While I was doing my research paper, I honestly wasn't very confident in myself. I have a problem with procrastination, so I didn't do everything the best I was able to do. After starting the essay, it was easy to write. Finding the actual research and worrying about having enough was one of my biggest problems. I had a problem with having enough research and making sure all of it was relevant and that I wasn't going off on a tangent. Any personal successes would have to be how well I wrote it in the time I gave myself to write it. I know I can do a lot better than I did and I plan on spending a lot of time with this draft before I turn it in for a grade.
I really liked the pre-writing activities. I thought the chart was extremely helpful. It helped me get all of my ideas together and figure out exactly what I was writing about before I wrote the paper. In other words, it made me actually think about writing instead of pulling the paper out of the air and calling it good. As I was pre-writing, I was quite excited about writing the paper and willing to take the challenge. This obviously didn't go as planned because of my procrastination. In order for me to write a paper the best I can write it, I must set aside some time and devotion to work on the paper. I lacked on this area during the week I was supposed to write it because I ended up going on vacation. I think it would be a smart idea if I did a lot more research before writing the paper instead of while writing the paper.
I thought the peer editing was a great experience, but not for everyone. Some people don't peer edit other's as "harsh" as they should because they either don't want to read the essay or don't want to tell the writer what they've done. In order to prevent this, I told the person that peer edited my paper to tell me everything and not hold back on critiquing. This ended up being very beneficial. I don't think I learned anything specific about reading someone else's draft, but I compared how we organized our papers since we chose the same prompt. It gave me some ideas as to how I can make my paper that much better. I also looked at their transitions, since I am not very creative with them. Obviously I didn't take their transitions, but it helped me think of some other things I could say besides "also" and "another". My feedback definitely helped with the revisions I made to the paper. I think my editor was very honest and blunt, which I would much rather prefer than hearing that it's great and I don't have to make any changes. If I were to make any changes, I would like to make sure that every one else critiques how they should instead of saying "good job" or not saying much at all.
As far as strengths for my paper, I think I have a lot of valid ideas that spark some interest. I think I have the general idea, but I need to be more specific. I will definitely be doing even more researching in order to make my paper the best it can be. I am usually like this at writing. My first few drafts are not the best, but as soon as I dedicate some time towards the essay, it turns out to be pretty decent.
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