Thoughts on Drafting

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If there is one thing I learned from this draft, it is that writing in a format or genre that you are not used to is difficult. In high school, I wrote many essays that analyzed the rhetoric used by an author in a novel, and I even wrote research papers, but I had never written a Quick Reference Guide before. So while I know my rough draft was nowhere near perfect, I do believe that finishing it was an accomplishment in itself. In an attempt to better understand this drafting process though, it is important to analyze whether or not The Student's Guide's suggestions were helpful for this genre of writing.

Helpful

• Drafting a Thesis Statement- No matter the situation or rhetorical situation, it is always important to state the purpose of the text, argument, post, etc. If one does not inform the audience as to what they will be reading about, what is the purpose of the audience trying to bother to decipher the work?
• Writing Paragraphs in PIE Format (to an extent)- This type of organization is very useful when trying to represent certain points in the controversy, or argue certain points as well. If the information was not presented in a logical flow of events like the PIE format, then it would be harder for audiences to follow the QRG. However, while points, illustrations, and explanations are important in a QRG, I think the way the format was originally set up was more for research papers. See the "Not Helpful" section below for more details.
• Writing Introductions- Again, this is another key section in any genre. While the section in the Student's Guide was not tailored specifically towards QRG's, it gives a basic yet detailed overview of what is expected in an introduction for any genre. Typically, they follow the same format, so as long as one can right with determination and purpose, an introduction should come fairly easily.

Not so helpful

• Writing Paragraphs in PIE Format (to an extent)- As stated earlier, this format typically follows a more formal paper, and so it might be a little out of place if used in a QRG. However, the format is still helpful, as one can modify it to better fit their given rhetorical situations.
• Organizing Information- Since organization is extremely important in a QRG, I would have originally put this in the helpful section; however, after a closer analysis, I came to the conclusion that it does not really teach us how to organize a QRG. Thus, this tip would be more useful under conventional english papers as opposed to this type of internet genre. 
• Writing Conclusions- While conclusions are important in a QRG as well, the guide did not really instruct us on how to write one in QRG form. Many of these drafting techniques are for traditional essays; however, they still serve a purpose because their teachings can be adjusted to fit the rhetorical situation.

To conclude, the drafting process was difficult, but not impossible. While the process is arduous, the reflection afterwards is actually very educational; for example, I have decided that while I will be using the general PIE format, I will alter it to better accommodate my rhetorical audience. So even though I barely put together a first draft, I feel more confident about my writing now, and believe that my second draft will be much more organized and well thought-out than my first one was.