The 10 Revision Commandments: Writing, Hamilton, and Miranda

We know that writing is an important skill. For example, research shows that writing is one of the most highly valued skills by employers (e.g., Hart Research Associates, 2013), it can help our mental health (e.g., Pennebaker, 1997; Sloan et al., 2008), and it is a central part of our work as psychologists (Beins & Beins, 2021). We also know that among the most important skills in the writing process is revision (see Clark et al., 2019, Chapter 3, for a review of the theoretical and research literature on revision).

In my feedback on student papers, I try to provide what has been called “wise feedback,” which includes steps students can take to revise their writing. But sometimes it’s hard to communicate how important revision is and to inspire my students to develop their skills at revision.

I’ve been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack and to interviews with Lin-Manuel Miranda, his music director, and other cast members. I’ve listened to recordings of workshops and showcases—including material that was altered before the final Broadway version of the show. Miranda’s work on Hamilton is a perfect demonstration of revision. We know from research by Zimmerman and Kitsantas (2002) that observing others improve their writing can increase our own writing skill and feelings of self-efficacy. Maybe Hamilton will capture students’ attention. So, after careful consideration, and multiple revisions:

The Ten Revision Commandments

These commandments aren’t new. For example, the literature on writing has a lot to say about audience, focus, and voice (Graham, MacArthur, & Hebert, 2019). Nor are these commandments exhaustive. However, I provide this compendium as an introduction, or a summary, for students and other writers. I’ve also referenced a few empirical studies that support these commandments.

1. Revision takes time.

Hamilton did not appear, full-blown, out of Miranda’s head. It took him seven years to write and perfect the show. (I’m pretty sure it’s perfect as it is now..) My students don’t have seven years to perfect their course papers, and we professors don’t usually have seven years to work on a professional article, book, or uh, blog post. However, as my old friend and colleague Charles Brewer always used to say: Things always take longer than they do. We should be prepared to spend time and effort to improve our work—and resist the temptation to think that this time (like the 60th post we’ve written, the 30th research paper) we won’t need so much revision.

2. Think about the audience.

The first draft of a paper is for the writer—we write to discover what we’re thinking. But after that, we need to write for our audience. We want to be clear about who will likely read our work, and what we want our readers to be thinking and feeling after they finish reading. To my students, I say: You want your audience (me) to have no doubt that you’ve taken the course and have incorporated course concepts into your thinking. We also want to respect our audiences by writing clearly and not wasting their time.

A study by Roen and Wylie (1988) found that college students who were instructed to focus on their audience wrote better papers than students who were not so instructed. This effect was especially true when students considered their audience during the revision process rather than the initial drafting process.

3. Get feedback and collaborate as much as possible.

Miranda was blessed with, and cultivated good working relationships with, many colleagues, including Stephen Sondheim, Ron Chernow, Thomas Kail, and Alex Lacamoire. These folks provided feedback from the earliest stages of the project; some collaborated with him all along the way. For some writing projects, of course, it is impossible or dishonest to collaborate, but for lots of writing, it really helps to solicit both feedback and assistance. And, to reprise the last commandment: You have the opportunity to hand in papers early to get some feedback. You can use me as a test audience, like Miranda trying out Hamilton on the road to find out where the laughs, gasps, groans, and tears come (or don’t).

Back in 1981, Clifford found that college students who engaged in “a collaborative composing method,” including peer workshopping of drafts, produced better papers than students who did not. Recent research has found benefits of using wikis and “collaboration scripts” to improve the effectiveness of collaboration (e.g., Wichmann & Rummel, 2012).

4. Be prepared to be surprised.

My first response to feedback, critiques, and suggestions is usually: “No, you’re not reading it right.” Then, however, I notice that lots of the feedback I get actually helps me think and write more precisely and clearly. When I think of Miranda—starting with an idea for a concept album, a song or two, then some plot lines—perhaps he was surprised along the way by the entire project, and by what lyrics, tunes, plot twists, and dramatic devices did or didn’t make the final cut.

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5. Be selective in accepting and incorporating feedback.

Not all feedback is good, and not everyone can see what we see. Thus, it helps to remember all the authors whose works were rejected many times. Research by Lindenman et al. (2018) found that college students were often more successful in their writing when they engage in self-reflection about the feedback they received from their teachers.

6. Use your voice.

Miranda followed this commandment both literally and figuratively. He had messages he wanted to convey—in the story, the music, the lyrics, etc. And he was not afraid to use his own, literal voice onstage. In our writing, we need to start with something we want to say, and then work hard to say it.

7. Focus.

In earlier versions of Hamilton, John Adams had a speaking—and rapping—part. But Adams didn’t make it to Broadway. Having Adams there would have taken the focus away from Hamilton, Burr, Schuyler, Schuyler, Jefferson, et al. (Miranda was able to keep some of the rap—he just had Hamilton do it.) We may need to jettison some really good writing because it’s not related enough to what we want to tell our audience. (I had a perfect, beautiful sentence right here in an early draft of this post—but, alas, it wasn’t relevant.)

8. Don’t be afraid of changes.

If you’ve heard the soundtrack album and heard “One Last Time,” check out a previous version, called “One Last Ride.” You may be stuck, as I was, that the earlier version was a wonderful song, but it didn’t move the action as well—it was not as focused—as the later version. And I’m guessing that there may have been several additional versions of the song all along the way. The moral: If you have an idea for a change, give it a shot.

9. Take risks.

Hip hop on Broadway? About the founding fathers? C’mon.

10. Have fun!

Revision can be an emotional, and emotionally draining, experience (Ballenger & Myers, 2019). However, the seven years of drafting, writing, and revising Hamilton were not just drudgery. The revision process itself is rewarding, engaging, and fun—with all the blind alleys, false starts, new creativity, and surprises. Following the first nine commandments may help us be mindful of the process and enjoy the work as it’s unfolding.

There you have them. I don’t claim that these are the only words of wisdom about writing and revision. What’d I Miss?