I'll be the first to admit that after writing a paper, I'm not all too excited to rewrite it. I mean, you spend so much time creating something, and finally when you're done, you have to go back and change it. My own personal problem with rewriting the reading paper is having to let go of certain parts of the essay that I've grown attached to. However, I understand that sometimes you have to let certain parts go in order to make your paper stronger. Well, I've been hestitating the revision of my paper, so I looked up what other people have to say about revision and I found a couple helpful websites to perhaps help me along. The first site talks about what counts for revision. Some points may sound familiar to what we've talked about in class. The other site answers a few questions people may have as they begin the revision process. I especially love the one that says you don't necessarily have to rewrite the entire paper. So hopefully this will provide some motivation in the revision of you paper. Good luck!
http://www.bridgewater.edu/~atrupe/ENG315/revising.htm
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html
*Trupe, Alice L. "Revising Practices." 21, Sept 2007, 12, July 2008. <http://www.bridgewater.edu/~atrupe/ENG315/revising.htm>
*The Writing Center, Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Revising Draft." 1998-2007. 12, July 2008. <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html>
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Thanks for the links Melissa. I like FAQs, better than reading long paragraphs =P
And the way they answer the questions is funny too:
(quoted from the website http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html)
"I thought revision was just fixing the commas and spelling.
Nope. That's called proofreading. It's an important step before turning your paper in, but if your ideas are predictable, your thesis is weak, and your organization is a mess, then proofreading will just be putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. When you finish revising, that's the time to proofread. "
True, changing the paper on lexical level is called proofreading, not revising. Good distinction, haha
I get what you mean. You did look a little reluctant to take away the opening paragraph of your draft. But you have so much less work to do on your paper than I do! Thanks for the peer review and the links!
I was telling Melissa last week that when I revise, sometimes it's too painful to cut paragraphs right away. So first I put the doomed paragraph in a footnote. Then a little later it gets moved to some other file, scrupulously saved "in case I need it." Finally it gets forgotten, because after all, it didn't work in the paper.
You have to emotionally detach yourself from your own writing! But breaking up sure is hard to do.
I definitely need motivation. Without motivation, I think procrastination takes over. Then again, thinking under pressure does make ideas flow out more easily.
Post a Comment