On Writing Essays
I've been thinking about my topic this week, and since nothing of interest has happened, I have had some problems. What I've been doing this week is thinking about my final paper for my Poe class. So this week, I believe I'll talk about my creative process.
I'm not usually a person who will wait until the last minute. I'm not going to lie and say that I've never done that before, but that's just not my normal style. I don't find my most creative moments when I'm nearing the last hour, and I like having the time to fine tune my paper before it's due.
I do take my time deciding what to do. Some people have their final paper topics in the first few weeks of class, and I find that's a bit constricting. As the semester goes along, there are always more interesting themes that pop up and warrant exploring, and I've found it this the case with Poe. I was interested initially in one particular aspect, but now, reaching the last month, I'm interested in another topic.
Topic decided, I let it percolate in the back of my mind for about two days, maybe over a weekend. I ask myself some questions. What do I find the most interesting? What are some aspects of this topic that jump out at me? Which stories/texts/ideas fascinate me the most?
Once I have that figured, I write my introduction. I know, I know, a lot of professors have beat it into our brains that you MUST write conclusions and introductions last, but I never have. I find, for my creative process, that writing the introduction is the most inspiring part of the paper, because it sets my tone. I think the introduction is my favorite part of the paper because it catapults my excitement to write the paper. Once my thesis is decided, I rarely change it. I usually think about it long enough beforehand that I have a good idea of what I'm going to write before I write it, so there's not much I'm going to want to change.
I always, always, ALWAYS write using loose leaf notebook paper and pen. I skip lines in between because I tend to mark out and edit quite a bit. I don't use the computer because I'm not as creative when I'm staring at a screen. I'm more focused when I have a pen in my hand and paper in front of me. I also use a lot of paper because I almost always have at least three drafts of the introduction, point one, point two, point three....et cetera.
I also spread my materials out around me quite a bit. To everyone else it probably looks like a mess, but I need my previous drafts, my source materials, an extra pen, and a bunch of extra paper surrounding me.
I suppose the middle is unremarkable- typical reading texts, chewing on pens, crumpling previous drafts only to come back and uncrumple it, and a frantic search for a lost source.
The worst part of the paper, for me, is the conclusion. I spend twice as long on the conclusion as I do the entire paper, and have at LEAST ten drafts of it before I give up. I'm forever being told I've got a weak conclusion. No matter what I do, everything I say seems so cliche. I hate it!
Once I finally finish, I tweak. Tweaking is usually rereading it, then typing it out, adding/deleting words and phrases, fixing grammar mistakes...typical. I usually reread it once while I still have it on paper, then after typing it out I reread it again. I then print it out and have someone ELSE read it.
Once that's done, I'm usually really psyched. I like that feeling of finishing a paper and knowing it's the best I could do.
Anyway, that's my creative process.
I feel like this entry has been about 'I, I, I, me, me me.'
I'm not usually a person who will wait until the last minute. I'm not going to lie and say that I've never done that before, but that's just not my normal style. I don't find my most creative moments when I'm nearing the last hour, and I like having the time to fine tune my paper before it's due.
I do take my time deciding what to do. Some people have their final paper topics in the first few weeks of class, and I find that's a bit constricting. As the semester goes along, there are always more interesting themes that pop up and warrant exploring, and I've found it this the case with Poe. I was interested initially in one particular aspect, but now, reaching the last month, I'm interested in another topic.
Topic decided, I let it percolate in the back of my mind for about two days, maybe over a weekend. I ask myself some questions. What do I find the most interesting? What are some aspects of this topic that jump out at me? Which stories/texts/ideas fascinate me the most?
Once I have that figured, I write my introduction. I know, I know, a lot of professors have beat it into our brains that you MUST write conclusions and introductions last, but I never have. I find, for my creative process, that writing the introduction is the most inspiring part of the paper, because it sets my tone. I think the introduction is my favorite part of the paper because it catapults my excitement to write the paper. Once my thesis is decided, I rarely change it. I usually think about it long enough beforehand that I have a good idea of what I'm going to write before I write it, so there's not much I'm going to want to change.
I always, always, ALWAYS write using loose leaf notebook paper and pen. I skip lines in between because I tend to mark out and edit quite a bit. I don't use the computer because I'm not as creative when I'm staring at a screen. I'm more focused when I have a pen in my hand and paper in front of me. I also use a lot of paper because I almost always have at least three drafts of the introduction, point one, point two, point three....et cetera.
I also spread my materials out around me quite a bit. To everyone else it probably looks like a mess, but I need my previous drafts, my source materials, an extra pen, and a bunch of extra paper surrounding me.
I suppose the middle is unremarkable- typical reading texts, chewing on pens, crumpling previous drafts only to come back and uncrumple it, and a frantic search for a lost source.
The worst part of the paper, for me, is the conclusion. I spend twice as long on the conclusion as I do the entire paper, and have at LEAST ten drafts of it before I give up. I'm forever being told I've got a weak conclusion. No matter what I do, everything I say seems so cliche. I hate it!
Once I finally finish, I tweak. Tweaking is usually rereading it, then typing it out, adding/deleting words and phrases, fixing grammar mistakes...typical. I usually reread it once while I still have it on paper, then after typing it out I reread it again. I then print it out and have someone ELSE read it.
Once that's done, I'm usually really psyched. I like that feeling of finishing a paper and knowing it's the best I could do.
Anyway, that's my creative process.
I feel like this entry has been about 'I, I, I, me, me me.'