Dodging the Draft

Chapter 14 the drafting chapter. I honestly have never found much use in drafting exercises. I find it much easier and (at least in my case) much better to just right a very crude rough draft then re-read, re-edit, polish, re-read, re-edit, and polish some more. As I mentioned in chapter 17 I really enjoy the revising portion of writing so maybe this is my reason for disdain toward drafting exercises. A very well organized first draft leads to much less revising. I know this seems illogical because more revising means more work in the end but as I said I like it so I don’t feel logic comes into play here for me. That being said this is the first time I have effectively made and used an outline to pen up a rough draft and I have to admit it was wonderful. I mentioned several blog posts back about my continued struggle with organization and an outline really helped me with that flaw. Despite my previous drafting bashing I must admit that this chapter contains a lot of very helpful tips and isn’t the usual rubbish they push at you on this topic. If you don’t like the revision process I would highly recommend a close reading of 14 it will most likely make for a quick revision later

chpter sevonteen is Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17 is all about revising and editing both very essential parts of the writing process and oddly it’s probably my favorite part. I really enjoy watching a crude rough draft turn into a solid final draft after a few coats of polish. I really like to put myself in my reader’s shoes, as this chapter suggests, and do a run through my paper. As I do I analyze; would I get that if I hadn’t written it? That fact seems like a stretch how can I make it more credible? And similar questions are common for me during these analyses. Another thing I do that the book also suggests is as I’m reading I ask myself who cares? If I can’t read it and see the point how could someone else? If you can’t see your point you know you have some more revising to do. One very good idea I had never thought to do was read the document from finish to start so the natural flow of reading it will be disrupted. This will force your brain to focus a little harder on each word and help you catch those pesky little typos. I feel like every time I reread something I wrote, even years later, I can’t help but fix this or tweak that just a little which leads me to believe there is no true FINAL draft for a writer, just the draft you finally stop re-reading.