Weekly Blog Post 3

When we wrote out our introduction and conclusion it really put the pressure on to finish it within a reasonable time, something I don't often do. In fact, in most classes that have required journal entries during class-time, I've only managed to finish an entry halfway. Then I would have to go back later to complete it. The reason I mention this is, when I knew it had to get done in a time limit because we had to share with our peers, it forced me to stop being so nit-picky.

See, generally when I have to write a paper, I do it all at once and edit it as I go through, I can't get to the next paragraph until I am satisfied with the previous one. When I truly get stuck, I'll highlight in the word document the section bothering me, using different colors for different meanings. Such as 'change this word/is this needed?' or 'rework sentence' for yellow and green. On occasion I'll use blue for something else that is proving troublesome. Once I've gotten through the paper and I begin to work through it again, I'll add in possibilities after a highlighted sentence (which are also colored) and read it that way, so I can just delete the part I don't like.

The problem with this method is that most teachers want a rough draft copy, while I finish my paper all in one night, editing as I go. Of course, I can do that, call it my rough draft and come back later maybe with others for opinions and edit that, but only if it is due on different dates. When they are required on the same day, it takes much longer to write a paper because I have to transfer from one document to another as I go. So again, nit-picky and time have been issues.

One more big difference from class and my normal habits: I don't usually know my ending. I'll have a vague idea and if I think of a really great sentence I'll write it down somewhere to see if I can still use it by the end, that's about the extent of my pre-planning. I like to write the paper as I am thinking it through, it puts down my thought-process (though in a more organized manner) and I think it helps to pull people in, towards my opinion, because they understand how I reached a certain point. I may go into a paper knowing what it is about and not worrying a bit if my opinions or ideas will lose track by the end, or I may go into a paper knowing if something does change it is because my thoughts have processed it more and reached a new outcome, which I find fine because it is still legitimate.

That's a bit of a long version of how I write, I explained it because I have never written a full conclusion before actually writing my paper, especially with a time limit. It was strange and a little aggravating to limit my editing. I wrote a few notes in margins, put brackets around a few words, drew arrows if a line might work better somewhere else, and scratched them out when they didn't. It was nice though, for once I may save some time staring at a screen and my paper will still be a thought process (I've never been able to just list facts), but perhaps my brain will be spared a headache or two when I can remind myself clearly of where I am going with a point. Hopefully it'll also let me write a rough draft without spending hours on it editing, a draft is meant to be improved, so it'll save me quite some time to divide up the editing amounts.