Edustange

[Jacky Fisher] never reread or edited his letters before putting them in the mail.  As an 18 year old midshipman, he explained this practice, which he followed for the rest of his life: “I can’t bear to read them over twice. I like putting things down as I think of them, and if I was to read them over twice, I should get disgusted… and tear the letter up and consequently never write a letter at all.” Robert K. Massive (1991) Dreadnought  page 403

John Arbuthnot Fisher was born January 25, 1841, in Ceylon, Sri Lanka. Promoted to the Admiralty board in 1892, he became first sea lord in 1904. He reorganized and strengthened the British navy to counter the rapid expansion of the German navy, and his reforms and innovations—including the conception of the battleship Dreadnought—ensured the Royal Navy’s dominance in World War I. Bio.truestory

My  fourth graders blog and email partners around North America. My colleagues often stress unedited posts and hint I should only allow clean copies to be published. I do incorporate editing and revision in the steps for publication, but I have not been pressing it. At this point, their authentic expression is more important to me. The editing and revising should come. Many of my students are careful about this. The weaker writers might feel much like Jacky Fisher at this point.