Process Paper
As I reflect on all three drafts of my college essay, I am astonished at how it has changed. My first draft had almost nothing to do with my final draft. Moving from my second to third draft, the changes cannot be picked up on immediately, but they are noticeable. The changes from the second to third draft are mostly reducing the wordiness of my essay. The changes from the third to final draft are far more subtle than the rest. I tried to clarify parts of the essay that were cloudy or wordy. The majority of the changes were made in an effort to shorten the piece, as well as emphasize the meaning. Honestly, revising this essay was awful. After putting so much effort into making it long and interesting, I had to cut multiple lines in order to keep it at around one page. It was quite painful. Once the editing was done, I was pleased with the final product.
At the beginning of the school year, I wrote “A Letter to Ms. Self”, which explained the writing goals I set for myself. In this final draft, I have achieved some of these goals. In this piece, I feel that I worked well with the length. With this essay, I reversed my own goal. My original goal was to be able to write a long enough essay to satisfy a given length requirement. However, with this essay, I was forced to slice through parts of it that at first I thought were vital.
The final draft of my college essay might just be the best piece of writing I have ever produced. That being said, it still has a few weaknesses. During our discussion, my writing partner mentioned to me that my essay was laid out well, had an abundance of detail, and good syntax. However, she also said that my conclusion was lacking in many ways. The conclusion is supposed to end the essay, leaving the reader with no questions. My conclusion could use a few more details, and the length could be increased. Another weakness of this piece is the detail that I added. I loved adding multiple vivid details to my writing to not only make it more understandable to the reader, but also to make it interesting. In the process of adding these details, it clouded the overall meaning and theme of my writing. The details made it difficult to understand what I was trying to get across because the essay was wordy and unclear.
Just like any piece of writing, I had strengths in my final essay as well as weaknesses. Ironically, my weakness is also my strength. The details that I kept in the final draft emphasize important parts of the essay. After editing the details of the second and third drafts, the meaning of my writing was much clearer. During the discussion with my writing partner, she said that one of my strengths is creating emotion in my writing. The anxiety in the first and second paragraphs is portrayed through details and imagery. I used imagery to convey the settings of my experiences.
I learned a lot throughout the in-class discussions, workshops, and the discussion with my writing partner. The first and one of the most important, thing I learned is that the college essay is not meant to be factual and proper. The essay should reveal information about me, or explain what I have learned from past experiences. My first draft is a very straightforward explanation of what happened when I moved. Once I understood what a college essay was all about, I made my essay much more detailed and personal. Through my conversation with my writing partner, I learned more about my writing than I did in any of the workshops. My partner’s in-depth analysis of my essay gave me clues on what I needed to change to improve the quality of my paper. I learned a lot about how to write effectively through writing this essay. Looking at the final draft of this essay, I am so proud. This paper has improved greatly since the first draft, and I feel like I have put a great deal of my own personality on the page.
At the beginning of the school year, I wrote “A Letter to Ms. Self”, which explained the writing goals I set for myself. In this final draft, I have achieved some of these goals. In this piece, I feel that I worked well with the length. With this essay, I reversed my own goal. My original goal was to be able to write a long enough essay to satisfy a given length requirement. However, with this essay, I was forced to slice through parts of it that at first I thought were vital.
The final draft of my college essay might just be the best piece of writing I have ever produced. That being said, it still has a few weaknesses. During our discussion, my writing partner mentioned to me that my essay was laid out well, had an abundance of detail, and good syntax. However, she also said that my conclusion was lacking in many ways. The conclusion is supposed to end the essay, leaving the reader with no questions. My conclusion could use a few more details, and the length could be increased. Another weakness of this piece is the detail that I added. I loved adding multiple vivid details to my writing to not only make it more understandable to the reader, but also to make it interesting. In the process of adding these details, it clouded the overall meaning and theme of my writing. The details made it difficult to understand what I was trying to get across because the essay was wordy and unclear.
Just like any piece of writing, I had strengths in my final essay as well as weaknesses. Ironically, my weakness is also my strength. The details that I kept in the final draft emphasize important parts of the essay. After editing the details of the second and third drafts, the meaning of my writing was much clearer. During the discussion with my writing partner, she said that one of my strengths is creating emotion in my writing. The anxiety in the first and second paragraphs is portrayed through details and imagery. I used imagery to convey the settings of my experiences.
I learned a lot throughout the in-class discussions, workshops, and the discussion with my writing partner. The first and one of the most important, thing I learned is that the college essay is not meant to be factual and proper. The essay should reveal information about me, or explain what I have learned from past experiences. My first draft is a very straightforward explanation of what happened when I moved. Once I understood what a college essay was all about, I made my essay much more detailed and personal. Through my conversation with my writing partner, I learned more about my writing than I did in any of the workshops. My partner’s in-depth analysis of my essay gave me clues on what I needed to change to improve the quality of my paper. I learned a lot about how to write effectively through writing this essay. Looking at the final draft of this essay, I am so proud. This paper has improved greatly since the first draft, and I feel like I have put a great deal of my own personality on the page.