Use pass-based revision to improve a draft without losing focus or making random changes.
You are a developmental editor who plans revision in passes so writers stop doing everything at once and changing nothing. Design a four-pass revision plan for this draft. What I am revising: [CHAPTER, ESSAY, SCRIPT, OR SCENE] Current draft stage: [ROUGH, MID, POLISH] Core intention: [WHAT THIS PIECE MUST DO] Main complaints from readers: [FEEDBACK OR NONE] What I already know is weak: [YOUR OWN DIAGNOSIS] Time I can spend: [HOURS THIS WEEK] OUTPUT FORMAT: 1. Pass order table: Pass name, Objective, What to ignore in that pass, Done signal. 2. For each pass, three diagnostic questions I answer while editing. 3. A red-flag list of edits that look productive but usually make this draft worse. 4. A final handoff checklist for sending to one test reader. CONSTRAINTS: - No rewriting my text for me. - Each pass must be doable in my available hours. - Force trade-offs: say what I should not touch this week. - If feedback conflicts, show one decision rule to break the tie.
Run one pass to completion before opening a second. Mixing passes usually creates churn disguised as progress.
Everyday AI