Who should do this step? You

Open Draft 1 of your essay. Read it out loud all the way through. Don’t stop to change anything, and don’t comment on or try to explain any of your choices. Just read it out loud from start to finish.

What are all the things you like about your essay so far?

Name EVERYTHING, no matter how big or how small, that you feel good about.

This could be anything from “I really love the story I chose,” to a particular sentence you really like, to “I love this semicolon right here. This semicolon just feels right.”

ANYTHING you like, name it. There is no limit. If you reference a word or sentence from your essay, copy-paste it in -- be as specific as you possibly can.

What are 3 things you feel unsure about or know you want to work on at this point? No more than 3! If you can think of more than 3, prioritize and choose the most important ones. Record them in the table below.

Who should do this step? My Reading Partner

If you’re working by yourself, skip this step!

If you’re working with someone else to workshop your essay, have your reader repeat this process for your essay.

First, have them tell you all the things they like about your essay--no matter how big or how small.

Next, have them tell you ONE ADDITIONAL THING they have questions about or think you should work on. Just one!

Don’t let your partner give you more than one item to work on at this point. They might get excited to help you out and lose their heads, wanting to rattle off a whole list of things they think will improve your essay. Remind them that this is a process, and right now the focus is big picture, one-thing-at-a-time, manageable steps towards revision of structure + content.