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When and How to Use Feedback |
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It is almost always worthwhile to get the perspective on your paper that only another reader can provide, but if you write under pressure, waiting for or wading through a reader's comments may seem impractical and risky. Talking through a topic as you begin a writing project can be the most useful feedback of all. You needn't find an expert in the field, only someone who can ask good questions: Why are you interested in this topic? What are you really hoping to say? What do you think you will conclude? Such questions inspire you to clarify your own intentions, and it's likely that if you record the talk-through, some of your answers will find their way into the draft of your paper, article, or memo. You can also make direct use of feedback before you polish the roughly final draft into the final product. When writing under pressure, you concentrate on finding out what you really want to say: integrating ideas, feelings, experiences, and learning into a clear, powerful argument for the reader; and finally, improving your capacity to write well. Feedback is most useful if it is related to these three issues. The timetable for writing under pressure will not accommodate (and your increasing experience as a writer will not tolerate) the comments of people who insist that you revise your writing in their image: either the way they think about a question, or the way they approach an audience. In most cases, you will be able to include feedback in your timetable for completing the project. The benefits of feedback make the allocation of time well worth it. A few minutes of discussion about your cut draft can save you untold misery in trying to crystallize an argument or demonstrate its coherence to a reader. With my position paper, due at nine in the morning in the dean's office, I'm going to have to trust my experience with the issue and the QUICK WRITING PROCESS sequence of conscious decisions that have led me to the carefully selected material of my roughly final draft. But I know from thirty years of writing experience that I will need someone to give the final draft a thorough proofreading before I print it out for the dean.
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