Sample Reflection Paper on Categories of Writing
Prewriting
Writing can be categorized as both easy and difficult depending on one’s level of preparedness. From the past writings, I have learned that it is important for one to read and re-read through the given instructions to have a clear understanding of what is required. I started planning for this paper three hours before I started writing. In the three hours, I created an outline of what was required. I did a research on the internet and also used the materials given in class. I carried out a 30-minute brainstorming session where I looked at the most important factors to be considered in my write up. I also took the time to visit the writing center site to verify the instructions and requirements.
Drafting
Producing a full draft took close to an hour and thirty minutes. One of the issues I encountered was to ensure that I limited one idea to one paragraph. This was quite difficult since I had to research for specific examples to prove my main points. I also had to go through articles and books to seek out for references to back my points up so as to come up with full paragraphs. I overcame the difficulty in finding specific examples by reading widely. I browsed through articles about my research topic and found information to fill up my paragraphs. The easiest parts of the draft that were easy to write were the main ideas. These were easy since I only needed to mention the points without elaborating.
Revising/editing
I spent the most time organizing my paper. Initially, during the drafting part, I had quite a number of ideas to present forth. I wrote these ideas down without considering the organization of the paper. I later realized that my points were quite disorganized and had to do a re-organization. This took an hour since I had to ensure that there was a logical and smooth flow of the paper. Revising and editing my paper took an additional thirty minutes. This was inclusive of checking through my grammar, plagiarism, and citation. I was confident that the paper was ready for turning in when I had 0 percent plagiarism and no more grammatical errors. I also checked through my citations and ensured that there were no errors.
Lessons
The hardest part of writing this paper was to find the appropriate sources. I had to go through multiple sources on the internet and notes to settle on the right ones. This equally took the most time as compared to other processes. On the other hand, the easiest part was editing my grammar. I found few grammatical errors hence used very little time on it. In the end, I learned that a draft should be a full reflection of my paper. It is during the draft write up that one should organize all the points and ensure that there is a logical flow before starting to write the paper. For my future papers, I will ensure that I prepare early enough. I will also employ the use of a grammar checker such as Grammarly to avoid any mistakes that the Microsoft Office spell checker may leave out. Lastly, I will ensure that I read widely prior to my writing sessions. This will help me to take lesser time in identifying the main ideas for a paper.