Page 49 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing
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Expect the Unexpected
If you think about taking a weekend road trip, the steps involved seem
simple and straightforward. Plan. Pack. Drive. Enjoy. Yet it is never
that simple. You have to set aside enough money (it always takes
more than you expect) and decide where to go. Then, as you drive,
you find that traffic is heavier than you anticipated. You take a wrong
turn and have to find your way back to the main road. Eventually, you
reach your destination, but getting there was more complicated than
you expected it to be. You decide that on road trips, you have to
expect the unexpected.
Writing an essay works the same way. The writing process seems
straightforward: Prewrite. Plan. Draft. Revise. Proofread. But it is
never that simple. You have to set aside enough time to write (it
always takes more than you expect) and decide what to write about.
As you write, you find that the topic you chose is harder to write about
than you thought. You take a wrong turn and have to bring your
paragraphs back in line with the main topic. Eventually, you find your
way, but writing an essay was more complicated than you expected it
to be. Don’t feel inadequate. Expect the unexpected. It is normal to
write and rewrite, to repeat steps, and even to feel lost. Once you
reach your destination, both processes—taking a trip and writing an
essay—are worth the time and trouble that you took.
Exercise 1-1 The Writing Process
