When reading Barriers to Revision, I was very interested in how Thomas Newkirk presented the material, and what he concluded about the two types of problems students face in the revision process-- incorporating personal knowledge and detail into papers and the lack of feeling the need to revise. Looking back through my writing growth, I've seen instances of both of these times.
I feel that many times students are bombarded with rules to writing, and over time there are more rules to pay attention to than actual writing being done. There is a constant worry not including the correct information, as well as including too much information that makes your paper long and boring. I had to overcome this challenge through truly understanding the purpose of revision.
As I learned more about the process of revision (a concept which even today I still have trouble with), I noticed multiple attributes in my paper that weren't coherent, incomplete, and not detailed enough to prove my points and give my support to my arguments.
Part of what you are learning about revising, Mark, is that you can keep on revising, draft after draft. I often save my drafts by numbering them so I can go back to them. For a completed 20 page essay for publication, I'll easily find 20 drafts saved on my computer. Each one is not entirely new, but I have made changes that I want to save in each draft.
ReplyDeleteAt a certain point, I have to let readers respond and give me their feedback. Then I can keep going. The better my writing gets, the less likely I am to want to stop writing. Finally, the problem is that I don't want to stop writing and revising, but I usually have a deadline so I have to let go and send the text out to the atmosphere for readers to try to make something of it.
I see you are also revising and making changes as you go. It's perfectly normal do keep revising and revising over weeks and months. --Barbara