Recognizing that students shudder at revision and see it as a perfunctory task to satisfy only their teachers, the author offers an approach that motivates students to revise thoughtfully without increasing teachers' reading workload. Quite simply, good writing requires less time to read than poor writing. The Numbers Approach to grading can free teachers from empty hours of lecturing about the benefits of revision. It also empowers students by encouraging them to accept responsibility for their learning and writing through evaluating their own writing. This approach to grading papers uses numbers instead of letters. The numbers do not convert to percentages or letter grades, but simply reflect how many points the student earned on a particular draft, and appears over the number of points possible on that assignment. The Numbers Approach gives students the chance to see the power of revising in their own writing. For example, a 3/20 on the first draft and a 6/20 on the second draft is a 100% improvement, even though the writing still has room for quite a bit more improvement. The third draft might jump to a 12/20, another 100% improvement, and the fourth draft to a 18/20. From the evaluation of the first to the fourth draft, the quality of the student's writing has improved from 3/20 to 18/20, a 600% improvement. (Contains 3 tables.)