CLICK HERE to view some of the annotations I made on draft 3 with OneNote, a key part of my revision process further explained below
CLICK HERE to view changes made between drafts 3 and 4 of my paper (utilizing the new comparison tool within Google Docs) or HERE to view the final draft of my paper by itself
I chose to primarily feature the final two drafts of my paper here as I think more significant revision occurred between them than elsewhere in the project. During my initial attempt to complete ENG110 last fall (from which I had to withdraw due to medical reasons), I grew substantially in my revision process, establishing many of the techniques I still employ now. One such vehicle for revision is the use of OneNote on my laptop. During this process, I read through each paragraph one at a time, asking myself “What’s the purpose of this paragraph? How does it aim to contribute to the paper?” Once I have established that, I give the paragraph a rating out of 5 stars, on how well I think it achieves said goal, and I then write some comments usually underneath. This is particularly useful for global-scale revision of my papers. An example of the kind of revision that results from this process can be seen in the links provided above; Particularly in paragraphs 3 & 4 of draft 3, which are condensed and clarified into 1 paragraph in the final draft.
This semester, I have begun to work with some particularly tricky paragraphs by employing a “drafting space”. It is simply a blank document I keep open alongside the text when revising, where I can copy and paste sections of the text to focus in on them more and try out changes before actually modifying the original document. This is primarily used for local revisions, focusing more on specific wording or small-scale restructuring of a point. The temporary nature of a drafting space means I do not have an exact example of it to show here, however, I do have THIS link to the Google Docs comparison tool showing how an earlier iteration of a particularly important paragraph in my paper was reworked within a drafting space. To hone in on a specific example of local revision from that document, I initially worded my main point like this: “Although I recognize that special meals will always have value, they hold that value because of the interpersonal relationships associated with them.” That was simple and concise, which is good for not getting hung up on minutiae during initial drafting, but lacked the impact (and maybe a little flair) that I think that particular point should bring. In the drafting space, I wrote and rewrote this particular point several times, eventually expanding and strengthening it to this: “Although Soylent lacks the cultural significance and fond memories of many of our favorite meals, those meals have value because of the interpersonal relationships we associate with them. If routine consumption of Soylent is helpful to keeping those people we value safe and healthy in times of instability and crisis, dismissing it simply on the grounds of it being less comforting or unpleasant to consume undermines those very values we are claiming to uphold by advocating for the continued consumption of traditional food.” This particular passage is probably the one I’m most proud of in all of the academic writing I have done, and it owes its polish to my implementation of the drafting space.
