"Rewriting means on one level, finding the argument, and on another level, language changes to make the argument more effective. Most of the time I feel as if I can go on rewriting fore
Experienced writers focus on the effectiveness of their argument as a whole and make changes that they feel add to that effectiveness. This writer states that he "can go on rewriting forever," highlighting the idea that writing is never finished, only abandoned.
The predominant concern in these definitions is vocabulary. The students understand the revision process as a rewording activity. They do so because they perceive words as the unit of written discourse. That is, they concen- trate on particular words apart from their role in t
These example and quotes from real students highlight a running theme in student revisions. A student tends to focus more on the superficial parts of a paper such as word choice/vocabulary. Sometimes I've read papers where it's as if every single word was pulled out of a thesaurus. Focusing solely on word choice rather than the overall flow and effectiveness of the paper can often distract from a good revision.
If your paragraph seems to unravel, take a second look. It might be that your topic sentence isn't adequately controlling your paragraph and needs to be re-written.
Despite our best efforts, sometimes ideas don't translate to paper as well as we thought, especially the first time. Sometimes, a paragraph that may have seemed clear and effective in our head ends up unraveling and is seemingly all over the place when those thoughts are written down on paper. Oftentimes, this is indeed due to a weak or vague topic sentence that does a poor job setting the tone for and controlling the paragraph.
Are all of my main points relevant to my thesis?
A lot of people, myself included, tend to wander away from the central thesis or purpose of our paper. We get sidetracked going on tangents that may not be so relevant to our thesis, or we include evidence that we found to be really interesting or well-written, ignoring the fact that it may not be the most relevant to our message.
You're a reader, a helper, a colleague. Try to sound like someone who's a reader, who's helpful, and who's collegial.
Straub's informal, friendly tone keeps this reading lighthearted and humorous and helps the reader relate to what is being said on a more personal level.
Wait till the final draft to give much attention to fine-tuning sentences and dealing in detail with proofreading. Remember: You're not an editor. Leave these sentence revisions and corrections for the writer. It's her paper. And she's going to learn best by detecting problems and making her own changes.
Many students, myself included, are guilty of focusing too much on proofreading a paper when we are asked to do a peer response. This is what requires the least amount of thought and effort; simply circle punctuation mistakes and fix spelling errors. However this doesn't help the writer and it's not what we're here for, especially with a first draft.
You're there to play back to the writer how you read the paper: what you got from it; what you found interest-ing; where you were confused; where you wanted more.
Straub really reinforces the role of the reader in this paragraph, stating over and over again that the paper is not yours, it's the writer's and you are the reader. It is crucial to remember your role as the reader when responding to someone's writing. Here, Straub explains very well your role as the reader of the paper. I will definitely have this be at the front of my mind next time I respond to someone's writing.
What do you look for? How do you sound? How much do you take up?
Through helping someone else improve their writing, we can often improve our own. Asking these questions, thinking critically, and being honest when responding to other students' writing helps you in turn become a better writer. Through responding and critiquing another's writing you should reflect on the aspects of the writing that stand out to you or make an impression, both in a positive and negative way, and apply this to your own writing.
When stuck, write!"
An idea that was basically the entire focus of SHitty First Drafts, this is a great rule to stand by to avoid writer's block.
For Ruth, this means that beginning bland and seeing what emerges as one gen- erates prose is unacceptable. The beginning is everything.
For many, the hardest part of writing a paper is writing down the first few sentences. This is where so much time is waisted staring at a blank page thinking of the perfect "hook" to grab the readers attention like we were taught in high school.
Plotinus many have viewed the composing process as unexplainable, inspired, infused with the transcendent. But Flower and Hayes are beginning, anyway, to show how writing generates from a problem-solving process with rich heuristic rules and plans of its own.
Many people have this idea that the writing process is this thing that is unexplainable, that those who write masterpieces are just inspired, creative, gifted individuals. Lemott also mentioned this idea at the start of "Shitty First Drafts." Both articles disapprove of this idea. While Lemott believed that all it took was a childlike state of writing down whatever comes to mind, Rose presents the idea that the writing process is a problem-solving process with heuristics and rules of its own.
Then, a month later, when it was time for another review, the whole process would start again
Lammott comes across as extremely relatable in this piece by showing that even she, someone who writes for a living, still goes through the same painful process every time she writes a new piece.
In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.
Lammott highlights the concept of writer's block, a feeling that many tend to experience when they sit down for the first time to write something. She emphasizes that the most important step in the writing process is to get pen on paper and write exactly what comes to mind even if the mind is a complete mess. She later compares writing a first draft to having a child's no filter approach to life.