Review and Revise
Learn about the revision process, why it's important, and how it's done.
Why review?
Once you have finished with your first draft, it can feel like you're done, but you're not. Reviewing your document is a critical part of the writing process that will allow you to catch inaccuracies, clarify ambiguities, clean up poorly written sentences, and make sure that everything your audience requires is covered before your document is shared. A review is a high-level look at your document to ensure that it satisfies its goal.
Note: Reviewing is especially important when writing code documentation. If your document is unclear or brushes over important aspects of the code, the documentation will not be helpful when another developer needs to update or maintain the code you wrote.
How to review
The review process can be challenging because it is hard to analyze your own work for errors. In fact, you may feel too "close" to your draft to make the major changes necessary. Because of this, it can be helpful to collaborate during the revision process. Depending on the project, there may be editors or content reviewers on hand who can look at your writing with fresh eyes and help you to understand what changes your draft needs.
However, if no one else is available, the two processes listed below will allow you to get out of your head and be able to read your document with fresh eyes.
As you continue to write and review documentation, you might find that you begin to ...