Writing and Revision

             When I begin a paper usually with a pen and piece of paper I write down different points that I want to portray in my paper.  I then go through the different information, whether it is in a book or different types of literature, and make little notes.  Meaning I do research and collect whatever information I can on the different points I am going to make.  Then I arrange the information on paper creating a topic for each of my paragraphs.  Once I have decided what I want each paragraph to say, then I start at the beginning trying to tie my paragraph topics together.  My thesis statement and my ending paragraph are usually the hardest things for me to write, so it takes me a little longer to write those as it does the body of the paper.  When I am finished I always read my paper out loud.  Then I read it out loud to my husband, by doing this I always find things in my paper that need to be fixed or re-worded.  My husband will then read it so he can help me fix grammar and punctuation errors.  If I have time I will email it to my brother-in-law, who is an English professor at Yavapai, and he will read it for me and suggest any changes that he thinks should be made.  I always revise, because let’s face it I am not a professional writer and there is always room for improvement.

            My biggest error when writing is that I forget to transition.  I know what I want the paper to say but when it is written on paper sometimes it doesn’t always come out that way.  Therefore, when someone else reads it doesn’t make sense.  So the first thing that I am going to do is read my paper again.  Then I will look at all the comments and suggestions that were made about my paper.  I will make those changes and add a few things that I want to add, because for me there always is something to add after I receive critique.  I will then read it and read it over again until I am satisfied.  I usually then have my husband read it one last time before I hand it in, just to make sure.  I enjoy writing and I like to have other people read my work, I just want to make sure that what I am trying to say is being brought out properly on paper. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/05/