Iterative Writing
Iterative Writing
Transcript
Iterative learning means doing something repeatedly and thoughtfully. It means giving yourself many chances to learn, to improve, to grow, and to get better at something. Writing is extremely iterative. The better you are at it, the more true this is. The best writers iterate a lot. They don't tell themselves that they're gonna get it right the first time. There's no such thing as getting it right the first time when it comes to writing.
The best writers we have, authors of bestsellers, academics who write for a living, they never think to themselves I'm gonna write this the right way the first time. It's just not on the table for them. Instead, they know that they need to iterate. They need to write a draft, think about it, revise it, offer it to a colleague or an editor for some feedback, revise it again, and then they'll eventually get to the final version.
The version that becomes a bestseller or gets published in an academic journal. I like to think about writing as a big loop. It's a process. It involves drafting and revising, getting some feedback, revising again. It's an iterative process specifically, like all learning. You learn a little bit from each turn of the big loop, and you do it better the next time. Classes that are built around writing or meant to teach you writing will usually build in opportunities for iteration.
You'll be required to hand in several drafts of an essay before you hand in the final draft that gets a grade. Other classes may also offer opportunities, optional opportunities, for iteration. Perhaps the professor will offer to read a rough draft even though it's not required before you hand in the final version. It's a good idea to look for chances to iterate as you write.
Ultimately, the challenge is gonna be learning to refine the basic parts of the essay, and then learn to arrange them in the most effective way. Everyone learns and improves through iteration. So looking for chances to practice iteration is a great idea.
The best writers we have, authors of bestsellers, academics who write for a living, they never think to themselves I'm gonna write this the right way the first time. It's just not on the table for them. Instead, they know that they need to iterate. They need to write a draft, think about it, revise it, offer it to a colleague or an editor for some feedback, revise it again, and then they'll eventually get to the final version.
The version that becomes a bestseller or gets published in an academic journal. I like to think about writing as a big loop. It's a process. It involves drafting and revising, getting some feedback, revising again. It's an iterative process specifically, like all learning. You learn a little bit from each turn of the big loop, and you do it better the next time. Classes that are built around writing or meant to teach you writing will usually build in opportunities for iteration.
You'll be required to hand in several drafts of an essay before you hand in the final draft that gets a grade. Other classes may also offer opportunities, optional opportunities, for iteration. Perhaps the professor will offer to read a rough draft even though it's not required before you hand in the final version. It's a good idea to look for chances to iterate as you write.
Ultimately, the challenge is gonna be learning to refine the basic parts of the essay, and then learn to arrange them in the most effective way. Everyone learns and improves through iteration. So looking for chances to practice iteration is a great idea.