Drafting for me is always the hardest part of writing a paper. I often find myself sitting with a pad of paper and a pen jotting down ideas because I find that my creative juices flow better when I’m writing it out on paper. It may sound like foolery but I first start by writing intro, paragraph 1,2,3 and conclusion then under each one I will write what questions need to be answered in each paragraph. For a lot of people that might just seem like extra work, but for me, it keeps me organized and helps me touch on all of the bases without leaving anything important out.
As for revision, that is something I really need to work on. With my own work, I often have to read my sentences or paragraphs out to my friends and work the kinks out, out loud because while writing my papers I read them over too many times that eventually I am unable to recognize the mistakes. Peer editing, on the other hand, I am often good at pointing out spelling or grammar mistakes or finding sentences that need some rearranging, but I need some help when it comes to expressing to the peer what needs to be fixed when it comes to bigger ideas.
When revising my own papers I don’t exactly have a process. I pretty much just read it out loud a few times and see if I can hear any mistakes in my writing and if I personally don’t find much I have others read it over and tell me what they think about it and revise it with their recommendations. I am always open to constructive criticism and I often need it because I am not confident in my own writing pieces. Throughout high school, this method worked for me, but now that we are given SASC as an option I will be attending sessions to work on my writing and editing skills.
