Just So I Know

This isn't a real post. I just wanted to make a note of this thought so I don't forget it. And I thought you might be interested.

I just conferenced with my English teacher. We looked at the first draft of my paper together, and I asked her some questions about my thesis and organization. She complimented me on my writing; I have strong ideas and a good grasp of mechanics and organization. Then I asked her what I could do to improve my overall writing. I explained that I was an above-average writer in High School, but I've coasted for my first two years of college. I told her that I'm hitting a wall with my writing, and I asked her how I can rise above the plateau I've reached. I asked the nerd equivalent of "All these I have kept from my youth. What lack I yet?"

She then explained that there are two cores of writing. The first is ideas, or conceptual. She said that I have have strong ideas and I articulate well and give evidence, but then she challenged me to push it one more step. She said, "Never take the first idea. Push it just a little farther. Don't take the easy or the obvious. It's okay to come back to your first idea, but only after you've gone beyond it." The second core is stylistic. She challenged me to look at my writing at a word and sentence level, instead of a paragraph and paper level. She asked me to look for redundancies and verbal expletives (words that we use in speech that are unnecessary in writing). She asked me to explore the nuances of writing and find the cleanest, most precise way of saying something. I need to go past "What does this say?" to "How can I say it better?"

With that in mind, I'm going to rewrite my paper now. Have a great day!