Five Steps to help you move from
beginning ideas to final draft
- Once a first draft has been written, I
might suggest that as much as you are able, seek feedback on how it sounds and
to see whether or not our subject and purpose are
evident and if our audience is adequately targeted. If you can consult with
other writers--or at least willing readers--consider these
guidelines for giving and receiving
feedback.
- As you work with revising,
consider your draft's structure. Most profiles have either a
topical or
chronological organization. When you see
how you've told your story, work on tinkering with the organization to weave
the connective tissue of transitions into your prose. Having a strategy in mind might help you decide
what stays in and what stays out as you
revise.
- Sample profiles are evident in our essays from
our reader. But how do normal people write
profiles? What does a student version look like? I've created one, based on a fictitious
person,
which is in two states of readiness. Read the
first
draft and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. Then, consider the
revision
and see where improvement has occurred. Can you see what changes in writing made
the second draft stronger?
- Once you have obtained feedback,
made revisions, and are nearing completion, I'd recommend
these final fine-tuning tips for your paper.
When the paper is due,
be sure to double-space the draft, follow the defaults for margins, and include
a cover page. We will use this format for all of our
assignments. I've also included a
visual aid for
an image described in Annie Dillard's essay, "The Death of a Moth."
Here are two sample student profiles:
one, in which verbs and details are strong;
and another, where a sense of audience is
central.