Whenever I start writing an essay or a story, I generally keep a notebook handy. I have learned the hard way that it is difficult to write a well realized paper the night before it is due; sleep deprivation and hurried thinking can mean the difference between a painting and a piece of cardboard. When keeping a notebook in your backpack or purse, you can transpose any random memory or realization to paper for future reference. This has become particularly useful in the formation of crots, as many memories are recollected through related experiences in the present. Another bonus of a paper first draft is the ability to scratch out unwanted ideas while still maintaining a version of them for future reference and reconstruction.
After I have a rough notebook version, I type out what I have and fill in any skeletal areas. Sometimes I don’t notice how bare some of my passages are until I see them in print. I then lend a copy to the fresh eyes of a trusted friend and see what they think is lacking. Based on their comments, I begin my final draft. Before printing, I read through the draft several times.
Most of my high school classes only required two drafts of one paper. Several of my classes used peer review as an editing exercise. My peers generally rated papers on the story content, rather than spelling, grammar or rhetoric. In some degree, the students calculated what they thought the teacher wanted to hear from them when forming their responses. In retrospect, however, I think peer review was helpful for many students who hadn’t been required to actually create an entire document drawn from personal experience or imagination since the fifth grade. Grammar and literary devices were dismally absent in their first drafts, but a few drafts and workshops later, their skills had drastically improved.
When I heard we would be completing five drafts of each paper, I was a little amazed. When thinking about drafts of previous papers, however, I realize that even when I had completed what I thought was my final draft, my instructors usually had more ideas for improvement. Five drafts is a lot, but I am not one to say too many.
For some reason I write better under pressure and writing the night before it's due is what I always did back in high school. Although now that I am in college, it is probably best that I take the time to think up ideas in advance. A notebook does sound handy. Maybe I will probably take that inconsideration when I write my next papers. But back in high school we did similar concepts like yours. Peer review was popular with my english teachers too and I never realize how many improvements I could of made until I see it in print.
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