Here you'll find my thoughts on my writing process.
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| Kim, Jonathan. "Writing" 3/26/3007 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic |
Some strange mix of a "Heavy Planner" and a "Procrastinator" (Great combination, right?). My style of writing always ends up the same, I think upon my project, whip out a paper full of detail and ideas, and then leave the paper until last minute to be left to minimal revisions. My papers are pretty good for first drafts. But that's the only thing it is good for: a first draft.
-Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?
The article is definitely right in their description of a "Heavy Planner". Their illustration describes me to a tee! I'll think of maybe a few good-sounding sentences while sitting in class and build my paper from there. The only difference is that I wait until the last minute, like a "Procrastinator" to physically write anything down.
-Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
It has been somewhat successful so far as I seem to get at least a high B on most of my papers. My papers, as they are thoroughly thought out, usually have a good base for revision and good ideas throughout. However, even though there are good grades it doesn't mean my process is perfect. My process causes much more stress than needed. I scramble to make any revision possible, and often I pass by many errors in my frenzy. This creates a paper that is nothing much more than a collection of ideas with no real system or organization.
-Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?
Yes, definitely. I would like to actually give myself time to write my paper, along with actually revising it. With my current process, I never get to put any passion or emotion into my assignments. Usually, they are just a shell of my thoughts and ideas, and I am left not really feeling proud of any of them. If I actually find time to reflect upon my assignment, I feel that it will be more personal to me, and will show through with better writing.
Writing a paper is easy. Crafting a paper requires time and thought. A paper to be proud of does not come overnight (no matter how much I would like it to).
Reflection:
After reading through some of the posts of my classmates, I realize that I am not alone in my struggles. Even though we all have different writing processes, we all have conflicts in writing. Everyone deals with procrastinating and losing motivation to do any sort of assignment, so Charles' post helped show me that I am not alone. Most students also have a hard time finding a balance of focus within their writing projects. Even a heavy reviser like Tyler and a heavy planner like me can relate. Reading their posts helped me think about not only how I can help them, but help better myself as well. So, I will try to implement my tips to them in my own writing process. I will experiment with my assignments, attempting to find the right balance of focus for me. This, however, will only be done if I give myself time to do so. So, I will also start to work on my projects little by little every day until it is done, no procrastinating!
Overall, I learned that everyone can learn from everyone. We are all in this together.
I loved reading your post because you have a creative voice that makes reading your writing very entertaining. I completely understand your writing process even though mine is very different. I really liked how you ended with a concluding sentence, it really tied everything together well! (I might have to steal that idea for one of my posts) I don't really have anything else to say because you even nailed the part where you thought about ways to change and improve your writing process.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your struggle of having a paper that is "a shell of my thoughts and ideas". I used to have a similar feeling, and it is my opinion that a big part of expressing your ideas fully and in a personal way is a clear and simple, yet personal language. In order to make my essays more personal and less stressful, I plan out my essay, write as much as I can in the most verbose way possible, and then try to remove as much unnecessary crap (both sentences and words) as possible (sort of a "bulk and cut" kind of thing). What you end up with is personalized sentence structure, all your ideas being expressed but not overdeveloped, and, of course, very clear language. Also small things like avoiding passive voice also help to avoid that feeling of "this essay has my ideas, but it isn't me"
ReplyDeleteI feel like the background of this blog is always fighting against the text and making it harder to read. You might want to consider a blog background that helps the text become EASIER for your reader to read, rather than more challenging.... :)
ReplyDeleteHey Breanna! I'm Swati, a student in section 7 of this class. I really enjoyed reading your post, as it seems like you're a very different writer from me, a sequential composer. Now that the semester is winding down, I came up with a few questions that might be interesting to consider:
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that you're still a heavy planner and procrastinator, or do you think your writing style has changed over the course of the semester?
You mentioned that you would like to have more time to write and revise your papers, so were you able to accomplish any of that this semester?
Looking back on your writing from this semester, is there anything else about your writing process that you might want to change in the future?
It sounds like you had a good idea of what type of writer you were earlier this semester, and hopefully you were able to use that to your advantage this semester!