Antony West (Author)

The first draft is where you tell yourself the story. The second draft is where you tell the reader the story. And the third draft is where you make it pretty. Students often see a first draft as a finished product. We need to teach them that the magic is in the rewriting. Sue Cowley’s ideas on ‘resilience’ are crucial here. We need to encourage students to see mistakes not as failures, but as opportunities to improve. It’s about a growth mindset. So, get them to pick out one paragraph from their first draft and rewrite it three times. The results will be surprising, and the lesson invaluable.