The Recursive Writing Process

Senior year does not introduce a new writing process -- it demands that you finally use the one you already know honestly. Prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading are not five steps performed once in strict order; they are five moves a writer returns to constantly, often within the same afternoon. A working thesis discovered on page two of a draft usually means going back to page one, not pressing forward with a plan that no longer fits what the essay actually turned out to be about. Treating the process as recursive, rather than linear, is the single biggest difference between a first-draft-is-the-final-draft habit and a habit that produces genuinely strong writing.

This course assumes that habit from week one. Every essay this year, from a five-hundred-word personal statement to a documented research paper, rewards the same discipline: generate more raw material than you need before committing to a shape, let the thesis change if the evidence demands it, and treat a full first draft as a draft of discovery, not a draft of delivery. This week's diagnostic essay exists to set a baseline -- not to be perfect, but to be honest evidence of your habits, so growth across the year is visible and real.