Post #12

REVISION OR EVOLUTION

First of all, one must understand that back in the day when I was in High School writing papers and such, mostly it was done by hand – with an actual pen or pencil and sheets of paper.  I was lucky though, because my family had a manual type writer – so once I came up with a final product, I could type it and make it look very nice (as long as I used erasable bond paper).

While the thought process was pretty much the same - the tediousness of jotting down notes and thoughts on so many different pieces of paper, then organizing them and putting it all together in some sort of order on more papers was so all consuming.  And then writing a well-organized paper and finally typing it so my reader could actually read it (rather than trying to read my handwriting).  The mechanics of getting my words on paper was much more difficult than it is now with computers.

I think that process is partially responsible for my being such a visual person.  So now, with computers, I can go through this same process and use the ‘save as’ button and actually see the evolution of my writing.  I write for a while then I have to get away from it for a few hours, then go back to it with fresh eyes.  I do this over many days.  I still find myself printing out a lot of papers – I think that is the old school part of me wanting to see it and make my notes for changes in the margins.  I can see and feel the flow of it all much better when it is actually printed on paper rather than simply seeing it on a monitor.  I know – it’s weird, but that’s me.

I emailed my paper to a coworker at the High School (she’s the English teacher) and I submitted it to the online tutor.  I received it back and am in the process of making their proposed changes.  This has been a most difficult assignment this semester.  I am hoping for the best!

Click here for a great checklist on revisions!