A free revision exercise from Wercend. Bring a draft, a pen, and one reader in mind. You can do the whole exercise on paper.
Print the one-page worksheet for a writing group or copy the editable worksheet.
A reverse outline is an outline you make after writing. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Writing Center explains how to use paragraph summaries to examine the order of a draft. This workbook adds a reader’s question beside each summary. Sometimes a paragraph is in the right place for the writer who knows the ending and the wrong place for someone arriving cold.
Imagine finding this notice taped to the door of your local library. You’re carrying a book to return.
A. On Monday, the library will begin a six-week trial of its new returns system. The board will review the results in June.
B. Volunteers spent Saturday hanging signs and painting arrows. Once the trial ends, staff will ask visitors which signs they noticed.
C. If you usually return books at the front desk, take them to the side door on Maple Street instead. The front entrance is closed for repairs.
Cover paragraph C. After A and B, could you return your book? Now imagine that the reader is a board member opening a meeting about the trial. Would you still start in the same place?
| Passage | What the reader learns | What they still need |
|---|---|---|
| A | There is a trial, with a review in June. | Does this change what I do today? |
| B | Someone put up signs. | Which way do I go? |
| C | Returns move to Maple Street during repairs. | When does the change begin? |
One revision for the door: “Starting Monday, return books at the side door on Maple Street. The front entrance will be closed for repairs.” Move the board’s review date into the meeting notes. Leave out the volunteers unless the notice also has a reason to thank them.
One revision for the meeting: “The board will review the six-week returns trial in June. After the trial, staff will ask visitors which signs they noticed.” The route belongs on the notice; what the board will review belongs on the agenda. Both revisions use the same facts.
Copy the blank worksheet or try the second exercise before checking its answer.
For a technical draft, try the worked example on writing release notes for a breaking change. It shows where to put the migration step so a developer can act on it.
If two paragraphs still feel disconnected, try the paragraph transition exercise.
Bring a draft of three to five paragraphs. Keep a copy of the original so you can compare the two openings at the end.
| Time | Writer | Reader |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 minutes | Write down what you hope the reader will understand by the end. Fold that note over. | Read the draft once. Pause after each paragraph to write the question you have at that moment. |
| 2–5 minutes | Listen and mark the first place your reader needed more context. | Read your questions aloud in order. Point to the words that raised each one. |
| 5–8 minutes | Move or revise one passage. | Try the new order. Say where a question gets answered earlier or where a surprise loses its force. |
| 8–10 minutes | Unfold your note and compare it with what your reader took away. | Identify one sentence you would keep in either version, and say why. |
If you want to test a reveal on someone coming to the story fresh, give the revised version to a second reader. Your first reader already knows the ending.
To see how this looks in an editor, open the Wercend Story demo. Select a story moment and follow its supporting passage. Decide whether the passage actually has the effect the map describes. The homepage example is available without signing in.