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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/2253
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

## Background

I am finding it challenging to transform an early draft into a finished product. My biggest challenges are putting the prose in the proper order and using topic sentences and transitions so that the reader can easily follow my train of thought.

The most effective methods that I have found for revising are to either rewrite from a paper draft or to reverse engineer an outline and then re-organize and re-write. This feels like it is overkill, but sometimes it is the only way that I can get my head around what has become a sea of words.

I am not sure if the answers will be specific to a particular type of writing, but I am a scientist writing journal articles and proposals.

## Question

I would appreciate advice on effective methods that can be used for revising, perhaps an algorithm. Is there a set of steps that I can follow each time I need to revise?

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### _notes_:

I don't consider this a duplicate of [a previous question about editing](https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/1722/228), because that question and its answers focus on grammar and copy-editing, which is not my concern here.

An answer to another question provides good advice on [shortening a text](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/665/something-different-help-me-find-the-unnecessary-words/707#707), so I have excluded this aspect from my question.

Original score: 20