Well what’s funny is that my writing process actually takes two different stances since it depends on what kind of writing I’m doing. If I’m doing an essay, then the writing process will be a bit more restricted and trying to not go off topic, which I am still having a problem with because of my second type of writing. This would be my fiction writing where my writing process completely takes a 180 and it’s easier going and less restricted. I kind of already have a bias for essay as it is because of having to do many throughout not only elementary school but a great many in high school. People always ask me for help on their essays and I say I will help you as much as I can but I may not be the best person to ask. They at first always say but you write so much, how can you not be good at essays? And this is where I have to correct them because essays and fiction are two completely different subjects and my approaches to them are not similar in anyway.
With an essay as I have said before, it’s more restrictive and with the revision process, it’s always following the instructions of the teacher, making sure I have everything that I possibly need in the paper, look for grammar and spelling errors, then turn it in and wait for the teachers response. Where with writing fiction, I take an immense amount of time, rereading my paper, searching for ways to reword a sentence or make sure that it flows properly along with the fact that I have a broader range and less restrictive way to work. This doesn’t mean to say that I don’t take my time with essays either and that I just rush through my work. I always revise and try to see where certain things may have gone wrong but I just know for a fact that my heart isn’t really full on into the subject. How sad is that? Revising always brings good benefits whether it be an essay or a story of fiction. It’s very important to do and is always crucial to the writing process as a whole. Some people to have different ways of doing it.
Some of the revisions I plan on making in my paper are making it clear who the speaker is instead of just saying it or her. It makes it unclear to the reader and I sometimes to have the habit of doing this. I will also go through my in-text citations and make sure that they are correct. I wasn’t sure how to do lines from a poem so I wasn’t sure whether to include the word “lines” before the number or numbers so I’m glad it was brought to my attention. When typing out more than one line to a poem, to put a backslash so that it’s know that it’s still a part of what I’m quoting but so that the lines do not run together into a big blob. Casual language, yes this is a problem of mine because I am so used to just writing fiction now that it comes naturally to me when writing anything else so I will definitely change that so that it is a school appropriate essay. The last thing, and I really do hate when I do this, is going off topic. Where I’m trying to make it sound cohesive but ends up going off topic anyways. It’s still a work in progress but I will achieve it!
Nice work! I do my revisions a little like you. I really tear apart my draft over and over until everything is in it's place and then I do it one more time! I believe that putting together a revision takes more time than the actual paper! I guess I am real particular on spelling errors and those darn commas!
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about revisions is basically what I do. I write fiction more than essays, and I spend so much time trying to fix my stories. When I write essays though I try to take more time on them so I don't have to revise as much. I also like that you admit that you go off topic a lot when you write. I don't really like admitting it, but it is something that I do as well.
ReplyDeleteGood job with this post. You bring up some very good points here. I like your explanation of restriction. I too have to focus on staying on topic. also, I liked how you said that you put more importance on the flow of a story that that of an essay. Good luck on the final draft.
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