an easy remedy for a complex problem

I think that what Dr. Rogers referred to as the three G's would be a tough session. But any topic that has the student emotionally charged would be difficult. I would have to carefully pick my words so I didn't heat the topic any more than it needed to be.

Maybe we should follow our president's tactics on this topic. Maybe we should build a thirty foot tall wall around the writing center. A wall with verbs on the top as sharp as barbed wire, and dangling modifiers that we could swing at students attempting to climb the wall. This way we could regulate the students that came in the writing center and control the emotionally charged papers. I guess that is until students figured out how to get around that thirty foot wall. but hoefully by then we will hae enough tutors to take care of the situation.

The beauty of the thirty foot wall is we don't even have to say how we will build it - we'll just let the number crunchers handle that one.

Confession Time

Hi all. I thought that today's class was interesting and productive (although many of you seemed to think it was awfully frustrating, which is not a bad thing). I would like to continue our discussion here, since we won't have much time for it on Friday. So, with that in mind, I'd like to hear what you all have to say about topics you find difficult--or impossible--to help students with. What kinds of strategies have you tried to make it easier to work with these subjects? What kinds of strategies do you hope to use?

NB: Please don't misunderstand this request; I'm not asking you to divulge why you have issues with certain topics and there's no reason for this to turn into a therapy session (or a political fight).

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.

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.

organization!

How do I organize? I think I know how. Flow charts, computer programs, outlining, freewriting are all great ideas to write. I find that i don't really follow any of these ideas to the key. What I normally do is write the best outling I can conceive. In addition to that outline I will write all the things I want to quote in a seperate word document. Once these two arduously tedious processes are completed I throw both of them in the trash and write them the way I would without them.

It is weird. It is a waste of time. However, it makes me feel in control. These two things give me a false sense of control. They make me feel like I'm in control while I'm really not. The only thing that I can say I do that helps me be organized is to set aside time for a project and work on that project in the set time.

What happens is I spend all this time creating these elaborate outlines that I don't follow. The outline does help me in a general sense. It makes me think about what I'm going to say albeit not following the outline.

The most effective way for me to organize is to simply work at a project. Hard work. Dedication. Keep a stiff upper lip while you reinvent the weel. All those cliche hard work metaphores.

The Processes of My Brain

I actually wrote a paper on this topic last semester in my English 2010 class. Crazy. The first thing that I do when I have a huge pile of notes is forget about them. It drives me crazy when I have “information overload,” and I am completely stuck. I think about the topics and issues that are most prevalent in my mind because those are the ones I find the most interesting. I read through my notes after I come up with a few topics. I get a better sense of where I am going and what information I do and do not have. Then, I stare. If you ever see me in a trance, then I am most likely thinking about schoolwork. I seriously sit there and mediate about the topic. I talk to myself in my head. (Hey, Rafoth suggests that conversation is the best way to think thoughtfully. I swear it works.) I write down the strong points and the weak points that I need to work on, and I usually come up with some sort of my thesis.

I then brainstorm subtopics that connect to my chosen topic. I may or may not write this down. But I do write down an outline. Oh boy, I love outlines. I think that they are great. They help me write a rough draft so much faster. If I forget something when I am writing, then I just make an arrow on my outline and go back and write it in later. I surely agree that it is an excellent tool for organizing ideas into an essay, especially if organiztion is a problem.

When I get stuck while I am actually writing then I usually enjoy a nice cup of cocoa. Oh, yummy. It is not just hot chocolate though. Foods that I enjoy eating or shows that I enjoy watching usually take my mind off the subject; and usually, while I am engaging in this activity, some magically, awesome point will pop into my head. Then I run as fast as I can (sometimes it’s embarrassing) to the computer and write it down. I need to write it down right then because all the cool little details and arguments about it do not make sense if I just make a note. I also recommend sleeping as a solution to writer's block. My mind is refreshed and ready to roll after a small nap. I want to emphasize small because hour long naps make me quite groggy.

That's How I Do It But I Wouldn't Recommend It.

I am not a very productive person in general. I only care about productivity as it pertains to happiness. In other words, I will only be as productive as necessary to make me happy. With pursuit of happiness as my guideline for everything in life, including writing, my productivity in that area varies greatly.

To be more specific, however, when it come to writing papers I do what feels good. If a paper is on something I am interested in, then I have no problem researching for hours, taking notes, underlining, highlighting, free writing, and thinking about it A LOT. What a joy, really. The only problem that I have is pulling it all together, which I do the best I can shortly before the paper is due. I don’t do it because I am careless, but to allow myself as much time as possible to decide what exactly I want to say about the topic. Once I have that clear in my mind, all the material, all the thoughts come together in a short moment of agony of deciding what to cut- “kill you darlings,” just like Stephen King says in his book “On Writing” – and how to arrange the survivors.

There’s a huge flaw to this technique, however. The best example was an essay I wrote once on “The Heart of Darkness.” It was full of great thoughts and ideas that never led anywhere. Even though I was fascinated by the topic, I could not pull it together at the last moment. Perhaps I did not allow myself enough time.

And then there are papers that I could not possibly care less about. In a way, those are a lot easier. I simply approximate how much time I need, mentally prepare myself for the boredom to come, and produce something very mediocre. That’s good enough for me, as long as it meets the requirements. Luckily, there aren’t very many topics that hold that little interest to me. So almost every time I write a paper my life is in a state of complete melodrama, I mean even more so than usual.

digging for gold but ended up digging in my nose

I am not sure what the secret is to good writing but I know what works for me. I am a somewhat organizd person that knows his way around his mess. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I am going to write in my head. I don't really write anything until I actually sit down and write my paper. Until that point, I walk. The best time for me to think is when I am walking around town. I don't have any other worries and I always seem to have a good half hour of time to myself. For some reason this works for me. I think it is because I get lost in the scenery around me and allow my paper thoughts to be put on the back burner for a little while. For some reason my best thoughts come to me when I am not thinking about them.

I mostly know what I want to use for quotes and keep thinking of them too. I guess in a way I am making an outline without actually writing anything down. I don't recommend my approach to writing but it is what works for me.

Unfortunaltey my process of writing for our final paper is still in the beginning stage. I'm hoping for some golden truth to strike me, but I'll probably end up digging around for it. Sometimes ideas will come quicly to me and other times I won't get any insight untill the last moment. But in the end, something always gets produced.

tardy bibliography paper flounder post

In our readings, two concepts I found elucidatory were Ong’s “projected audience,” and Breuch’s “assumptions of writing”—particularly the “writing is situated” discussion. As for my Bibliography paper, I hope to incorporate both these concepts in some way. The difficulty I anticipate is being able to apply these concepts in way that gives practical writing-center applications. As the assignment is to give a survey-like discussion on some common problems that face writing centers, I would think that this would involve identifying the manifestation of the problem, and then hypothesizing about different possible causes of the problem. An objective perceptive would be important. As Ong and Breauch’s essays are about the contexts in which writing takes place, they would help necessary for grounding this perspective. However, the fact that a person writes to a projected audience and that writing is heavily influenced by its social context, are very general, abstract observations and might not be at all helpful in discussing a specific problem with writing centers.

Confessions of a messy person

My life is even remotely organized. My mind seems to reject the idea of organization the way Finnegans Wake rejects interpretation, or Neville Longbottom rejects memory retention . (On a side note, I would also like to add that I should be lynched, literarily speaking, for referencing James Joyce and J. K. Rowling in the same sentence.) For me, organization is like some unobtainable platonic form: it exists out there, in the 17th dimension perhaps, just existing in its state of perfectioness and essenseness, and yet completely removed from the entire content of my experience. My attempts to become organized are always disastrous. I end up with bigger messes. On occasion, I do attain some semblance of order, however, my unconsciousness immediately senses this upset in equilibrium, and, behind my back, subtly begins destroying the order that I thought I had created. This disorder infects ever facet of my life. Much of my time is spent looking for my keys, shoes, or wallet. And yet somehow, in the midst of this disaster, I manage to hold it all together. It makes no sense to my friends and family, and when they ask how on earth I can productively function with such a lifestyle, I give a coy, knowing smile, while underneath I’m thinking, “Man, your guess is as good as mine. I have no flippen clue.”

My approach to writing is just as much of a mystery to me. I have no idea how I write papers. I just start thinking and writing. Somehow they get written, and sometimes they aren’t half bad. I don’t know why. This is not a good method by the way. It take ages to construct papers. But what can I say? I guess I’m just a deconstructionistivistic girl living in a deconstructionistivistic world.