Essay Assignment #1: Option #1

Revising has never really been something I have ever looked forward to. After I finish the writing assignment, or even before, I don’t say to my self, “yes, now the fun proofing part begins!” I used to use the words: edit, revise, re-write, go-over, etc. I think that because of my experience as a graphic designer is growing, I have switched to using “proof” or “proofing.” I believe this is because no design is ever 100% correct and completed the very first time it is created. Designers always make thumbnail sketches and proofs (aka rough drafts) of their work so the client can see it and make any changes or provide any input they see fit. I may have not completely adapted this idea to my writing; however, I have at least adapted the name for which I call it when I do revise.
Skateboarders, in my eyes, can be considered revisionists. I’ve been skateboarding for the better half of my life and can say that whenever I’m doing a trick down a set of stairs or over an obstacle, I always keep trying the trick until I have landed it perfectly. This is especially true when the trick is being filmed. Even if I have landed the trick 5 times in a row, I’m not satisfied with it until I finally land on the board just right and roll away clean. It can take upwards of an hour of constantly retrying the same trick over and over. If that’s not revision, I’m not sure what is.
So, those are two specific ways that I’ve been taught, or rather that I have learned to revise. I’m pretty sure I adapt that to my writing because even right now, I jumped back to this sentence after I had already written this next one coming up. However, with writing, and in general with school, I was always taught to say what I needed to say and then go back and reread what I have. The perfectionist part of me doesn’t always let me do that though since I just admitted to going back and revising/adding sentences where I felt was needed. It’s definitely a constant process of revising as I’m writing.
Maybe I read it wrong, but from what I understand about Sommers’ article is that maybe I’m a combination of the student writers as well as the experienced ones. The parts I revise the most are in fact my grammar and word choice, however, I also take in to consideration what I’m actually writing in a way that best conveys the ideas I’m trying to get across to the reader. I focus on the micro issues while paying (at least some) attention to the “global issues of argument and audience.” I suppose you could say I took what the academic world has taught me, with regards to making sure that I speak/write in cohesive sentences, while also taking lessons from life, which that has taught me to express my ideas clearly enough for my audience to understand.

…this draft isn’t finished!