Unedited first draft on word processor?

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 3:28 pm

My professor is requesting an unedited first draft along with my assignment. I haven't done first drafts since high school, back when I was still using pen and paper.

One of the things I love about word processors is that I can edit as I go along. My writing style is to compose in my head, and pause to edit frequently, and thoroughly.

I emailed the professor asking if a document with "track changes" enabled would suffice, but I haven't heard back from him yet and I am continuing to work on the assignment now, while I have time.

What can I do differently?

imasinger

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 3:40 pm

Gosh, it sounds like an attempt to prevent cheating/plagiarizing.

Do you make any kind of outline, on paper or on the screen?

Can you use an editing function, so that your original is crossed out, and the rewording is also clear?

These only work if you have the request to submit the rough draft before you have started writing. If he asks for it ex post facto, I guess he (or you) would be out of luck.

I wonder if the next thing people will ask for is a YouTube of a student at work, so that the screen shows, with their changes as they make it. What professor has time to review such stuff?!

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 3:46 pm

I really don't blame him. Back when I used to teach writing I had very strict rules about drafts for similar reasons.

He did request it right there in the assignment instructions. I'm just having trouble writing that way - free flow of ideas without stopping to edit. Making visible edits with strikethroughs and symbols is so cumbersome and counterintuitive. The "track changes" feature in MSW does this work for you automatically, but only sort of, and the man wants unedited. Besides, the professor will need to view the document in this mode on his own screen and that may be asking for too much lol.

(Oh, and and besides a first draft he needs a brainstorming chart AND outline. But those I did.)

What

hinenimuchan

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 3:49 pm

You did not say what the subject is, and we did not use computers back when I was in college, but....at least when my daughters' HS teachers ask for that, they do not mean you cannot edit as you go along or that they want to see the track changes log.

They simply want to see the ideas you are working on and/or the structure, before you invest a lot of time on writing the paper. This may be because they need to approve the topic or approach, because they want to critique -- or have you self-critique -- the style, or because they simply want to break down the writing process into stages so that it does not get left for the last minute and rushed.

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 3:54 pm

Maybe. But he is requesting it along with the rest of the work, all at the same time when it's due, so it's not in order to approve the idea beforehand. And it's really a very simple assignment, I'm just in perfectionist mode...

His exact words were that we need to include "an unedited copy of your first draft, which, when compared to your final draft, shows that you did conduct the writing stages of revision, editing, and proofreading."

It's a writing class, so I guess he wants to see the process he taught being put into practice.

trixx

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 4:11 pm

amother wrote:

One of the things I love about word processors is that I can edit as I go along. My writing style is to compose in my head, and pause to edit frequently, and thoroughly.

amother wrote:

His exact words were that we need to include "an unedited copy of your first draft, which, when compared to your final draft, shows that you did conduct the writing stages of revision, editing, and proofreading."

It's a writing class, so I guess he wants to see the process he taught being put into practice.

seems like he wants to teach you otherwise. get the free flow of ideas down on paper first and then go back and revise.
my own experience, as a natural editor, is that I do see the writing process hindered when I correct myself mid-work. It may be a challenge for you to adapt to this professor's style but think of it as a challenge forcing you to consider other techniques that will ultimately hone your skill.

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 4:15 pm

trixx wrote:

What a waste of time this course is, then.

Thank you for the suggestion... but I am almost done with my first (very much edited) draft...

I guess I will now need to make a million revisions just to prove that I know how.

Amarante

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 4:16 pm

I understand as I learned to write pre-computers - then had a transition to computers and now can barely use a pen to sign my name without serious writer's cramp.

However, as someone whose job requires LOTS of writing, there is always a first draft in which one sets down one's thoughts which isn't the same thing as using word processing to change a word or two along the way.

I have NEVER written anything of importance in which I didn't go back multiple times to edit and revise - change structure of the document. Going with a first draft is pretty critical to good writing. It also is helpful to me to get my thoughts clarified.

Caveat that this is my FIRST unedited draft LOL.

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 4:52 pm

Amarante wrote:

I don't do my writing in one shot and then consider it done. However, in Word I just do the revisions right on the original document. I don't copy+paste the whole thing into another document and save fifteen drafts like we used to do with paper.

I guess as soon as I finish getting my thoughts down, however much perfected and revised, I will copy paste it into a new document and do all further revisions there.

I'm sure there will be plenty of changes, I just worry whether the changes will be drastic enough to prove whatever he is looking for.

Did I mention I am a perfectionist sometimes?

hinenimuchan

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 4:56 pm

Exactly...your last sentence...Try to relax, enjoy and learn from the process!

Now that I see the instructions and know the type of course, its actually an interesting and beneficial exercise. I write for a living (legal writing), so I speak from experience. So many times, we interrupt the flow of ideas to make corrections that (a) could be made later and (b) will probably end up being deleted in a later revision. It is an invaluable tool to be able to -- at least sometimes -- just "go with it." I wish I could. I must have made thirty edits on this little message alone!

So, no, I do not think he would be satisfied by one document with markup on it, or markup view available. He wants two separate versions, which he can compare side-to-side.

That does not mean you have to obsess about showing every minor change made along the way in the first version. I doubt he cares if you corrected a typo instinctively.

It seems to be more about getting through the first version smoothly, without deliberate changes, almost the way you would write an essay during an exam under time pressure for a substantive course (I.e., you would cross out and fix a word that you realized you had spelled incorrectly, but you would not re-arrange a sentence or re-organize a paragraph, and you would expect some spelling/grammar/syntax errors to remain). Only here you have the assignment/luxury of going back after the whole thing is done and seeing in hindsight what you could have written better and also what clerical errors you can fix. It is virtually impossible NOT to find things to correct, especially if you do the first draft non-meticulously. As long as you leave and find significant changes for the final version, you should be fine.

I suggest that you allow whatever amount of time is reasonable for your situation to pass before you start on the revision. It never ceases to amaze me how language that I thought I had gotten "down pat" one day often seems clumsy, repetitive or unclear the next day, and how my eyes skipped over missing or incorrect words in multiple readings the preceding day when I was focused on the language.

goodmorning

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 8:51 pm

amother wrote:

Very minor point, but you don't need to copy and paste. Select "Save as" and give it a new filename (e.g. paper2) and then you'll have a copy of your first draft.

Sorry, this won't really solve your problem, but thought I'd throw that out there.

amother

Seagreen

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 8:58 pm

goodmorning wrote:

True.

Since I had begun using the "track changes" tool, copy paste into a new document gives it a fresh start with a clean history. I'm not sure if save as does the same. I will test it and update. (I apologize in case anyone can't fall asleep because of this...)

trixx

Wed, Nov 11 2015, 9:37 pm

by the way, you can type into a google doc. it automatically saves all revisions. but if you say have it open for 3 hours and come back and keep working on it, it may consider that whole time as one session, so basically close it every time you do work so that it saves the most revisions as possible. I dont know if your professor will accept that though. (anyone shared on the document can see the revision edits at any time)