Brainstorming is a more focused technique during which you consciously note all your ideas, your questions, your facts and figures about a topic you are planning to write about for a set time. Some teachers may ask you to write poems or imagine your experiences as you shift your place in time or space. Drafting, Reading and Discussing You will probably be asked to write at least one preliminary draft of each of your papers during the semester. If you write multiple drafts and a final version of your paper, for example, you gain multiple opportunities to hone your ideas and craft your language. Second, a draft allows you to ask for feedback, to 'test out' the paper and see whether it communicates as well as you would like to an audience.
Most teachers ask students to read each others' drafts in classroom workshop sessions.
You thus gain multiple perspectives on the paper, that of the teacher and that of your peers. Not all of your reviewers will agree about your paper. As a writer, you need to assess their responses and decide which suggestions would help you communicate your ideas most clearly. Responding with care to a colleague's work also helps you to read your own work more critically. Reviewing gives you practice in deciding where a paper might need rethinking or rewriting and helps you see how revision might clarify a writer's message.