method to my madness or just madness?
Well, I have to start out by saying I am almost completely disorganized when I go to write a paper of any length. This tendency only gets worse if the papers are anything less than three or four pages in length. When that's the case I tend to just sit down at my desk, half a cup of coffee, think for a few moments, and finally write. In the process, modifying my goals and whatnot as a go, and then again in revision. Occasionally I get fedup when the papers don't want to work and take a break by walking over to my bookcase to find a happy diversion- most often Wodehouse as his dialog is so structured that it helps me to pull my thoughts together.
Longer papers I may attempt something like an outline but that's just a half-hearted attempt to be organized, though it does give me pause to engage with my subject in such a way that wouldn't happen if I were write sit and write. I do my best writing during the evening, and after writing (or attempting, at any rate) an outline I always take a shower. Yet again its all about time to sit and just think and engage with the subject and not thinking about the mechanics of it. After musing for awhile I figure out a thesis and go from there, again just reworking everything as I go. Reworking is a process that generally involves writing a few paragraphs or a page then walking off, coming back later and reading what was last written, and deciding whether or not I want to rewriting my previous work. Sometimes its good enough and I just keep going straight to the end of the paper, other times I feel like I'm constantly rewriting.
I really couldn't say my strategies are superb or would be helpful to anyone else but some aspects may have universal benefit. I always work with a personal reward in mind, one of those "finish the page and you can go read" or "keep to the work schedule and you can go watch a DVD" sort of things. Sure it sounds ludicrous but it still has its merits.
The one thing I would never advocate is waiting till the last minute. My best experience with this was when I was suppose to read an ethnography and analyze it, so like a good student I found a book about aborigine economy and society pre 1750 weeks in advance. Then I forgot to start reading and by the time I realized I had a ten page paper it was the day before it was due. Well, I sat with nose to the grindstone for something like twelve hours and just wrote, working through problems as I went. Amazing I had received a very generous grade on that paper and was even complemented by my professor. I would never do that again, but for me it illustrates that outlines may not be the cat's pajamas after all.
Longer papers I may attempt something like an outline but that's just a half-hearted attempt to be organized, though it does give me pause to engage with my subject in such a way that wouldn't happen if I were write sit and write. I do my best writing during the evening, and after writing (or attempting, at any rate) an outline I always take a shower. Yet again its all about time to sit and just think and engage with the subject and not thinking about the mechanics of it. After musing for awhile I figure out a thesis and go from there, again just reworking everything as I go. Reworking is a process that generally involves writing a few paragraphs or a page then walking off, coming back later and reading what was last written, and deciding whether or not I want to rewriting my previous work. Sometimes its good enough and I just keep going straight to the end of the paper, other times I feel like I'm constantly rewriting.
I really couldn't say my strategies are superb or would be helpful to anyone else but some aspects may have universal benefit. I always work with a personal reward in mind, one of those "finish the page and you can go read" or "keep to the work schedule and you can go watch a DVD" sort of things. Sure it sounds ludicrous but it still has its merits.
The one thing I would never advocate is waiting till the last minute. My best experience with this was when I was suppose to read an ethnography and analyze it, so like a good student I found a book about aborigine economy and society pre 1750 weeks in advance. Then I forgot to start reading and by the time I realized I had a ten page paper it was the day before it was due. Well, I sat with nose to the grindstone for something like twelve hours and just wrote, working through problems as I went. Amazing I had received a very generous grade on that paper and was even complemented by my professor. I would never do that again, but for me it illustrates that outlines may not be the cat's pajamas after all.
posted by Anonymous at 6:06 PM
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