Revising your proposal
When you've completed the first chapter, print out the entire proposal. Then go and do
something else --- go and watch a movie, or have lunch. Take a good break of at least
a couple of hours before you come back to read your proposal.How to revise
Just like your writing, your revision will go through several phases. Copyediting, or
line revision, where you fiddle with word choices and grammar, comes last.Here are^ the steps:^
1.^ Read^ the^ entire^ proposal^
Read the proposal straight through. Keep note-making to a minimum. This is so you
can get a sense of how the material reads. When you've finished this initial read-
through, ask yourself whether what you've written stays close to your blurb. If it
doesn’t, you can either change your blurb --- perhaps you've been inspired with some
creative new ideas --- or you can change your proposal.
While this read-through is fresh in your mind, write out your impressions.
Have you covered most of what you want to include? What else do you think the
proposal needs?
2.^ Slash^ and^ burn^
Before you start cutting, rename your document (Version B or B1, or whatever
naming process makes sense to you).
Now go through the proposal and take out the material that you've decided you
want to eliminate. If it's too painful to simply hit the Delete key, cut the material and
paste it into another document.
3.^ Add^ material^
In this pass through the proposal, add the material the proposal needs. Perhaps you've
done some additional research --- write up all the material you want to include.
4.^ Read^ for^ coherency^
Print out your proposal, and read it through to check for coherency. Make sure that
you've included transitions in your sample chapter.