principle, or the idea that a writer must cut out certain sections that aren't working despite their personal feelings or attachment towards the content. 

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While making changes to the document, it was important to understand and adhere to the writer's unique and specific tone, diction, and syntax. Though I was the one making changes, I wanted to ensure that the final product sounded and felt like something my partner would write. My role was to only alter the piece in a way that made its rhetoric stronger, not to take away my partner's voice or identity from the writing. In order to do this I had to understand my partner's personal style and the specific nuances and tendencies she used (sentence structures, word choices, etc.) Another key aspect of this assignment was communicating the edits to my partner in a way that was professional, informative, and, at the same time, respectful of their work. This meant pulling my understanding of rhetoric from off the page of a written document and into the realm of professional, interpersonal communication. When relaying my revisions to my partner, I had to strongly consider my delivery to ensure that my feedback was coming across as constructive rather than insulting. To do this, I made sure that I began with a positive and gently worked in the negative and ended with helpful suggestions on how to revise further.

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Reflection

This assignment was a great example of one way in which the world of writing and professional communication works. I gained essential lessons in both the editing of document and how to communicate those edits in a way that was helpful and respectful to the writer. One of the most important lessons was the art of editing a document to improve it and not make it sound completely different from the writer's tone and voice. Previous to this class, I had trouble editing others' work without making it sound completely like my own. Style and Editing helped me learn the balance between changes that are necessary for the piece's rhetorical purpose and overall integrity and changes that are solely personal preference.

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A challenge I had during this assignment was communicating my edits to my partner. It was the first time I had made a large amount of changes to someone's work and I was worried about offending my partner and explaining why I had changed what I did. However, because my partner and I entered our meeting with open minds and gentle criticism, I found that the task wasn't nearly as daunting as I had anticipated.