*How many times did you draft your secondaries?*

[lickerwhicker]

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[TypeADissection]

As many as it takes to be concise and to the point. Think of it like a nice stew. Write a draft. Let it percolate for a few days. Come back to it. I wouldn't have a lot of different people read it because then you get a lot of different viewpoints. Find 2-3 at most. Read it out loud. Did I mention keeping it concise and to the point? Cheers.

 

[MCATISEZ]

I typically do not write in drafts. I spend a long time carefully writing my essays. After spending a couple days away from them, I get opinions and introspect on what I've written.


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[fouracle]

Literally 0-1. I'm so jaded by all the repetitive, nonsensical essay writing at this point that I've abandoned using Word to edit and re-edit my secondaries and just type it in the app box at this point. At most I read it over once before I submit. It's just a lot, honestly.

 

[UnassumingToad]

Literally 0-1. I'm so jaded by all the repetitive, nonsensical essay writing at this point that I've abandoned using Word to edit and re-edit my secondaries and just type it in the app box at this point. At most I read it over once before I submit. It's just a lot, honestly.

I feel like this is a good way to shoot yourself in the foot... I personally have put a ton of effort into this process and am not going to come up short because I did a shotty job writing.

I have been devoting a lot of time to my core secondary topics: diversity, adversity, failure essays etc. My plan is to have a good core draft and then adapt these to specific schools. Once I adapt, I will probably only read over it once or twice. For the less common or shorter essays I have two rules of thumb: always have someone read over it other than myself and I always read out loud at least twice without catching an error. That said, for the less common/shorter essays I am only doing 1-2 drafts.

 

[DBC03]

Define "drafts." I wrote two different drafts over a year ago. When I came back to it this year, I started over. And I edited and edited and edited. It was technically just one draft as I didn't start back at the beginning, but the final essay was quite different from the initial draft.

 

[theonlytycrane]

^ you started on secondaries a year ago?


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[DBC03]

^ you started on secondaries a year ago?


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OK, OK, I'm really shot today. Yes, I started on it over a year ago thinking I would have no time this year. I was correct. But I completely restarted this year.

 

[DBC03]

Note - don't respond to two different threads at the same time regarding time frames for completely different events...

 

[Médecin Qui]

I'm one of those people who wants everything to sound perfect the first time I put it on paper, so I typically spent a ton of time on my first "draft" then had someone take a look at it. This usually only resulted in minor adjustments, but I've done quite a lot of writing. If you haven't, I'd suggest 2 drafts minimum and at least 2 people to proofread and critique. Also, once you're satisfied with it, sit it aside for a day or two then come back. It makes a difference.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Twice. PS was close to 33.

 

[DameJulie]

For a prompt that I wrote for the first time (aka not recycling), I write ~5 drafts, starting from an outline.

 

[DBC03]

For a prompt that I wrote for the first time (aka not recycling), I write ~5 drafts, starting from an outline.

I'm impressed! I think I'm the only person whose papers are worse when I start from an outline. I think I'm doing something wrong.


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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I'm impressed! I think I'm the only person whose papers are worse when I start from an outline. I think I'm doing something wrong.


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Nah. There are two types of writers. Outliners and pantsers (as in, by the seat of your pants). Find which way you write best and stick with it. There's no reason to struggle through using an outline if that's not how you write.

 

[DameJulie]

I'm impressed! I think I'm the only person whose papers are worse when I start from an outline. I think I'm doing something wrong.


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Nah. There are two types of writers. Outliners and pantsers (as in, by the seat of your pants). Find which way you write best and stick with it. There's no reason to struggle through using an outline if that's not how you write.

Agreed. Just find what works best for you. I was trained writing with an outline, so I knew how to work with it.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Agreed. Just find what works best for you. I was trained writing with an outline, so I knew how to work with it.

And I've always been a pantser. I have never written more than two drafts for anything. It's about what works for you!

 

[Pandion]

For the first few, several drafts (2-3, with lots of subsequent nitpicking). As I did more and both a) got the hang of it and b) had material available to tweak/recycle, fewer drafts.

By the last couple I was down to a single lookover to catch typos and forgetting to change the school/city name.

 

[CoffeeintheMorning]

I sabotaged 3 drafts, on my 4th now.