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

The RSU Writing Center can help, even if you haven't started your paper yet!

Hi, all! Welcome back to another semester. A common question this semester that seems to have carried over from last semester is how to brainstorm and prewrite for assignments. Many students, especially freshmen, have never utilized any type of prewriting technique for their essays and this can cause problems in upper level courses when assignments can be more complex. Brainstorming and prewriting are effective and valuable for multiple reasons: they allow the writer to visually see the ideas, make connections between ideas, and organize the ideas in a logical manner. Many different steps to brainstorming and prewriting and multiple techniques can be applied. Some of these steps and techniques can be found in The Everyday Writer on pages 58-74.

The first step is to brainstorm by communicating ideas with others, freewriting, or even using more visual methods like clustering. From this phase, the writer can then narrow the topic and create some sort of tentative thesis that encompasses the idea of the paper. This can always be changed later but many professors require a working thesis statement before any drafts are crafted. The next step is to gather resources to support the topic of the paper, and that information must then be organized. This is usually where some students run into issues; a simple method to organizing main ideas and supporting points for an essay is to make some sort of outline or flow chart. Examples of these can be found on pages 71-73 of The Everyday Writer. After a plan has been made, it’s time to start writing!

The Writing Center also offers assistance for the brainstorming and prewriting steps of the writing process, so please set up an appointment with one of the tutors using http://rsuwc.setmore.com. All you have to do is sign in using your student email and password. We hope to see you soon and have a great semester!

-McKinze Hefner, RSU Writing Consultant

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

Abby's Reflection on the Semester

Writing as a Process

Working at the Writing Center has helped me tremendously to change my ideas of the writing process. I am so thankful that I have been able to spend a large part of my senior year working with other students as a writing consultant under Dr. Beam. Not only has helping other students with their assignments helped boost my confidence in myself as a writer, it has also showed me how far I have come since freshman year. The same exact problems that I had with capitalization, punctuation, misplaced modifiers, and formatting, are the same issues students now turn to me for help with. I find that I am easily able to connect with other students who are trying to learn how to fix their mistakes because I have made the same ones. Often, I will tell students that I also had trouble or even continue to have trouble with aspects of writing in order to encourage them that we will both learn how to become better writers together. 

I have acquired the most knowledge about the writing process through the students taking Composition I and II in particular, because their professors often require them to pre-write, make an outline, and then work on writing drafts of their papers. I knew that these were the steps, but I have not always been forced to follow them in this order. Mostly I have jumped from a prewrite or brief outline to *boom* a paper. However, for larger papers, such as Capstone, there is a much more complex process. Since I have spent the past two semesters working on my Capstones, I have seen my projects go from an idea scribbled on paper to something I did not expect it to be as I handed it in. Through drafting, peer reviews, and research, I would find that my projects would continue to change before they were finalized. Breaking large projects down into various drafts can make the work more manageable and less frightening. I am glad that I am able to help instill better writing habits in others, so maybe when they become seniors, Capstone will not be quite as stressful.

Image Credit

Remember that you can schedule an appointment with the Writing Center when you are at any stage of the writing process, not just when you are working on your final draft. In fact, I would encourage you to come see us when you are in the prewriting and planning stages of your paper so that we can make sure that not only are you fulfilling the prompt your teacher has given you, but that you are also able to make your paper organized and flow well together. Here is a copy of the link to our page on the RSU website so that you can schedule an appointment.

Happy Writing and I hope that you all finished the semester strong!

-Abby

Thinking about the Process

Timelapse Writing of a Research Paper

Last time I wrote, I blogged about being in process. You should know three things about the writing process if you don't already:

1. The writing process occurs in stages. 

Those stages include all the things you do in preparation to write, all the things you do as you write the lines/sentences, and all the things you do after you've written to tidy up and polish the work.

Earlier Stages                               Middle-ish Stages               Later Stages
Prewriting                                      Drafting                                 Revising/moving sections
Free writing                                   Filling out the outline               Proofreading
Outlining                                       Integrating evidence                Editing
Researching topic/audience            Peer review                            Fact-checking
Peer review                                                                                 Peer review

2. The writing process is not linear, which is to say that it doesn't happen one separate activity at a time. 

It's more cyclical, more messy.

For example, sometimes while I'm attempting to fill out my rough outline, I realize I need to do more research, so I return to that stage. Or, sometimes as I'm integrating evidence, I'll realize that my argument is just not working and needs to be tweaked, so I turn to free writing, prewriting, or outlining again to help me re-organize or re-think my argument.

3. Everyone's process is different. 

Every single writer's process is different. From the tasks that they find most helpful and rely on, to the environment and media they prefer to write in, to the order that they perform the tasks in, to their back-up plan if the regular process does not work--

every. writer's. writing. process. is. different.

Here's what good writers do: every good writer thinks about his/her writing process and makes an effort to figure out what works best. Good writers experiment with different writing activities.

Good writers aren't always the people with the natural talent for writing--more often, they are the people who think about their habits, who are conscious about what works and what doesn't.

Looking back at that last blog entry, I notice that my particular writing process is heavy up front. I spend most of my composing time gathering information and cycling between outlining and researching, as well as prewriting my thesis and topic sentences. I have to do these tasks together to do them efficiently. (This is me thinking about my writing habits.)

Happy writing,
Sara

Everyday Thoughts from the Writing Center: Go with Your Gut

Free writing is beautiful. Brainstorming is beautiful. Collecting your thoughts and reflecting on them is one of a kind. 

Many writers think that they can just write without critically thinking. However, I have had many great teachers tell me otherwise. That is why I love free writing. Free writing is when you sit down for about ten minutes and write continuously without concentrating on proper grammar or even the topic itself. I have had to make lists and tiny paragraphs on post-it notes in the past when ideas about a topic or assignment came out of the blue. Physically writing down your thoughts or typing them makes a huge impact compared to keeping it only in your head. Free writing or any prewriting activities help collect your thoughts and, in my case, ease my anxiety before starting a paper. I go with my gut feelings when I free write and I find that it makes the whole writing process less painful in the long run.

-Devon