Editing Your First Draft? Don't Forget Audience and Purpose!

Anne-Mhairi Simpson had an interesting post about what to expect from your first draft, and I wanted to comment on her experience. One paragraph in particular jumped out at me:

Now, if you’ve ever wondered about this, chances are you will have come across a huge amount of advice regarding the quality of your first draft and 99% of it will say exactly the same thing: that your first draft is 100% guaranteed to be a complete crock and you will need to do drastic re-writing and editing, including filling in numerous plot holes and wholesale murder of little darlings before you should even think about letting that beast see the light of day.

Perhaps it's irresponsible of me to say this, but some people don't need to tear apart their first draft in order to get to something good. Some authors will make a pass through to check for technical errors, and then call it good. Others will tweak and fiddle and agonize until they have something that's been revised so many times it bears absolutely no resemblance to the original.  Some people are never satisfied with their work, even if they started with something fantastic, and other writers will be pleased far too quickly by far too little. Editing too much can be just as detrimental to your novel as too little editing.

In an effort to smooth out the prose, fix all the grammar, remove passive voice, and expunge florid description, you may remove the very thing that makes the manuscript unique. When you "kill your darlings," don't kill yourself in the process. Your quirks contribute to your style, and sometimes a work is interesting for the reasons it "fails".

Different genres have different rules and expectations. When you edit your manuscript, consider what your audience wants to see, not simply what blogs call "good writing." As Anna-Mhairi discovered, what fails in one genre might be the strength in another genre. She went too far in one direction and lost the spark her readers loved up to that point. I think the primary lesson from her experience is to always let audience and purpose be your guide while editing. It's more important to find a style that works than it is to blindly follow writing advice.

4 Steps to Choosing the Perfect Essay Topic

What do you do when a professor says that you can write about anything you want? This can be a really scary, or at least annoying, experience for students who have never written an essay without some kind of prompt. 

As a PhD student I've grown used to this fact of life, and yet coming up with paper topics is still one of the most harrowing experiences of my term.  I just wish a professor would tell me exactly where I should be looking and what I should be looking for.  And yet, they just throw me to the wolves.  Fair enough.  I am supposed to have my own research interests after all, and I should also be competent enough at research to know where to start, but it still remains daunting.

Today I must decide on a paper topic for a seminar on Sophocles' Antigone, so I've been thinking a lot about process of deciding on a paper topic.  I don't want to be reductive, but it amazes me how this harrowing decision can turn into a rather simple one if you follow a few steps.  These steps are not always easily discernable, and they may be different for everybody, but this is how this process has worked for me for the last eight years, and hopefully it can help you out the next time a professor utters those words "You can write about anything you want."

1. Follow your gut, and then write a list

It's helpful to keep note of the things that have sparked even the slightest interests during class or while reading and researching.  Make a list of 3 of those thoughts, 3 things that made you think "hmm".  They don't have to be formulated topics or ideas, but just get them out of your head and on paper.  It might be good to talk about those ideas with a friend or other classmate.  Often verbalizing ideas help you know how strong they are or how much potential they have.

This is one of my favorite parts of the process because I love how odd the connections I make have become over the years.  Even the craziest idea could turn into a compelling paper.  For instance, in my recent course on coldness and culture, when my professor was talking about ice palaces and ice hotels I immediately thought of Kubrick's The Shining and as silly as it may have sounded to everyone else, I held on to that connection and ended up writing one of my favorite papers. 

Know Your Audience: How to Score With Your TA

If you are a university student, it's likely that most of your papers are read and marked by other students. These people are called TAs (Teaching or Teacher Assistants) or graders, and it is their job to read the papers that your professor doesn't have the time or wherewithal to read. It's true that TAs are fellow students, but they are also supposedly the best and brightest, those who received the highest grades in the classes you are now taking. Even still, they are students, and they are learning as they go. It is important therefore to write your papers with this audience in mind. I've drawn on my own experience working for five years as a TA and talked to other seasoned teaching assistants to compile this list of tips for when you write your college essay. Please feel free to add any other advise or tips in the comments!