[教你如何写出完美的论文--系列教程(10.DVD)].10.Perfecting.Your.Final.Draft.pdf



Part 1: Good Writing Is Rewriting
Remember the quote from Voltaire that we mentioned earlier in this series: “The perfect is the enemy of
the good”! Well, that was certainly true for your irst draft, when you wanted to get as many thoughts
down as possible. But “good” isn’t really enough for your inal draft, is it? You want to do everything you
can to make it perfect.
Of course, that means no typos, no glaring omissions, no limsy arguments, and no missing references. But
that also should include revising your paper a few times through a number of drafts — rewriting, adding,
and deleting material as necessary.
Throughout your revision process, you might want to try the following exercise. Continually ask yourself:
* How would an A+ paper on my topic approach this?
* How would the smartest kid in my class articulate what I’m trying to say?
Whenever you determine an answer to one these questions, our advice is simple: do that! It’s actually
much easier than it sounds. With research papers— as with many things in life — a huge part of getting it
right is a commitment to trying to get it right.
You should try to give yourself a day or so between drafts, so you can look at your writing with “fresher
eyes” — sometimes it can feel like you’re reading it for the irst time, or even like you’re reading somebody
else’s writing, and all of that “distance” makes you more objective.
As you rework your paper, be sure to save every single draft you create. You don’t want to ind yourself
tweaking a certain sentence in your inal draft and thinking: “You know what? I’ m pretty sure I said that
more succinctly in my third draft. Uh-oh...where’s my third draft?” So keep everything as you go along.
For more information, call 1-800-238-1512 or visit us online at videoaidedinstruction.com.
You may even want to use version numbers as the software industry does — e.g., “Research Paper 2.0”!
But how do you know when to put that red pen down? Well, you should stop editing only when you feel
3
like you’re just editing for editing’s sake, just making little changes here and there but not really making
substantial improvements. And don’t let the deadline be the thing that dictates when to stop editing: if
you’ve planned your time effectively, you should be putting the inal touches on your research paper well
before the deadline hits. You should turn in your inal draft only when you’re convinced that:
* your paper more than satisies the assignment,
* you’ve said everything you need to say,
* you’ve said pretty much everything you want to say, and
* you’ve said it all about as well as you possibly could have.
Part 2: Reworking for Content
With your notes and key sources handy (along with your style guide), ask yourself the following:
* Does my paper satisfy all of the elements of the original assignment? Typically, these elements
include requirements regarding:
* The number and assortment of types of research sources
* The types of content (the assignment probably included directions like “analyze,”
“compare,” “review,” “describe,” “explain,” “deine,” etc. — did I follow the directions?)
* The length of the paper (either a word count or page count — many software programs
(TM)
include a built-in “Word Count” function; in Microsoft Wordand OpenOfice Writer,
for example, this feature is usually found under the “Tools” menu)
* Are the contents of my paper rich enough, thorough enough, and complete enough to deserve a
high grade? And is it long enough? If not:
* Add one or more additional pieces of evidence (examples, quotations, anecdotes,
events) to further strengthen your argument.
* Insert or expand a discussion of one or more opposing points of view. This study guide should be used along with a program published by Video Aided Instruction, Inc.