Saturday, October 29, 2011

The way to do it.

1. Sturdy Work Space. This is essential. I have to sit at either the table in the kitchen, or the one in the dining room to do any sort of essay or other homework. Since I don't have a desk, if I happen to sit on my bed, or God forbid lie down on it, I will fall asleep. This is inevitable. I have way too many experiences with falling asleep with my face in Tindall last year (but then again, who can blame me?).

2. Shitty First Drafts. Ever since I read that excerpt in AP Comp and forever and forever, that is my Bible when it comes to writing any sort of paper. I just open up a Word Document, type what could be called a "structured free-write." I write it as though that's what I will be turning in, and just let the words be practically vomited into the document.

3. Utter destruction. I print my "shitty first draft" and then proceed to self critique. No...self critique is too nice a word. I tear it apart. It's better that I'm harsh to myself versus someone else, right?
(I blurred it because this paper was embarrassingly bad quality of writing...you can still kinda see the edits though.)

4. Old fashioned. Before I type my new(er) and (more) improved draft, I have to sit down and write my paragraphs by hand. I make outlines, bulleted lists, blurbs of ideas, and (for the first time with this paper), a CRJ. I just can't get my thoughts properly aligned on the computer. Word is okay for thought vomit, but that's it.


4. CAFFEINE! YEAH BABY! As I was creeping through other people's blog posts before I decided to do my own (I'm admitting it because I know you all do it too), I noticed a lot of people said they drink tea or coffee when they are working. I'm no exception to this. Usually I drink tea, but when I feel like I need an extra creative burst, I'll drink coffee (don't ask me how those two relate). My favorite is definitely Tim Horton's French Vanilla Cappuccino from Canada.



5. Taking advantage of space. Yeah...I just let my stuff go everywhere (see last blog post).


6. Revising. I revise and revise and revise until I feel that if I have to read one more word from the paper, I will cry. Or throw up. Or maybe both.

2 comments:

  1. I always enjoy your blog posts, Fatima. They're so you.

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  2. "Shitty First Drafts" def helped me realize once you are done writing a paper it is no where near being done, it is just the beginning. I also always keep it in mind now :)

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