Revising not Rewriting

One thing that I have never been taught how to do in English class is revise my papers. Yeah, you write a first draft which in my day meant just put some of you information into paragraphs. After you would go through and check spelling and that's how I would revise my paper. So revising has never been a part of my writing process for me. Whatever comes out in my writing the first time is usually my paper. Other than rearranging some sentence or explaining a little more I have not revised my statements or ideas. I would like to learn revising based on syntax and diction as well. I don't have a large vocabulary so I don't always have the right works to explain my ideas. And as we learned in class changing one word in a sentence can change your whole meaning and idea. I would like to be able to go through a sentence and pick out a word that can be changed to make my idea stronger and more powerful. Changing the words I use can also add more detail to what I'm trying to say. Syntax revision would also help because sometime I ramble on trying to get my idea across when I know there is a different way I could say it in less words that would be just as powerful. I think revision is a process that should be taught because there is always a way to make your writing better. My last paper I wrote was the first paper I actually thought about my revisions. I didn't just proof read but I actually went into each paragraph and rearranged sentence within it that would make the connection more clear to the reader. This way I was able to see how just switching the order of my quotes connected my research together in a more understandable way. This last paper will help me with practicing a noticing ways I can revise my writing. Now that I know things to look for I can go through my paper paragraph my paragraph making each one stronger and more fluent. 

Goals

                My goal for our first research paper it to be okay with not finding an answer. My goal is to try and do research to gather more information instead of searching for the right answer because there isn't always a clear answer, nor should there be. There isn't always something that has to be proven right  or wrong. Research can be gathered just to support ideas and to connect ideas. One reason I have never been interested in English before is because I like to have a clear answer. I like to know when I'm doing something right or when I'm wrong. In this assignment I will work on using research to connect ideas found throughout different sources to strengthen my ideas not answer them. Another goal of mine for this assignment is to focus on what parts of my research to use rather than summarizing the whole article. In my past writing assignments  I tend to use a whole quote or tell someone about the whole article which ends up being a waste of words. I want to work on sectioning out the key terms and the information needed that will support the idea of my paper. I want to use specific research so that I have a clear idea throughout my entire paper and so that the reader is never questioning the purpose of my writing. In the end I believe working on both techniques will strengthen my writing because it will be a more focused piece. It won't be forced to end with a right answer and it will focus on the overall purpose of my paper. I will use specific research to support my ideas and give the reader a clear understanding of the meaning of my writing.