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Writing and Editing: Revising

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Writing and Editing: Revising

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Included with

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

408 reviews

Beginner level
No prior experience required
Flexible schedule
1 week at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

408 reviews

Beginner level
No prior experience required
Flexible schedule
1 week at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Learn how to become a better reader of your own writing

  • Apply the E-D-I-T framework

  • Identify uselessly accurate information

  • Create multiple ways to communicate the same data

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

21 assignments

Taught in English
98%
Most learners liked this course

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Good with Words: Writing and Editing Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

This fourth and final course in the “Good with Words: Writing and Editing” series will help you master perhaps the most important step in the writing process: revising. You’ll learn about the difference between editing and proofreading. You’ll practice “un-numbing the numbers” so that data and statistics you use are clear and compelling. And you’ll be introduced to a framework for giving and receiving feedback that helpfully systematizes what should be cut and what should be kept from each draft.

As with the other three courses in this series, you will also get access to a wide range of books and other resources you can use even after you finish the course. These include: (1) the readings and exercises provided to the students who have taken the in-person version of this course at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago; (2) two digital libraries of excellent writing from a diverse collection of journalists, scientists, novelists, poets, historians, and entrepreneurs; and (3) a monthly “Good Sentences” email.

This week, we will focus on becoming better readers of our own writing.

What's included

6 videos15 readings5 assignments3 app items2 discussion prompts4 plugins

6 videosTotal 10 minutes
  • Introduction1 minute
  • Ken Burns, Alice Waters, and Ira Glass3 minutes
  • Punctuation and Professionalism: Dependent Clauses4 minutes
  • Takeaways1 minute
  • Student Takeaway: Extra Ear1 minute
  • Student Takeaway: Sound and Sense0 minutes
15 readingsTotal 109 minutes
  • Teaching Style + Resources 3 minutes
  • Meet Professor Barry2 minutes
  • Syllabus10 minutes
  • University of Michigan Survey10 minutes
  • Editing and Empathy10 minutes
  • User-friendly 1 minute
  • Introduction to the Gamut Workbook Tool5 minutes
  • Gamut Workbook FAQ: Locked Exercises3 minutes
  • Gamut Workbook FAQ: Error 40310 minutes
  • Good with Words Chapter 4 ("Sound and Sense")20 minutes
  • Edit Our Edits2 minutes
  • Punctuation and Professionalism: Introduction and Review10 minutes
  • Notes on Nuance: Introduction and Review15 minutes
  • Nuance Spotlight: James Baldwin 3 minutes
  • Good Sentences: Introduction and Review5 minutes
5 assignmentsTotal 50 minutes
  • Weekly Review (Graded)30 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Punctuation Practice: Dependent Clauses5 minutes
  • Nuance Practice: James Baldwin5 minutes
3 app itemsTotal 30 minutes
  • Exercise—Proofreading Practice10 minutes
  • Good Sentences (Style)10 minutes
  • Exercise—Takeaways10 minutes
2 discussion promptsTotal 6 minutes
  • User-friendly (Helpful)3 minutes
  • User-friendly (Annoying)3 minutes
4 pluginsTotal 11 minutes
  • Drafting and Editing: Pixar2 minutes
  • Drafting and Editing: Extra Ear3 minutes
  • Drafting and Editing: The Trouble With Intentions3 minutes
  • Drafting and Editing: Braintrust3 minutes

This week, we will focus on eliminating uselessly accurate information.

What's included

7 videos3 readings5 assignments6 app items1 discussion prompt4 plugins

7 videosTotal 13 minutes
  • Previously On2 minutes
  • Steve Jobs3 minutes
  • Punctuation and Professionalism: Isadora Duncan → Duncan, Isadora4 minutes
  • Nuance Spotlight: William F. Buckley, Jr.2 minutes
  • Takeaways1 minute
  • Student Takeaway: 100 Words0 minutes
  • Student Takeaway: Uselessly Accurate0 minutes
3 readingsTotal 26 minutes
  • Good with Words Chapter 6 ("Uselessly Accurate")20 minutes
  • Experiment ("100 Words") 1 minute
  • Nuance Spotlight: William F. Buckley Jr.5 minutes
5 assignmentsTotal 50 minutes
  • Weekly Review (Graded)30 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice7 minutes
  • Punctuation Practice: Isadora Duncan→Duncan, Isadora3 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
6 app itemsTotal 122 minutes
  • Exercise—Previously On10 minutes
  • Exercise—The Writer's Diet (Flabby or Fit?)7 minutes
  • 100 Words - Part 130 minutes
  • 100 Words - Part 260 minutes
  • Good Sentences (Punctuation)10 minutes
  • Exercise - Takeaways5 minutes
1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes
  • The Writer's Diet (Flabby or Fit?)10 minutes
4 pluginsTotal 12 minutes
  • Clutter: Wiliam Zinsser, Pablo Picasso, and Reading Your Writing Like an Enemy Would6 minutes
  • Clutter: Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication1 minute
  • Clutter: Cleanest Components2 minutes
  • Clutter: Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and the Longest Brief in the English Langwidge3 minutes

This week, we will focus on how to better communicate statistics.

What's included

8 videos2 readings7 assignments5 app items4 plugins

8 videosTotal 19 minutes
  • Previously On1 minute
  • Previously On: Clutter2 minutes
  • Writer → Reader3 minutes
  • Discipline of Breaks3 minutes
  • Attention Restoration1 minute
  • Punctuation and Professionalism: If, Then5 minutes
  • Notes on Nuance: "What _____ is to _____"2 minutes
  • Takeaways2 minutes
2 readingsTotal 7 minutes
  • Multitasking Sentences2 minutes
  • Notes on Nuance: "What _____ is to _____"5 minutes
7 assignmentsTotal 65 minutes
  • Weekly Review (Graded)30 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice 5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice 5 minutes
  • Punctuation Practice: If, Then5 minutes
  • Nuance Practice10 minutes
5 app itemsTotal 55 minutes
  • Activity - Previously On Reflection10 minutes
  • Exercise—Word Choice, Word Confusion10 minutes
  • Good Sentences (Corresponding Clearly)10 minutes
  • (Optional) Exercise—Credit Check15 minutes
  • Exercise—Takeaways10 minutes
4 pluginsTotal 16 minutes
  • Zombie Nouns: Trying to Sound Smart is a Pretty Dumb Strategy7 minutes
  • Zombie Nouns: Taxation Without Representation3 minutes
  • Zombie Nouns: Sentences That Move, Sentences That Sing2 minutes
  • Clutter and Zombie Nouns: Cover the Windows4 minutes

This week, we will focus on improving the reading inputs that affect our writing output.

What's included

10 videos5 readings4 assignments6 app items6 discussion prompts

10 videosTotal 23 minutes
  • Previously On1 minute
  • Previously On: The Discipline of Breaks2 minutes
  • Shot Selection1 minute
  • Un-numb the Numbers 3 minutes
  • Keep/Cut4 minutes
  • E-D-I-T5 minutes
  • Takeaways: Premortem5 minutes
  • Student Takeaway: Premortem0 minutes
  • Student Takeaway: Un-numb the Numbers1 minute
  • Student Takeaway: Keep/Cut1 minute
5 readingsTotal 46 minutes
  • Shot Selection15 minutes
  • Un-Numb the Numbers10 minutes
  • Book Recommendations (Memoir)10 minutes
  • Course Feedback10 minutes
  • "Good with Words: Speaking and Presenting" and Michigan Online1 minute
4 assignmentsTotal 42 minutes
  • Weekly Review (Graded)30 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice: Un-numb the Numbers2 minutes
  • Low-Stakes Practice5 minutes
6 app itemsTotal 55 minutes
  • Previously On: Reflection Activity10 minutes
  • Exercise—Shot Selection10 minutes
  • Exercise—"E-D-I-T"10 minutes
  • Good Sentences (Habits and Habitats)10 minutes
  • Exercise—Takeaways5 minutes
  • Course Discussion10 minutes
6 discussion promptsTotal 60 minutes
  • Shot Selection10 minutes
  • "E-D-I-T" (Eliminate)10 minutes
  • "E-D-I-T" (Decrease)10 minutes
  • "E-D-I-T" (Increase)10 minutes
  • "E-D-I-T" (Try)10 minutes
  • Book Recommendation (Memoir)10 minutes

Earn a career certificate

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Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.9 (95 ratings)
University of Michigan
16 Courses263,538 learners

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Showing 3 of 408

L
·

Reviewed on Jun 2, 2026

I truly enjoyed Professor Barry's presentations. I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to write with confidence.

DJ
·

Reviewed on Aug 3, 2020

The course is a very good course to enhance your skills and helps you become an architect of words

ML
·

Reviewed on Mar 29, 2021

Excellent course. Professor Barry brings English to life through engaging lectures and video presentations, to recommended readings, the course flows.

Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Financial aid available,