Understand, dont reread

The chapter 36 reading was telling us how to grasp the main points of what were reading, and to ask questions about what we don't understand. When reading, pace yourself to make sure you aren't just reading, your understanding the text. Ive had an ever-lasting problem with reading, and then forgetting about what I have just read. Asking questions while you read, highlighting main points, making side notes, and SLOWING DOWN will keep me from rereading another chapter. Reading slower may feel like it will never end, but I will never have to go back and read a chapter again.

Editing and Proofreading

We don't edit for perfection, we edit for clarity. The reading tells you to ask yourself a lot of questions about your writing. "Does each paragraph focus on a point?" "Does every sentence relate to your main idea?" Where have you placed your most important information - at the beginning, middle, or end?" When editing you have to look at your writing as a whole, and then pick out what disrupts the main idea of your paper. If you have a paragraph that doesn't relate to your topic it needs to be thrown out or revised. Irrelevant material throws the audience off of what your trying to say. Your writing needs to have good transitions of thought, making your paper flow so the reader stays with your main idea.
The reading breaks editing down into three categories; editing paragraphs, editing sentences, and editing words. When editing, you will have to go over a paper more than once. This gives you an easy way to break it down. First edit the paragraphs, then the sentences, and then check for common spelling errors. Using the three steps when editing will help you break the paper down so you don't miss anything.
"Proofreading your final draft with care will ensure that your message is taken seriously." Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process. When proofreading your looking for little mistakes. Things like mixed-up fonts or missing pages will hurt your credibility as a writer. Don't trust spell check, it doesn't read your paper.

Assessing Writing

The reading was over assessing your own writing you do for yourself, and how I should NOT do it. The book says to "shut off your internal evaluator", and just write. Don't worry about the structure of your writing, just let your thoughts flow. When you stop to fix the structure, or to revise, you lose your best thoughts!
The next section talked about writing for others. It says how we need to make our writing as clear as we possibly can, because we won't be there to tell them why we wrote what we wrote. Stay focused on the subject, and make sure we have support for what we say, and lastly make sure its organized.
Practice makes perfect. No one will be an expert revisor their first time around. Make sure that every paragraph supports your thesis statement. We revise to sharpen our focus, strengthen our argument, and to organize our paper for ultimate clarity.

Drafting

I wish I would have read this section at the beginning of high school. It would have solved all my problems. After reading I understand many different ways to help me get started, instead of sitting down and staring at a blank Microsoft Word document for twenty minutes. Setting a schedule is something I am never good at. Procrastinating until the last minute stresses me out, usually causing my writers block.
These sections help with understanding that writing is in fact, a process. Its almost impossible to write your best on the first try. When writing you will run into problems, and the reading tells you how to deal with these issues.
The second section shows the importance of detail in writing. You have to make the reader feel the senses you are describing. Help him taste the delicious pizza your telling of. The use of adjectives is important to detailed writing.
Narrating. This section is what I should have read before sitting for an hour or two writing my narrative essay. The use of time markers help the reader understand the time line of your story, showing them the sequence of events. The use of transitions help the reader follow the change of time or events in the story. The use of words like first, then, meanwhile, at last, etc.. Its important to make your transitions flow so you don't lose your readers.
Using dialogue brings voices into writing other than my own. Its the difference between telling a story of a scene, or re-enacting the scene so the reader follows the play by play. Would you rather read about an interview, or read the interview as if you were sitting in the room?