As you could imagine, it was a bit crushing to Byers to hear his work so criticized. The compliments on his writing were encouraging, but he had felt that there was nothing more he could analyze from Hamlet that would add to his paper. Still, he knew that to make his final draft worthy of an A+, he should probably do what the teacher said and go back through the play again. As he did, he discovered the following:
- His teacher had been correct (of course)
- His analyzation had been severely lacking
- There was so much more to be criticized and analyzed in terms of his topic
- Never assume you've analyzed everything
- Always revise drafts with the new information you've found
- Revise the writing itself as well. Never assume your language is as perfect as it could be.
With these realizations, Byers came to more fully understand what he excelled at and what could be worked on some more. Far more qualities fell into the latter category than the former.
Revision has been one of my pitfalls too. For a long time, I would "revise as I went" and call that good. I've since learned anyone can be an excellent writer with enough revision. Still, though for me, the better a draft starts out, (because of time) the better it ends up.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent point and a good reminder. It is easy to believe that one draft is enough, but this really is a dangerous lie. It's important to review all your work and improve as you go.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I went for a long time without ever writing second drafts. Through high school my writing (compared to the other students) was good enough to not need it. I have since learned better. I like that you took that experience and learned from it!
ReplyDelete