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Quiet Talks on Writing from Sources I read and respond to about 1800 student essays per calendar year. Most of the them are papers based upon assigned reading. Autopsies of students' writing usually yield one conclusive result--writing can fail at two levels, the strategy--planning level, or the presentation level . Unfortunately, writing teachers, and self-help books often focus on the presentation level. This is understandable because it is the most observable level, but by tackling problems at the presentation level, we are generally treating the symptoms rather than the problems. Presentation problems are easily identified and treated with feedback, practice, and coaching. Often just mentioning a distracting habit, such as grammar, punctuation, or sentence structure will motivate student writers to monitor and eliminate those tendencies. The Strategy--Planning Level The key to better writing lies in the strategy--planning stage. In fact, many presentation level problems, such as unclear ideas, inadequate development, or faulty mechanics are the result of faulty planning. Better style, emphasis, and diction, however, can never salvage a paper that is constructed around faulty interpretation or an illogical thesis. Strategy or planning problems are harder to detect and eliminate, and often go unnoticed by inexperienced observers, especially students "revising to clean up" the paper. While planning problems are more difficult to spot, that does not mean they are not real. They are what lie behind many ineffective attempts at writing and are often the reason why some students do "everything right" (at the presentation level) and still write ineffectively. Many students stare long and hard at assigned reading; they can remember and quote statistics and facts, but can never seem to put all of the pieces together.
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