“Draft NO. 4” by John McPhee, issued April 29, 2016, explains tips and strategies a writer can use to become the best of their ability and how drafts help strengthen a paper. He interprets how great writers have difficulties writing and not to be discouraged by the struggles that comes along with writing. He is writing to anyone who is a writer, whether they portray that image or not. McPhee is very informative in “Draft NO. 4” and has glimps of humor, also. In “Draft NO. 4”, McPhee explains tips such as writing with confidence, accumulating experience, drawing boxes around different words, and using dictionaries when writing a well-written paper. I agree with these points because they will help not only novice writers but also the most experienced …show more content…
4”, McPhee explains tips such as writing with confidence, accumulating experience, drawing boxes around different words, and using dictionaries when writing a well-written paper. I agree with these simple points because they will help not only novice writers but also the most experienced as well. I agree with McPhee that “first drafts are slow and develop clumsily, because every sentence affects not only those before it but also those that follow” (2). He also states how beneficial experience is with additional practice. As a baseball player, especially at the collegiate level now, I know how nothing is ever handed to me and I have to practice for every situation that I will face in the future. When I first started dreaming about becoming a collegiate athlete, I knew I had to put the work in. Every throw, swing, lift, or anything revolving my craft improvement came with intense focus and the more I practiced the closer I came to achieving my dream. According to McPhee, writing is the same process and the more practice put in, the better the results (2). “The way to do a piece of writing is three or four times over, never once” (McPhee 2). He informs his audience about planting any kind of words that come to their mind and getting all thoughts onto the paper. “Just stay at it; perseverance will change things” (McPhee 2). That quote to me is powerful and goes beyond writing because life is not always going to be easy, and fighting through problems will pay off. …show more content…
This tip also refers back to drawing boxes around different words, and McPhee refers to thesauruses as “dangerous” (4). “It goes on to tell you the differences all the way down to line----how each listed word differs from all the others” (McPhee 4). Though I concede that dictionaries are the first option to utilize, I still insist that a thesaurus is took into consideration as a backup after the dictionary to insure the best word choice.
Overall, McPhee’s writing knowledge that he passes to his audience in “Draft NO. 4” leaves us with insight we can work with our next essay or paper. Thinking back to confidence, experience, drawing boxes, and dictionaries, how can these tips be exploited for writers in the near future? All of McPhee’s information he passes on can help beginner to expert writers become the best of their
The purpose of Baker’s essay and its placement in The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers is to encourage young writers to realize that writing truly is a privilege. It is also placed in the book to show college English students that writing does not have to be a grim task and that thinking of it in that manner will only make the student average.
In the essay “Getting Started” by Anne Lamott. The author reaches out to her students and other fellow writers who struggle to overcome the infamous writer’s block. Thought out her paper she gives us hints and tips to train and prep us for our future papers. Her tips range from training you mind to prepare for a long and often strenuous essay, learning to take information in slowly to not overwork your brain and the last one always tell the truth in your essay. She threads through her essay that writing may be hard and seems like there is no silver lining but it’s not impossible to do. When done reading this essay I widely agree with Lamott’s writing ideas and tips they can be helpful for many struggling students. As one myself I found
Writing As Re-vision: A Student's Anthology (pp. 108-111). Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing
As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.
Thomas Osborne opens the narrative with a description of himself up very late at night trying to write a paper. Sadly, he’s been at it for four days, and unfortunately he seems to have writer’s block. Osborne’s personal experience with a first draft that he deems “failed” due to the writer’s block. Also, his realization of his personal writing style and how he uses it to his advantage versus conforming to a more normal style of writing occurs later in the selection. Looking through the lens of a reflective analysis perspective, it’s easy for me to find similarities to Osborne through my writing style, personal experiences, and through analysis I better understood
I am more knowledgeable about invention, arrangement, style, and delivery, all in which create a masterful piece of text. A few examples, I have learned to organize and construct my thoughts and ideas clearer. I have been taught to use stronger transitions and focus more on the delivery and content of the body element of essays. Further, the instructions and advice I have received throughout this term have influenced my understanding of the purpose of writing. My outlook on writing has been modified by shifting my perception of writing from, writing to prove I am a good writer by perceiving it as using “fluffy” or BIG words to impress my audience. I grew to understanding that good writing’s purpose is to engage the writer by mind-striking ideas and arguments, which therefore will prove and title me as a “good writer”.
...s educational system on traditionalism that focuses on fluency, appreciation, and comprehension. King states, “no one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person” (138). As a whole we are “creatures of habit”, thus resisting changes in the traditional sphere of academics. King uses his spin on popular culture to engage future readers and inspire the next generation of writers. “Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.” (King 269-270). “On Writing” is a poignant, educated, and inspiring book, a book that is sure to help hundreds of struggling writers and will motivate others who may pick up the book not for inspiration, but mere curiosity.
J. A. Reinking & R. von der Osten, R. (2007). Strategies for successful writing: A rhetoric, research guide, reader, and handbook (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentiss Hall. ISBN: 0-13-189195-2.
Several people have trouble writing college level essays and believe that they are unable to improve their writing skills. In “the Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen argues how no one is born naturally good at writing. Sarah Allen also states how even professional writers have trouble with the task of writing. Others, such as Lennie Irvin, agree. In Irvin’s article “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?” states how there are misconceptions about writing. Furthermore, Mike Bunn’s article “How to Read Like a Writer” shows ways on how one can improve their writing skills. Allen, Bunn, and Irvin are correct to say how no one is born naturally good writers. Now that we know this, we should find ways to help improve our writing skills, and
Trimble stated, “Good writers write in a natural tone.” Writing in a natural tone helps the writer to focus and organize their thoughts clearly. Hadas stated, “write in a way that comes natural, but it takes time to write in your natural voice.” This is an inspiring phrase that Rachel stated, because it is one of my weaknesses in writing. I tend to start my papers after reading other people’s work on the same topic, so I can follow in their footsteps in order to write a good paper. But this is not a great strategies because, we tend to shot down the voices inside of us, just to write like someone else. Now that I realized that good writing comes in a natural tone of voice, I need to work on my writings more, by thinking more compiling my own ideas in a draft. Therefore, writing in a natural tone is one of the greatest strategies to become a successful writer, and the way to do this is writing a couple of drafts to get all the ideas
As the semester finally approaches the finish line, I revisit my past work to compare and contrast how this class has developed me into a successful writer at the college level. Throughout the year my writing style has developed and become broader as I have learned how to incorporate more of my personal views as well as reliable, unbiased information. This portfolio is a representation of how many things I have learned along the way while being an English 102 student.
This article “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott help me understand that every good writer struggle to write their first draft and it might not be perfect at first but with a lot of dedication and effort everything could be done as expected. know that even the best published book started out with “Shitty First Drafts” help me to not be too critical to my first draft and having a little bit more confidences about my writing. I would apply this lesson whenever I have a writing assignment and I am get frustrated on how to start my essay, I would remember that all writers went through this stage of anxiety and not comfortable about their first draft. I would definitely recommend this article to a student that is starting their first composition
As a second language learner I have never expected myself to be a perfect writer throughout the semester. Even If English was my first language still, I would not be a perfect writer. It is not about first or second language, it is about how well I understand the learning objectives. Then organizing and writing with my own ideas and putting them in my paper. I am going to be honest, I am not good at English subject and English subject is my strongest weakness than the other subjects. In this paper I will discuss and analyze my own writing, reflecting on the ways that my writing has improved throughout the semester.
Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.
I learned the importance of making several drafts for one paper. Every writer can always make improvements because a paper is never perfect on the first draft. At least three drafts should be made before submitting. Secondly, it is important for ideas to be organized. One idea should smoothly transition into the next for the reader to easily understand the author’s arguments. Thirdly, it is helpful to have others give corrections on the student’s paper. Asking the professor or peers for critiques allows to see possible errors and ways to make the paper