It really works guys !!

Yesterday night when I was doing revising on my final Personal Statements, I realized something pretty cool. I had actually done the correct writing process on not one, but two essays. Both of my personal statements were products of the process Revising with Feedback. Although I did not plan it this way at all, I am very happy that it worked out this way.

Last year when I had Ms. Fletcher for AP English 11, at the end of the year she had us write 2 personal statements. So, when Fletch said we had to do that for this class, I thought this would be the perfect chance to go back to my essays from 4 months ago and see what was up. I was pretty disappointed at what I found. I didn't even know what I was trying to say and I'm the writer ! So, I gave my personal statements to 2 different people, asking them for suggestions.

When they got back to me, I had to remember to receive constructive criticism with grace. It is so hard though, because these stories that we have all written mean something to us (personal, duh...) and we don't want to hear that they are bad. I had to take all of their comments into consideration, and remember from Elbow that we have to revise with feedback especially because these people can tell you exactly what the piece looks like from the readers view.

What I have learned from this process is that yes, you can use it with a shorter amount of time, but it works so much better with more time. This is because every new time you look at it, it is a fresh look. Me not looking at my papers for about 4 months gave me a whole new perspective on them, and then I had more time to play with different ideas.

So, even though I know we all procrastinate as much as possible, I am highly suggesting to all of you to try this process, because I am very glad I tried it. Although I am still not completely ready to  turn these papers into my college application, I am very close to my final product.