that you can allow yourself to write freely, knowing that you can sig-
nificantly improve your essay later, when you let the editor in.
In the wider context of the courses you’re studying, all of this means
you are now equipped to get the most from each essay you write. Once
your essays have been returned, you can use your tutors’ comments
for further learning. They might, for example, suggest new ideas, fresh
examples or different opinions. All of these need to be considered while
your ideas are still fresh in your mind. There may be simple corrections
of factual or logical mistakes. There may be comments on your writing
style, suggesting how you could express your ideas more clearly. Or
there may be detailed remarks on the structural aspects of your essay.
But, as you realise by now, like most other aspects of learning, you
will get the greatest benefit from these comments if you organise your-
self to respond to them effectively. This might mean nothing more than
noting in your notebook those problems that arise regularly in your
work, like spelling mistakes, transitions, and punctuation. If you then
make a point of consulting your notebook as a matter of routine before
the revision stages of all your essays, you can more easily identify and
correct the problems. Similarly, if your tutors leave you with fresh ideas
to pursue, this might involve further reading, or at least developing
your own response in your journal.
The key to this, as we’ve seen, is to give your thinking the opportu-
nities it needs to grow and develop. Each discrete stage of the writing
process provides fresh opportunities, as do the journal and the note-
book, so that when you come to look back over them you can see just
how far you have come, how much more you understand, and how
much better equipped you are to research and write about those things
that interest you.
And, just one final word: remember, you can never do a perfect job.
To do this you would have to wait until all the facts are in – and, of
course, they never will be. All you can do is to add to our understand-
ing of what we doknow. Yourinsights and yourinterpretation of the
facts add to this understanding: they are just as valuable as anyone
else’s. Therefore, be bold – don’t be cowed by the fear of authority.Conclusion 279HTW34 7/27/01 8:52 AM Page 279