Here is a screen shot of the folder where I keep the draft versions and notes of an essay I wrote (and which was recently published in ECTI, Eighteenth-Century Theory and Interpretation):
I couldn't actually get the screen shot to capture the full list of versions!
Of course I don't expect my students to create nearly as many drafts or sets of notes for their essays. But I suspect most only create one or two--and that isn't nearly adequate to the task of really developing ideas.
Keeping a folder for each essay is a good idea--you can use it to collect notes, quotations, your journal writing, and your different drafts. Saving different versions is a good idea because it lets you see your progress and lets you go back to a previous version if necessary.
This week we'll be working on strategies for drafting such as cluster diagrams and sentence outlines. While not all writers use all of the techniques we'll explore, most writers have some sort of system that helps them move from notes and thoughts to actual sentences and paragraphs. I usually create set of comprehensive notes, including long quotations from the texts I know I will use. Once I create this, I save it and call it something like "complete notes." Then I "save as" and call this document version 1.0. That means I can start cutting and moving pieces of text without worrying that I will lose an important idea or quotation--I can always open the complete notes and find it. As the argument takes shape, I "save as" again as version 1.1. With every major revision, I create new document. When the essay really changes--when, for example, I incorporate comments from a colleague or editor--I "save as" and call the new version 2.0.
There is no right way to move through from early draft to final draft. But it is KEY that you consider drafts as individual documents and as documents that should change significantly throughout the writing process.
