McKinze's Reflection

My time in the Writing Center has taught me so much about working with others, reflecting in on myself, and about writing in general. Many students have come in asking for help with outlining or even simply understanding the assignment. I have found that one of the most helpful tips has been to analytically read the assignment sheets and try to gain a deep understanding of what the professor is asking the student to do. Along with fully understanding the prompt, the importance of pre-writing and outlining have also been main topics in my appointments this semester.

Personally, I have found creating an outline in the pre-writing phase to be effective, especially when I start typing a paper. If I have the paper set up logically with my main ideas and supporting details, it is much easier to make the paper flow smoothly and the writing process is actually quicker. Visually seeing what the ideas are and how they are connected them makes it easy to spot any issues with transitions and coherency.

Adding these two steps to my own writing process has really helped me organize my papers and has also made writing a much easier and faster process.

To any students who are having trouble thinking of a topic for their papers or getting started on writing their papers, I would strongly recommend utilizing outlines. Trying jotting down some ideas and thinking about what you could do with them in your assignment. By doing this, you can see what could and could not work and you would also be able to gauge your own interest in the topic. This is also a good place to work in evidence from sources, which will help greatly when the actual writing of the paper begins. If you have trouble figuring out how to organize the paper, write down all the main points you want to hit, then plug them into a logical outline.

Adding these two small steps to your writing process will greatly aid in the development of any paper.

-McKinze

Where do I start?!

For many students, including me, the most difficult step in the writing process is getting started. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stared at an assignment sheet, thinking to myself, “I’ve got nothin’.” With practice – and patience – you’ll likely develop your own process and techniques for initiating the writing process, here are some things that help me:

Read the assignment instructions. Done? Good, now do it again. Some assignments include multiple requirements – very specific requirements. I find it useful to make a checklist of the requirements and review the list before I submit my paper.  

Write. Write something, anything. This isn’t your final draft, so don’t worry about it being perfect. If you have an idea for your paper, this is the time to write it down. It’s easy to think it, but it can be challenging to put those thoughts on paper, and that’s why prewriting can be beneficial. If the assignment lists questions or prompts to consider, try writing brief answers to get started. 

What do I do when I don’t have something to say right away? I write anyway! Even if it doesn’t answer the assignment’s topic or prompt, I always have an opinion – and you do, too! If my assignment is to write a critical analysis of a selected text, I jot down my initial opinion, my reaction to the reading, and any comments I have. Even if you don’t think these ideas will be useful when writing your paper, they get you thinking about the topic of the assignment, and, who knows – later, you might come back to something you wrote and find that you can use it in your paper.  

I’ve got words…now, what? After prewriting and thinking about the assignment and topic, I start to think about how I’m going to present my information. I find that creating an outline, even a tentative outline, helps. I always include a bullet point for my introduction and my conclusion, but I never start there. Outlining helps me think about the order in which I want to present my information. After I outline my main points and sub points, I find that it’s much easier to tackle the writing little by little, focusing on one point at a time. 

For more tips on getting the writing process started, check out the University of Maryland University College’s Prewriting and Outlining page at this link. 

-Tessa Hill, RSU Writing Consultant

Advice from Hayden: The Start of the Process

 Every writer—and yes, I do mean every writer ever—has trouble with starting the writing process. Whether it’s due to a lack of information, understanding, or willingness, beginning to write those essays for class can be exhausting. In many of my consultations this semester and even last year, students will schedule appointments and say something like, “I’m not sure where to start,” or “I have no idea what I’m doing.” Pre-writing can be difficult, but there are several ways to minimize the pain and agony associated with starting an essay.

The first thing you should do as you approach an essay is examine the assignment sheet. It’s important that you not only answer the prompt but that you answer it in its entirety. Oftentimes, professors will not simply ask you to answer one basic question in an essay; it will be a much larger, broader topic that you will have to come to some sort of conclusion about. Reading over the assignment sheet can help you figure out what it is that you want to write about. What comes to mind when you think about the assigned topic? It’s important to believe in what you’re writing. The first thing that comes to your mind is often something that you feel strongly about or have considerable feelings towards. It’s always easier to write about things we feel strongly about, so go do it!

When you find something you feel strongly about, the best thing you can do is to just start writing. Forget all the rules (just for now) and write down everything you know and feel about the topic. This is a great way to formulate your thesis. Kansas University’s Writing Center provides great techniques that writers can use when faced with pre-writing: http://writing.ku.edu/prewriting-strategies. A thesis is a statement that is your opinion and how you can prove that opinion to an audience. When you just sit down and write, you’ll find that the evidence to prove your point is already in your head, just not on paper.

The great thing about writing is that, although it’s never easy, we all have the ability to do it and do it well. All it takes is a bit of willingness to start.

-Hayden

Advice from Michael: Tips on Starting an Essay

Source

Lately, I have had several students come in with no idea where to start on an assignment. Sometimes this is a result of never writing a proper academic essay in high school, and at other times they simply have always had trouble starting an essay. To help them, I always start off with the same basic advice: remember the five paragraph essay structure.

The five paragraph essay structure will not always be helpful in college writing since you will sometimes need significantly larger or shorter essays, but it is an easy way to begin developing organized thoughts. For the intro, consider what the overarching issue that is being addressed and then try narrowing that issue down into the specific thesis statement you will be arguing. Then figure out three arguments that can be made for what you want to say, and treat that as the body paragraphs. Be sure to include these arguments in the thesis statement. Finally, conclude everything, and be sure to restate the thesis without adding new information in the conclusion.

Once you get at least part of this information down, then start writing. You don’t even have to start at the intro. You can begin with one of the body paragraphs if you prefer, but getting the words and ideas down on paper tends to help the students I’ve worked with gain a stronger grasp of what they are trying to argue, and how they can argue it. As you continue along this path, the essay structure can change to include more or less paragraphs or arguments as it becomes apparent to the writer. More advice on paragraph structure and how to structure an essay can be found on the Writing Center’s online resources under “Composition and Writing in the Disciplines” at this link. However, the key to all of this is to simply trust yourself enough to start writing. Once the words start falling on the page then everything will start to get easier.

Hang in there. You’ll get it done eventually.

-Michael

Brainstorming Advice from Hayden

Many times during my appointments as a tutor in the Writing Center, I will have students say, “I’m not sure where to start,” or “I have a lot of ideas, but I don’t know how to begin my paper.” I know for a fact my fellow tutors and I have this issue almost every time we sit down to write; our heads are so filled with ideas that the thought of putting them down on paper (or a blank Word document) is daunting. Whether you’re faced with a short summary and response assignment or find yourself starting a 25-page Capstone paper, I always find it best to sit down and write. This sounds extremely simple and vague, but I mean what I say. Those that come to me with trouble starting a writing assignment, I hand them a sheet of paper and I say, “Write down anything that comes to mind on the subject.”

This technique will work wonders, as it does for me. And the great thing about it is that sheet of paper doesn’t have to be turned in; you can write without restrictions, without thinking about guidelines and rules. To be able to develop a well-written and concise piece of writing, you have to start with unrestricted writing. This allows you to get your ideas out in the open and on paper while figuring out what you’re really trying to say. Sometimes, the jumbled mess of ideas in our mind needs to be fleshed out on paper!

Pre-writing, brainstorming, and discussion are important steps in the writing process. It is impossible to open a Word document and expect to write the perfect paper without properly tending to the early writing phases. The Kansas University Writing Center offers great tips on the pre-writing phase at this link.

Image Credit

-Hayden

RSU Writing Center Tip: Overview of Essay Writing

I've created a visual Essay Writing Primer or Refresher using the free online presentation tool, Prezi, to share with all of you. Have a look at the "Writing Assignment Primer: A Refresher for Writing in the Disciplines" Prezi by clicking here. Just click the right and left arrows underneath the slides to move backward or forward through the presentation.

If you're interested in creating your own Prezi, let me know. I'd be glad to walk you through the process of creating your own student account and composing your own presentation with this tool. Their slideshows are more dynamic, in terms of transitions and slide design, than those you can create in Microsoft PowerPoint, I think.

Happy writing,

Sara

P.S. Don't forget about the free writing resources available through our website. You can find help with MLA, APA, Chicago Style, and other citation styles, as well as with grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues.

What I've Learned as a Writing Consultant: McKinze

My time in the Writing Center has taught me so much about working with others, reflecting in on myself, and about writing in general. Many students have come in asking for help formatting their papers in MLA and APA format. While I am still learning about APA format, I am very comfortable with writing in MLA format. As an English major, all our papers are required to be written in MLA. I have become so familiar with it that I actually completed a Works Cited page recently without looking at any supplementary materials. I did not even realize I had done so until after my last entry was completed and I was very shocked. I went to the Purdue OWL website at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ to make sure my citations were correct and was surprised to find that my entries adhered to MLA guidelines. After having to always look up how to cite things in my Everyday Writer, I felt a sense of accomplishment knowing I had finally learned some of the citations. 

Aside from the technical side of academic writing, I have also learned how important all the various stages of writing are. I had always skimmed through brainstorming and pre-writing because I found them to be very boring, tedious steps in the process. After seeing how helpful some students found those steps, I began utilizing them in my own writing and have found the stages very useful. I find it very helpful to write out my ideas and any additional notes or questions because this enables me to see which idea would be better suited for an assignment. It also makes me really think about what I would be more interested in writing, which would lead to the production of a better paper than if I wrote about something I was not particularly interested in.

I have found that creating an outline in the pre-writing phase is very effective when I finally start typing a paper. If I have it set up logically with my main ideas and supporting details, it is much easier to make the paper flow smoothly and the writing process is actually quicker. Visually seeing what the ideas are and how you have connected them makes it easy to spot any issues with transitions and coherency. Adding these two steps to my writing process has really helped me organize my papers and has also made writing a much easier and faster process.

To any students who are having trouble thinking of a topic for their papers or getting started on writing their papers, I would strongly recommend utilizing these steps. Trying jotting down some ideas and thinking about what you could do with them in your assignment. By doing this, you can see what could and could not work and you would also be able to gauge your own interest in the topic. If you have trouble figuring out how to organize the paper, write down all the main points you want to hit, then plug them into a logical outline. Just use roman numerals, letter, numbers, or anything else that will help you organize. The first main point will be your introduction and thesis, and any following points will be where you plug in your main ideas, topic sentences, and supporting details. This will ensure your paper flows logically and transitions smoothly. Your last main point should be your conclusion, which summarizes your main point and makes your final statement.

Adding these two small steps to your writing process will greatly aid in the development of any paper. 

-McKinze