You can choose when to perform revision, depending on your personal writing preferences. Some people prefer to write the entire first draft, let it rest for a few days, then return with a clear eye to revise the entire document. Others prefer to revise individual sections of writing as they go. Consider trying both ways, and finding out what's most effective for you.

1. If you're not in the habit of making even informal outlines, reconsider. They are invaluable for making order out of chaos. Use full sentences for each outlined section to avoid confusing yourself. Try the cut-and-paste method, too, for revising your organization.
   
   
2. Remember how important it is to achieve the same kind of objectivity and distance from your work that your reader has. Try to judge your work dispassionately, as a reader would judge it.
   
   a. Set your document aside for a time.
   b. Type it and print it if you haven't already done so.
   c. Read your draft aloud, either to yourself or to someone else. Or ask
   someone to read it to you while you follow with the text.
   d. Revise all the larger issues (The Big Picture) before you worry over
   individual words or phrases.
   
   
3. Make sure your own purpose for your paper is clear to you, and that you
   have an equally clear sense of audience. Know exactly to whom you're
   writing, what you're trying to communicate, and why. Force yourself to cut everything that is not related to your main purpose; develop further any important ideas that you suspect are unclear.
   
   Study articles within your own discipline and notice the tone and approach most generally adopted by published authors. Strive to present yourself as they do. If your discipline favors an author who sounds authoritative, then present your case with an "I can prove this is true" attitude. If, however, you are advised to be cautious, you'll need to use more conditionals (could, may) and qualifiers ("under optimum conditions").
   
   
4. Practice stylistic analysis. If you admire a particular writing style, then try to figure out specifically what you like, and start doing it yourself. Look for:
   
   

   length of sentences types of sentences number of sentences in paragraphs terminology used use of transitions use of punctuation amount of subordination vs. coordination order and arrangement of material within sections placement of main idea, hypothesis, objectives.

   
   
5. Get as much feedback from others as you can. Consider forming a peer
   reader group to help each other. If you're interested in comments about
   something particular about your writing, make a list of questions targeted
   to that area. You may want to submit these questions to your professors
   to elicit their responses.
   
   
6. Try not to think of your writing in terms of "good" or "bad." Focus instead on "effective" or "ineffective" as useful terms that will help you think about the needs of your readers.
   
   
7. Learn when to stop revising! You can actually reach a point where you are no longer able to see your own work clearly. Then you'll be contradicting #2 and losing your objectivity. Stay objective and simply strive for clarity. If you no longer know what you're revising, return to #2.
   
   
8. Keep in mind that good writing develops over time, just as the writer grows and develops with time.

(thanks to S. Dorsey)