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| Commentary on the First Cuts |
| As the author of this position paper I would not have needed, of course, to write out my explanations for the changes in the raw draft. But I wanted to demonstrate the fun of freely cutting a raw draft when you know you have more than enough good material. Without the usual dread and anxiety, you can see your own thinking and writing more clearly, and you are better able to judge what will help or hinder coherence. This leaves more energy for shaping a powerful product for the reader. What's left, then, is a draft on the screen or in cut-and-paste form, that is now roughly scaled to size, and basically coherent: most of what needs to be there is in; almost all of what should come out is out. Some of the deletions from the raw draft in this first round of cuts were fragments of larger issues, or allusions to broader arguments that would demand much more explanation to make sense to the reader. I deleted a few general passages stating opposing views because they were so far removed from the immediate issue that refuting them would be a waste of time and space. Other passages were in the wrong tone for the intended audience. Finally, there were the inevitable passages written for myself as part of the composing process but not for a reader, and these were deleted as well. Once freed of inappropriate, inconsistent, or irrelevant material, a cut raw draft clearly reveals what is missing. This is usually the moment when you think of your best examples. At the end of my raw draft, it was obvious that I needed a larger perspective for the reader, some example that would illustrate in a concrete way many of the issues I had raised so far: money, time, academic goals, ideals. I needed something to help convince the reader of the reality of improving writing instead of the illusion fostered by the advocates of a competency exam. Thinking about what other schools have done, I realized that the example of the Bard College writing project was exactly what I needed. I can develop that example in my roughly final draft. Moreover, thinking about that summer writing program at Bard, where the best teachers of writing were chosen to work with all incoming freshmen, I realized that although an exam won't inspire competency among students, it will permit incompetent teaching. I'll want to work that simple statement into the conclusion of my roughly final draft, too. The concentration and freedom of these first cuts, then, gave me the opportunity to trim away the fat, emphasize the coherence of my argument, and to see what was still needed. All along, I have been selecting the best material, knowing I'll have more than enough, and that I am working within a system that will enable me to get the whole job done well, on time. As I removed from the raw draft what did not fit, settled on what did, and discovered what was missing, the argument crystallized for me organically. In my roughly final draft I want to ensure that the reader will similarly experience the organic unfolding of meaning. |
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