Woe, WOE, WHOA.

How do I work, well, organization is probably one of my weakest points. To be honest, the minute I actually start typing is the minute that things start coming together for me. Sometimes I have a tentative outline, but the majority of what I do is formed by throwing out a piece and organizing in my head and on my computer as I go. I don't write down papers manually first. I start on a computer and stay there, I go back when I think that I've drawn away from the subject and delete and rewrite as necessary for cohesion. There are good points to this, for one thing, writing out and re-reading/revising as I go gives me instantaneous feedback, it helps me develop me ideas in a way somewhat similar to a conversation, plus it doesn't limit my ideas to the format that I've predetermined for myself. I can take a topic and go wherever the mood swings me and the light is shining brightest, and take retain the energy of a newly discovered idea (newly discovered to me, meaning that I had never thought it before) on the page. It gives me some speed and fervor in my writing. The bad side is that it can obviously make me more careless in my arguments than I might otherwise be. I find the outline kind of limiting, but that's likely because I've never really given it a fair chance.
When it comes to papers like this one, it helps when I’ve explored a subject enough to find something that I am legitimately interested in; I know that it’s a well duh, but let’s be honest, it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you just do what you have to do, and sometimes you hit gold. ….I have no idea what I’m going to do this paper on yet. I’m actually not sure where to start researching even. I’d like to see some of the projects that other tutors have done in the past, just because I’ve found that seeing other people’s work can help me glean ideas on how to approach my own. It’s like the “stealing” thing that we’ve talked about in class; not stealing as in plagiarism, stealing as in wow, that’s a good idea…hmmm. Okay, I’m running out of things to say. But the point I’m trying to make here is. Getting organized….is good…real good….yeah…uh-huh….that’s all I’m really trying to say here.

So has anybody actually STARTED on their paper yet? I know I haven’t, but I need to. Anybody? I’m kind of glad that Dr. Rogers brought this up because if he hadn’t it would have been in my mind, but not at the forefront of it. Or…even anywhere near to the forefront of it, at least not for another week. Oy vey, cleaning my room helps me feel more organized in general, so maybe I’ll do that this weekend. It’s not an absolute necessity, but it definitely helps. It makes me want to shudder just thinking about it. It’s a good Halloween project, much scarier than haunted houses.