Revising Your Life

Revision is a part of the writing process where you decide what you want to keep, what you want to take out and what you need to further clarify. 

I’m a college writing instructor and one of the things I’ve been surprised at the most is my student’s reluctance to revise their papers. 

This is far more than laziness or lack of instruction. They genuinely seem terrified to do things like move a sentence or change a word or two. 

Once I asked my class a technical question about writing and one student bravely asked: “But what if it’s not perfect?”

She was not alone. I stopped what I was teaching and looked at my students. A dozen faces confirmed they were similarly concerned. 

But what made them think perfection was obtainable or even necessary?

There’s a story that is told about an architect who spent years creating the perfect design for a building. Perfection was obvious and the bids started to roll in, the architect did a surprising thing--he burned the plans. He recognized his ideal would never be met and the pain of seeing his vision brought mostly to life, but not all the way was too much.  

I worry that too many people are doing that. 

What are we missing in music, in literature, in design, in education and in business because talented and qualified people are too afraid of not getting it quite right?

I also worry about what this is doing to us as a society and particularly to those in major life changes, such as those just going off to college.

I’ve talked to several young adults in the last few months who have spent the first several semesters in college realizing what they did not want to do for the rest of their life. They’ve put time, effort, and money into writing their first draft of life and it hasn’t quite worked out. 

I can relate. 

I transferred after my first semester in college. I had worked hard, taken a full load and gotten pretty decent grades in that first semester and then…none of those credits transferred to my new college.  

I was devastated. I thought that I had wasted my time, my money, and my effort. 

What I didn’t see until much later is the good that came out of it.

That first draft in my life taught me a lot of valuable things. After doing less than my best in high school, I had learned in that semester that I could do well in college. I had gained valuable studying skills that got me on the honor roll at my next college and I had taken classes in subjects I was interested in which helped me decide what I did and did not want to do. Those are all things I wanted to keep.

I had also learned things I wanted to take out: majors I didn’t want to pursue, relationships that would not prove to be helpful and habits that I needed to let go and came away with a better understanding of my priorities.

This is the value of a first draft.

You learn what you want to keep,

What you want to take out and

What you want to further clarify. 

This is a lesson I continue to think about not only in my daily life, but also in writing. I’ve been writing a book since June of 2024. It is now July of 2026 and it still isn’t finished. 

But I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way. 

I’ve learned what’s working and what’s not. 

I’ve learned the process of how I write a book and I’ve learned, maybe most importantly, that it’s okay to prioritize things I want to do, if only for the reason that it’s important to me.

It may not be perfect. In fact, it won’t be perfect and that’s okay. I feel so much happier knowing I’ve done what I could even if nothing ever comes of it.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid of getting it quite right?

It may be just what the world needs…or maybe just what you need.

It’s okay that it’s not perfect. Throw something at the wall and see what sticks. You’ll figure it out as you go and the very act of writing this version of your life will help you see what’s important, what’s not and what to prioritize for the next draft.