SOHO ENGLISH
"Interview Your Draft"
Directions:
1) Read the essay, "Interview Your Draft"
2) Post a response, identifying yourself and citing a specific points that stand out as notable
and relevant to your own writing process.
3) Read other people’s responses, and respond to at least one of their posts.
I found this article very interesting. The idea of "interviewing" your draft is very effective in revising writing. Although I don't think of these questions exactly when I review my rough draft, I noticed that some of these things are things that I already do. The interviewing question that stood out the most to me was:
ReplyDelete"Is there anything that can be cut?"
With the explanation being a quote from E.B. White:
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. "
I think this is the most important because you do not want to confuse your reader with too much detail that you don't need. You don't need to have a long paper to have a good paper. No elaborate wording or sentences should keep the reader from understanding and reading your paper. It should be to the point; nothing else.
Like Kaylin, I agree that I don't really have these exact questions in mind when I'm reading over my rough draft, but some of them are things I already do, too.
ReplyDelete"What does a test reader say?"
I usually have one of my friends read over my rough drafts, just to see what their input is. I think it helps a lot because you have another person's point of view. Sometimes they catch mistakes that you wouldn't see. Two brains are better than one.
-Jackie (:
I liked this excerpt from The Craft of Revision, because it reminded me of helpful questions to ask myself when writing, many of which I forget about. One question that stuck out to me was "Is the draft written with information, not just language?" The reader wants to be interested. It is not all about grammar and punctuation(which of course are VERY important :)). Keeping the reader entertained, while making your point clear is essential to have a well-rounded essay.
ReplyDeleteEvangeline makes a good point. I myself, a lot of times, forget about the reason why I'm writing my paper. I get WAY too concerned about my grammar and whether my sentences sound good or not, when, instead, I should be concentrating on my clear point-the argument I want to get across to my reader(s).
ReplyDeleteA lot of people think of a draft as a bunch of ideas written out. The first thoughts that come into one's head and no one seems to care about punctuation/grammar. Then when that person goes back to revise, what he/she usually looks at are grammar mistakes. But instead, a draft should provide the writers with all their main, strong arguments. A revision like Donald Murray said, "...is usually more the product of developing and extending the strengths within the draft than correcting errors in the draft." Lots of us think that it's okay if our drafts have errors because we can always go back and revise, but that's not the purpose of drafts. They are there to help you add support when you go back to revise. I used to always think that a rough draft is a rough draft, no big deal; however, it is a big deal. It's like writing your paper as well as you can and later going back and not correcting it but adding more to it.
ReplyDeleteAbout Monika's comment:
ReplyDeleteI agree that a draft should be your best writing; we should write our best all the time, not just if it's the final draft. I also believe that your first draft does begin to develop your argument or you idea, and you should continue to develop these ideas more when you revise. But I think that if there are mistakes we do correct them; it is only when these mistakes are not needed or disruptive to our essay that we remove them. But I do agree that the majority of changes we make in our revisions are further developing the strengths of the essay.
I think that the statement in "Interview your draft" about "If you were the reader, would you do it?" is very true. This is because if I, as the writer, am not able to respond positively to my draft how do I expect my reader to. I need my draft to make myslef and the reader; feel, think, and act. Also my draft is a reflection of my thoughts on the topic at hand, and only by expressing what I truely feel about the subject, can I hope to catch the interest of the reader. By doing this I will be satisfied that my true thoughts on the subject are being revealed and that I've done my best.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evangeline. I think that the reader not only needs the facts on the subject you discuss in your essay, but as the writer you need your essay to be interesting enough to keep the reader reading. If the reader stops reading then, as a writer, you haven't done a good enough job.
ReplyDelete"If the message has a specific reader, the write must know the reader and anticipate the response."
ReplyDeleteI liked this quote because I always think about this when writing an essay. You need to cater the essay to what the person reading it likes. When using humor in an essay, I make sure my teacher has a sense of humor before adding it. Otherwise, they could think it's stupid and take off points. When I read my drafts, I try to look at it from the teacher's point of view.
I agree with Kaylin's statement about how writing should be straight to the point. By adding filler words, it makes it harder to understand what the writer is trying to say.
-Melanie
"Is there anything-spelling, grammer, mechanics- that get between the reader and the message?"
ReplyDeleteThis section stuck out to me because I usually forget all those things. I forget just how important grammer and mechanics can be. Bad mechanics can make your great essay turn into a ok one.
I agree with Kaylin, fancy words and too much detail only hurts your paper.
George Webb
"Where are the greatest failures in the draft?
ReplyDeleteOften the place where the syntax breaks down... is the point where the writer is starting to say something important the writer does not yet know how to say."
When I write, I have an overflowing amount of ideas. As I am writing out my arguments in the essay, everything makes sense to me. However, as soon as I get the essay back graded, there is a lack of successful developed ideas and holes everywhere. Donald Murray could not have stated my problem any better. He actually makes it sound positive while I described what I did wrong negatively.
"It may be a point of discovery, not failure."
I just have to investigate that discovery, because without justification, a discovery is just a discovery with no significance or reasoning.
In response to Kaylin--
ReplyDeleteI think that quote is genius. And it's really true, too. Like you said, parsimony is difficult to read past. For example, sometimes I get very aggravated when I am reading Dickens, because every so often I point out a passage and think, He's only writing this much for the money or He could have shortened it to about half. However, Charles Dickens is one of the gods of literature so who am I to complain?
Along with michelle i have the same problem, and i think part of that is because as writers we dont see the flaws in our essays because we wrote them. To us every thing makes sense and if there is a gap we dont catch it because we automatically fix it.
ReplyDelete"will the reader keep reading?"
This is a very important question when it comes to writing and if the answers no then i think you really need to go back and fix the piece. This question goes back to the very beginning of writing, the "so what". With out a so what the reader probably wont keep reading.
"Never use a long word where a short one will do."
ReplyDeleteThis quote from "The Craft of Revision" reminded me of the "How to Write with Style" blog, because this quote basically gives the same message, and invokes the same response from me. When I write, I always try to make my paper sound more sophisticated by using larger words. Seeing as how the same idea was mentioned in two blogs, I can't help but feel sad that I don't feel satisfied when I'm writing short words, instead, I have to procure elongated ones from lexicons.
- Theodore Truong
In response to Kaylin:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response to the quote you chose because, once again, it's something I continue to struggle with. I still have gut feelings, when I write, that I have to summarize the story/source I'm writing about, or that I have to use more complex words to make my writing better. Now I feel pretty depressed. I already knew that my writing wasn't that good to begin with, but now to find out that good writers write in a way that is the complete opposite of the way I try to write is pretty depressing.
- Theodore Truong
The bullet point that stood out the most to me would be "Is there anything that can be cut?"
ReplyDeleteI feel that Murray brings up a great point when he quotes Will Strunk, who perfectly illustrates the idea of parsimony. The analogy of a piece of writing with unnecessary sentences to a machine with unnecessary parts was, in my opinion, very clever. I also like that Strunk stated detail isn't always bad, and made me think about this pertaining to my own writing. Since we've been working so much on parsimony both through our SOHO packets and in class, whenever i revise an essay i now read it aloud and try to listen for parts where i appear to be rewording or repeating ideas. I try to keep as much detail in there without damaging the point i try to get across, yet I also try and chop out parts that aren't completely crucial to my essay. If there's anything I've learned so far, especially after going through Murray's passage, it's that short and to the point is always the best route, but a little detail never hurt anyone.
In response to Michelle--
I feel the exact way as I'm writing an essay; I have way too much to say so i try and organize the most important parts and select those to be put on paper, while the not so important parts end up becoming details to aid the overall message i try to convey. I completely agree with Murray's statement about "points of discovery" also. When i get an essay back, I am typically mad about the grade, but at the same time, i see all the parts of my essay that lacked some evidence and could improve the final result. It ends up being a mixed feeling of revelation and disappointment, but that's what drives me to improve both my writing and the single essay, for a higher grade and future reference.
I once heard a quote that i really liked about "failure" from Thomas Edison that i feel would be relevant to this idea. It shows how failure isn't always a bad thing, but actually something positive that helps us achieve success in the future:
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ~~ Thomas Edison
I agree that spelling, grammar, and mechanics can distract the reader from the message. I can think of quite a few things I've read that may have a good message, but the message is ruined by excess material that distracts the reader. George Orwell makes 6 good suggestions for writers; I especially like two of them.
ReplyDelete"Never use a long word where a short one will do"
"Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon word if you think of an everyday English equivalent"
I know many people like myself that have short attention spans and are easily distacted when they see something different, confusing or new. If we are reading and see long words or foreign phrases in every sentence, there is no way that we can finish reading the text or make anything of it. That's why it's nice to keep writing simple most of the time instead of trying to sound smart with big words that no one understands.
-KRISTA D
In response to Michelle and Cody,
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to lose track of what you are thinking when your brain is overflowing with great ideas, but it is hard to formulate everything you know into writing because the brain works faster than what you are able to keep up with.
As to the topic of failure, I believe that we learn more from our failures than our success. After I turn in an assignment and get it back with a bad grade, I look back at what I wrote. When I see how many ways what I said could have been interpreted, I go into deeper thoughts about the assignment and I learn more. On the other hand, if I get a decent grade, I shove the paper into a folder and never take it out again even though I could have possibly done better or learned more.
-KRISTA D
"Failure is instructive."
ReplyDeleteOut of all of the things that Donald Murray said in this article. This one statement stood out to me the most. It is such a simple statement, yet it is too true. Every failure that we have, everything that we do wrong, we learn from that. That is how we learn and move on to greater things, by our failures.
In response to Theo:
I completely agree with his statement, whenever i write something, I try to use larger words to sound more sophisticated. But I suppose i should stop doing that since this article has suggested i stop.
"To whom is the message being sent"
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to recognize this because it may change the way you write your essay. If you are trying to persuade your mom to let you get a dog, you might say something about how it will benefit her and the rest of the family. If you are writing a letter the president, you would write more formally. By knowing your audience, you can adjust your writing to appeal to their back round and opinions.
Also, in response to Theo:
I agree with his statement. Sometimes short and sweet is better than a big sophisticated looking word. When using a bigger word you are not familiar with it most likely will hurt your writing rather than help it.
-Sydney Boyle
I think that the most important points in this piece are those about conciseness and content. It is said a few times that each word in a writing should be meaningful and non-meaningful words should be removed. You want all the desired detail, but you want it to be expressed simply. This helps keep interest up (with sufficient information), and it helps to keep the reader from getting off-track with too many words. Point number 1 in the article is to get your message conveyed; excessive information is not good. Like Kaylin said, there is a lot to be gained from a draft. While a perfectly fine piece of writing may be created on the first draft, there is always room for improvement. Cutting words and improving meaning are examples of possible improvement.
ReplyDelete“Where are the greatest failures in the draft?”
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great question to think about while writing your paper. It’s those weak areas that will hurt your paper the most. I always tend to ramble on in my paper which takes away from the point that I want to make in my essay. Often we don’t discover those failures in our drafts because the writer is trying to say something but doesn’t know how to say it. The point of discovery will help you write a great essay.
I agree with Lily that you need to maintain your point throughout the draft because if you have don’t have a point the readers won’t keep the readers interested and can be long and tedious.
-Glizyl
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."
ReplyDeleteThis quote made "less is more" crystal clear. I used to go through the motions and leave out details in attempt to keep my essays concise. However, this quote shows that details are good, but only until a certain limit. A good drawing does not have unnecessary lines or details because it retracts from its purpose and makes it look too busy. The trick is to create concise sentences that explain one thing that takes one paragraph. However, this is easier said than done.
In response to Monika:
I agree because I used to throw all my ideas onto Microsoft Word and later promised myself I'd organize it once I have my ideas down. However, I end up keeping my ideas as is - oblivious to how disorganized it is. Then, I'd read through my rough draft and worry about mechanics and CEW.
"The skillful writer is first a skillful reader who can read what is on the page and what is not on the page rather than what the writer hopes is on the page."
ReplyDeleteThis was the most intresting quote because it gets a message across. A writer must express himself in a way that gets the readers attention. You can't just write well you have to analyze what you read to improve.
I agree with Jawairia in the fact that you need to use every skill you have to send the message to the reader. You can't just expect them to understand, you have to show them your arguments and see their "underline" purpose.
~ Daiana
"In effective writing, one meaning dominates and everything supports that meaning, grows from that meaning, develops that meaning."
ReplyDeleteI think this quote is very true. If your writing does not lead to the rest of your story than it makes no sense. To go from one idea to another everything has to lead from one point to another. When you write you can't just have ideas spewing out of nowhere, it has to come from somewhere. Ideas should connect to another when writing.
In Response to Monika:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Monika that when you are writing a draft you should not write like you know you can make up the errors in another draft. Just because that draft is not the final one does not mean you should write with errors. When writing any draft you should write as well as you can. When you go back to write the final draft you should only have to add more ideas not fix small grammar errors.
"Often the place where the syntax breaks down or the structure takes an illogical turn is the piont where the writr is trying to say something important." Thank you Donald Murray, for finally voicing what has been naging at me since the beggining of last year. This makes perfect sense. I'm always so agravated when i thought what i wrote was great and somebody else says its just not there yet. I geuss this is why, its also helpfull to know, next time i get "It's just not there yet" I will go back realizing i just neeed to clarify what i was saying.
ReplyDelete-Alex P.
"To whom is the message being sent?
ReplyDeleteIf the message has a specific reader, the writer must know the reader and anticipate that reader's response...Of course, the writer is always the first reader, and effective writers learn to distance themselves from a draft and read it as a stranger would."
You always want your writing to satisfy your readers. As I'm writing essays for English, I always try to ask myself, "how would Ms.Hett respond to that?" I try to read out loud with a different point of view, but sometimes that's hard to do. It's hard to imagine the reader's response to your writing, but one can try.
-Selma
When writing, I believe that everybody should ask themselves, ''Is there anything that can be cut?''
ReplyDeleteThis question stood out to me the most when reading. I think that when people consider this simple question, they can make an essay even better(especially during revisions). By doing so, you are ensuring that your essay won't be too boring or tedious to read. We always want each detail to make sense for our audience and for them to keep reading. Plus, there is always that saying that longer doesn't necessarily mean better than shorter. Also, every word is crucial to a point. Let's just make sure that we're not going to go too overboard on throwing some random words in our essay.
In response to Mary:
I agree with Mary. Obviously, ideas should have its supporters. Without any backups means that what you're implying won't be too persuasive enough, cause it just doesn't make sense.
In response to Felicia:
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt that you chose reminds me of Great Expectation(sorry don't know how to italicize/underline). Dickens sentences are very long, but every word in that sentence is necessary. That's part of his style-every word counts.
-Selma
"Is there anything-spelling, grammer, mechanics- that get between the reader and the message?"
ReplyDeleteI agree with this claim in saying how important grammar and mechanics can be. Of course in a first draft one wants to start out with getting solid ideas, claims, and evidence written. But it is also important to keep in mind the basics to writing, because even if one has a strong message in her paper, the reader will be too distracted by petty errors and miss the actual point of the paper completely.
In response to Theo,
ReplyDeleteI often feel the same way about how everyone seems to strive to make their papers sound sophisticated and wordy, and with that comes a sense of accomplishment in sounding smart. Too often, credit is not given to the simple words in a paper. However, there is a fine line between keeping it simple and becoming repetitive. With that being said, writers must remember to find a balance between keeping their papers sweet and simple, and intelligent and edgy.
"Will the reader keep reading?"
ReplyDeleteThis bullet seems to pop out at me because it basically asks what one should be thinking about. If your just writing to get things out that's different. But if you're writing for a newspaper or a book, you should be thinking about whether or not the readers will keep reading. If they don't continue to read then what's the point of writing?
In response to Felicia,
I agree that writing a good, concise piece of writing with plenty of detail to get your point across is very difficult. But sometimes quality sentences that are and have detail is hard, too. You may go off topic or lose focus as to what you were trying to say.
Donald Murray's piece spoke to my own writing experiences when he emphasized the importance of failure in a draft as well as the role of a reader. Often when comparing an initial draft of mine to the final paper, quite a few changes are found. Usually the organization of my drafts is dependent on how the thoughts in my mind flow. It is vital, and this is another one of Murray's points, to let the essay flow as the reader would like. In this sense, writing is quite unselfish. Thus, failures in syntax and the beginning of an avalanche in a draft may in fact signal a place requiring the most attention. This place is given a red flag, and a chance to be transformed into something intriguing for a reader's mind--and therefore your own.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Felicia:
I think your writing conveys what Murray is trying to get at. The benefit of multiple drafts (and thus analysis of your writing before you are held responsible for it) gives you an advantage over last-minute essayits. You have an opportunity (or many) to target failure and rechannel it in the positive direction. Let's face it; failure is powerful, but it can always be adjusted. Felicia, Murray's piece reminded me much of your writing style and how what was first, to me, simply essay-writing becomes a meticulous and rewarding process of think-write-revise.
In response to Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem sometimes. I tend to have trouble organizing my ideas and they can get pretty scrambled. When that happens, my essays usually turn out decent and understandable, but they're never perfect. I like the idea of mistakes being looked at from a positive perspective because we all learn from them, and in the end we can create something great.
The one sentence that stood out the most to me was the most simplistic one. "Failure is instructive." In a world where everyone is striving to be perfect [when a) perfection cannot be defined and b) perfection is unattainable], we never truely believe that we can learn from failure. I thought this was very endearing because, yes, in a technical term talking about draft writing, you learn from your technical mistakes. You can change sentence structures, add/remove commas or add a splash of adjectives here or there, but we learn how to write better with trial and error. This is very applicable to reality. Thomas Edison said something like "I didn't fail 300 times at trying to make a lightbulb. I just learned 300 ways NOT to make a light bulb." So unbelievably true how much we take failure for granted. Murrary also adds "It may be a point of discovery, not failure.
ReplyDeleteMurrary and Edison should get together and have coffee.
In response to Lily ......
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to our own writing, we can be completely oblivious. You can either think three things. 1) This is fabulous, I'm brilliant. 2) Not my best work, I rushed...it's okay. or 3) This sucks, I'm gonna fail. When it comes to our own writing, we have such a biased opinion. We are so defensive so we can't see the flaws behind our own writings. That's why making drafts, revisions etc...can be so helpful.
"Is there anything that can be cut?"
ReplyDelete"A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
I can relate to this quote because it is something that I need to work on. In my most recent essay on Frankie, I included too much unimportant information in both the intro and conclusion of my paper. It is difficult to write an essay, especially when your fingers are flying at fifty miles an hour and ideas are churning in your mind. At times, these flowing ideas may seem vital to the essay when, in reality, they were meaningless. Maintaining focus and a clear point is critical in developing a strong essay.
In response to Felicia:
I agree with your statement that "less is more" when including details in your essay. I also liked that you said that details are good, but they have a limit. You stated that you try to limit your details to keep a concise point. Contrastly, I try to include as many details as possible to support my claims. It appears we both have some minor issues that need tweaking.
"Does everything in the draft support or advance that message?"
ReplyDeleteThis question describes my writing the most. All year, I would get papers back saying "elaborate more" and "keep going", but I never seemed to grasp the concept that I needed to focus on one main idea. "...one meaning dominates and everything supports that meaning...." In the Frankenstein essay, I got it back and there wasn't a huge paragraph on the last page telling me to elaborate and I was ecstatic! So, if I keep focusing on the big picture when I edit, hopefully my writing will improve.
In response to Alex P:
I know exactly what you mean when you say "it's just not there yet" because I have the same problem. I have to learn to develop my thoughts more.
"Does everything in the draft support or advance the message?"
ReplyDeleteI think I have the most trouble with creating a good thesis that supports every idea written in my paper. I will try to work harder this year to try to strengthen this weakness. One way I can do this is look at every claim and make sure it relates to my thesis in my paper.
In response to Felicia,
I also think that it is not easy to write while trying to be concise but also using some details. If you have too many, it may stray from what the topic is, but if you don't have enough, the reader may be confused and not know what the person is writing about.
"What is the one thing I wanted to say, the single, most important message I intended to deliver?
ReplyDeleteWriting is thinking, and the best writing usually produces a draft that surprises us. It says what we did not expect. The writer should not feel a sense of failure but satisfaction when this happens. Then the writer has to decide whether to force the writing back to its intention as the writing assignment may demand or follow the draft toward its evolving meaning."
I agree with the question and answer that Donald Murry has written. I can relate to this because writing really does take a lot of thinking. When I write it usually takes me 3-4 hours of writing a paper, not including revisions. You have to think and put thought into what you write so it's not just 'something you turned in'. You need to make sure your paper makes sense and that you feel strong about what you're writing. I do feel that I do poorly sometimes, but I'm surprised when I get my papers back and I either got an A or B. So you never know, just think and write!
"Does everything in the draft suport or advance that message?
ReplyDeleteIn effective writing, one meaning dominates and everything that supports that meaning, grows from that meaning, develops that meaning."
This quote really stood out to me because when you aren't supporting your meaning enough, the reader doesn't know whats going on which starts to kill your essay.
I also agree with George that fancy words only hurt your essay, in my opinion, since your main objective in most cases is to try to get your point across to the reader.
-Shahbaz the monkey
"Writing is thinking, and the best writing usually produces a draft that surprises us. It says what we did not expect." I simply like this quote because I feel like there are some times when I re-read my writing and see this spark of truth that's worded so wonderfully and it feels so great :) It's like you were trying to describe something and you do it so well that you feel that you've reached beyond just writing.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Theo: I soooo agree. I don't agree with using a short word instead of a long one. I concider myself the thesaurus queen because I use it constantly. I feel so much more confident about my writing when I have a few intelligent words here and there. I won't use words I don't know but there's always room for ones that don't come to me right away:)
In response to Monika:
ReplyDeleteI agree with her completely. In freshman and part of sophomore year, I used to think that writing the first draft of a paper was not that important. I used to just throw something together and then think "I'll revise it later." I've learned that why should I go back and revise my papers 2 or 3 times when I can make my paper well written from the start? You're first draft is the foundation to your revisions, so always try your best.
"It is helpful to write down the questions the reader will ask--not the ones you want them to ask, the ones they will ask--and then write them in the order they will ask them."
ReplyDeleteThe worst part of an unsatisfying book are the things the author leaves unexplained. Its very important to reveal those types of things, even if it may be trivial.
Response to Alex S:
I also often include alot of "fluff," as it were, in my papers. That's why Ol' Hett always tells us to write with economy. If you don't, whoever reads it will instantaneously fall asleep.
"The skillful writer is first a skillful reader who can read what is on the page and what is not on the page rather than what the writer hopes is on the page."
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because this is what I try to do but fail to do. I do not think I am a skillful reader,by this I mean, I don't really go over my writing and find the message I am trying to express.
I also agree with Selma and her thoughts on the audience; this is something I also try to think about in my essays
"Never use a long word where a short one will do."
ReplyDeleteThis completely relates to my writing because I ALWAYS try to lengthen sentences just to sound a bit smarter. In reality I just sound like i don't know how to put a sentence together properly. Most often then not, using shorter words helps because it gets straight to the point.
In response to Sabrina, I agree completely! It is extremely hard for me to get going on writing a paper, let alone making sure all of it makes sense. Some teachers, and fellow classmates, always say to 'just do it! just write it!', but it is such a longer process than just putting words down on paper.
-Sydney Hellwig
'"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences,,for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only an outline, but that every word tell."'
ReplyDeleteThis quote is exactly what i need to work on in my essays. I always find myself not knowing what to say and simply adding meaningless sentences just to fill the space. I should really start to check my essays for these "fillers" and work on correcting them in my essays. Meaningless "fillers" take away from the overall effect that the writer is trying to portray and end up ruining a perfectly good essay!
In response to Shahbaz
This is basically the other end of my quote. You have to find the perfect harmony between supporting your main ideas and not adding to many fillers. Otherwise your essay turns out confusing, silly, and not fun to read.
"Never use a long word where a short one will do."
ReplyDeleteThis quote may be one of the most precious I hold to my heart. Small words DO in fact work better in some cases than big words. Big words often tend to interfere with the writers style and cause to sound "fake": only trying to use the big words to enhance, when in fact it distracts.
And I agree with Nick Michalesko. Unexplained things in writing are just a nuisance. This has kept me from enjoying several books we've actually read in class. (The Tempest comes to mind)
"Does everything in the draft suport or advance that message?
ReplyDeleteIn effective writing, one meaning dominates and everything that supports that meaning, grows from that meaning, develops that meaning."
This quote stood out to me most, because its a mistake I make really often. I need to work on editing my essays and what-not, and the support part of my essays is what needs the most work.
and in response to Alex, I think you do have a point, even though using big words actually can have a positive effect on your writings. Just not too much.
meow
I wish revising a draft was as easy as asking it, "how can you make yourself not suck?" and then let if fix itself. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. I do agree that it helps to have someone else read it because something might make sense to you because you have that vision in your head, even though it makes no sense in reality.
ReplyDelete"Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print."
Your writing can get out of control or become cliche
in response to alex wood
ReplyDeleteI concur that trowing tremendously and enormously large words in to your piece of writing can come of as desperate and are distracting.
lol^
"Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."
ReplyDeleteThis quote really shows how I write. I try to use easy to understand words and to not use fluff to elongate my writing. Usually this means that my essays are on a single sheet of paper, whereas others' essays are over three pages. When I get a similar grade on my one page paper as the three page paper, other english students are shocked, but I tell them that I was able to say everything I wanted to say in a single page.
In response to Kaylin:
Papers should be short and to the point, but sometimes papers are too short or don't have enough detail. Exhibit A: most of my essays. It kind of gets old every time I see Hett's comments on my paper saying "you need more evidence" or "explain."
"Does everything in the draft support or advance that message? In effective writing, one meaning dominates and everything that supports that meaning, grows from that meaning, develops that meaning."
ReplyDeleteThis part of the excerpt caught my attention the most. These are the kinds of questions I believe one should ask before, during, and after the writing. The answers should be consistent. If it changes too often then there might be something wrong.
In response to Kaylin: I agree that when writing my rough drafts I don't tend to have questions. However, as I'm following my rough draft after I finish, questions do come up which I should've asked before
-Johnny La
"Never use a long word where a short one will do."
ReplyDeleteI have a mixed opinion about this quote. While there is value in keeping one's writing terse and matter-of-fact, it can be just as effective to showcase one's extensive vocabulary; a nicely placed long word can add sophistication to a piece. However, the quote also implies that merely tossing in a long word here and there won't do the writing any good. A more versatile version of this quote could be, "Use long words sparingly and only when they are more effective than short ones."
In response to Felicia, I agree that details must be concise but still valid; they must add something to the essay as a whole, not merely serve as filler, like Shelby said.
- Jack Thornton
"The skillful writer is first a skillful reader who can read what is on the page and what is not on the page rather than what the writer hopes is on the page."
ReplyDeleteThis quote pretty much sums up the entire process of proofreading. It doesn't matter if you can tell a complex sentence from a compound sentence or if you know where to put your commas. If you you are filling them in in your head as you read rather than fixing them, you are not proofreading effectively. I do this all the time, even in assignments completely unrelated to writing, such as chemistry. I can't tell you how many times I've written out my solution, worked through it multiple times, and haven't been able to find the simplest of mistakes.
In response to Jack's post, I agree completely. Most people seem to think that using long words makes them sound smart, when in reality it has the opposite effect; it makes it seem as if they are trying too hard.
"A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
ReplyDeleteI agree with this quote because it's all about quality, not quantity. Lots of people try and squeeze in unnecessary things in their work just to make it look like there is more, but in reality it is the same information just reworded in a more inconvenient way.
In response to david:
I agree with you that it is important to keep the audience in mind. The writing must have the reader interested and wanting more.
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts." This quote stood out to me in particular because it reminds me to revise my essay before turning it in. Most of the time, I don't revise my essays and it is filled with unnecessary grammar mistakes and awkward sentences. This quote reminds me to revise my essay, so that it is not filled with unnecessary sentences and paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Max, I agree with him. Sometimes I feel obligated to use big, long words, but most of the time it's better to be safe and use short words, if it'll do it's job of carrying out meaning.
ReplyDelete