Sheesh. After talking about lean writing, verbose writing, soundbite writing, warrant writing, personal writing . . . what to do . . . I wish I was just at the beach where I could think better . . .
Then I saw what I was doing and had a memory. (The class sighs. Dr. PD has a memory. Again.)
I was stuck. Chapter Three of my dissertation had my butt in a sling. Really. Nada. Books piled on the floor, some of which that had become make-shift coffee tables, were crunching in on me. I think they call this writer's block. I tried everything: wine, t.v., calling my bff and running it all down again, re-reading, screaming, pacing, and railing at the sky that I should have gone into another major. My dear friend and mentor, Frank Walters, ran into me in Haley Center and saw that we were quite near a fundamental breakdown and out of mercy sat me down somewhere on a bench. After the wailing and teeth grinding subsided a bit, he offered his well-earned, academic-type advice:
Write crap. (Language cleaned up here for formality purposes.)
Not out of self defense, not as a last ditch effort, but very much ON PURPOSE. Aggressive crap writing. Take that.
Right, I'm with you. An English prof saying write poo? Seriously? What I would have given to have heard that all along.
And so I did. I wrote a load of ka-ka. Laughing all the way. Somewhere along page twelve, I had an idea. My muse grabbed my brain and went: Have you thought of this? Brilliant. Yes. I couldn't stop. And it wasn't ka-ka.
Here's the thing: I had forgotten it was a joy ride, screams and all, and had made it straight up work. Now. That's not what we are in it for, is it? Turns out, I can revise crap and make it gold once the muse starts singing. (P.S. That chapter is still my favorite.)
You ever notice how that paper with all the angst and sweat that you thought was crap got an A? You ever notice how that one that was perfect got a B?
We've talked about risk taking. Yeah, yeah. Gotta stay in the parameters of the assignment, research the field, cite correctly . . . but once you get that, you got it. Sometimes, the risk is worth it. (Says the girl who included The Da Vinci Code in her dissertation.) But wait: isn't this the same as our daily, grinding lives? Lesse--don't speed, don't drink too much, go to class, don't be late for work, brush your hair . . .
Where is the muse here? Does she get to sing off of paper or are we all a bit too pansy to try that out? I'm thinking here that really being awake, really throwing it out there in our lives (even though it may start out as crap) could lead to our favorite chapter, the love of our lives, the job that makes it all worth it, a lesson of unfathomable proportions. Can we revise crap? As long as it's not in print yet, I think so, and that print is pretty much the tombstone, yes?
I wrote this purposefully forgetting rules of grammar and propriety (except for not saying the word shit, which I just gave in on) in order to get something out. I know where the edit button is. Sometimes you just gotta say . .
The best way to your brain waves flowing in to continue on with life. I have found many times when attempting to focus on specific thing it often benefits me to take a break and talk to a friend. When we focus on something so intensely it's easy to become distracted and lose track of the goal. Social inteaction always helps me to momentarily forget what I'm stressing over, and helps me to gain a new perspective when I start back working on the subject.
ReplyDeleteWriting crap has the same effect, that's why it's so effective. Just do something completely absurd, something that seems like it could never help. Human brains are pretty spontaneous, sometimes you just have to be prepared for opportunities. I often find myself writing crap, and then letting it sit a day or two without working on it. When I come back to I have a few fresh ideas and can re-focus!
Crap works
I also find that taking a break is great in times of stress, especially when I'm writing a paper. I'll be having the worst writers block before the break, and when I come back I know exactly what to write about. The same can go for studying- when you aren't retaining anything you read, just go take a break. Oh and writing crap also works very well.
DeleteThis is true for me too, getting distracted from the subject at hand really helps me, because then when I come back to the paper or whatever I'm working on at the time I usually have a new perspective or have thought of something new to add to it.
DeleteJust realized that I misspelled tons of stuff in this post. I apologize everyone.
DeleteTaking a break is always a good way to keep your brain from overloading. You can really only think about one thing for so long, take a break and come back later. Time is a natural progression and anything worth doing takes time.
When you said we "just have to be prepared for opportunities" it stuck with me. I like the idea behind what's being said here. I know your main post is about sometimes having to just write down crap, but I like that statement. Its better for us to be prepared for an opportunity than prepare when the opportunity arises.Be ready for it; so when the opportunity pops up we can have one up on starting it. But in response to pushing through the crap by just writing, ya you're right. That is the best way not to get "stuck in the rut."
DeleteWriters block gets the best of all of us. Writing crap is kind of a way of undoing that- it's a way to get the creative juices flowing. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect on the first try. You CAN go back and edit. I think that many people, including myself, forget that. We get so involved in writing a perfect paper on the first try that we forget that it's only a rough draft and that we don't have to waste hours upon hours perfecting it right away.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, taking a break also helps relieve writers block. Some say it's procrastination. In a way it is... you ARE putting off doing an assignment, but at the same time you are WORKING to complete it. It's okay to take a break, just as long as you don't waste too much time. Take about 30 minutes to watch a TV show, to eat a snack, or just to take a small cat nap. It helps.
The main thing is: you DON'T have to write a perfect essay on the first try. Crap works.
It's really funny that we have this blog topic right now because I for one am pretty frustrated with my research paper. I love my topic, and know what I'm capable of writing but somehow I just keep getting stuck. I can't seem to break through my block.
ReplyDeleteI have never had trouble writing in the past. Usually I can crank out papers like it's my job, but this one is throwing me for a loop. I am writing about why we crave comedy. I love comedies. But it occurred to me that a paper on comedy cannot be done without being funny! So how does one make jokes in a research paper? That's what I'm not so sure about.
Plus, trying to be funny always ends badly. And not funnily. <--made that word up.
Anyways, I think I'm going to start writing crap and maybe it'll work out. So thanks, Dr. PD.
Oh my gosh this is basically my life and it's making me want to strangle...something. It's really frustrating to feel helpless and stuck in something, ESPECIALLY when it's an assignment for a grade towards the end of the year.
DeleteI don't do well with stress and none of this is helping.
I feel like your efforts are going to get you a lot farther than mine will because once I've been beat down, I feel like my efforts will go wasted anyways and I just stop.
I hope your crap writing goes well! Mine hasn't...
One day in the past week, I went to the library solely to write a first draft of my research paper. That was my goal-- get her done. So I sit there, competing in a staring contest between me and the blank word doc on my computer screen. I tell myself, "Just write... your going to have to start eventually anyway." So I write. Maybe that intro wasn't my best intro, but I got it done. As I wrote the paper, I realized that my not-so-great writing was actually getting better. Once into the body paragraphs, I started having great ideas and typed away on my laptop before those ideas flew out of my head. I got the paper done, and although I wrote crap in the beginning, I thought the paper turned out pretty good over all. Now don't get me wrong, it still needs revising-- but I had a pretty good start and first draft.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually pretty similar to life. Fake it till you make it, right? By no means am I saying fake being yourself or be fake to others or do things for the wrong reasons. But if your struggling with some assignment or social scene or anything else... sometimes you have to tell yourself "I got this!" even if you don't "got it." If you are not confident in your abilities, sometimes that little push-- pretending you are confident and got it-- can actually help you to feel more comfortable and gain confidence. It plays with your mind in a good way... leading you to actually become confident!
I feel I did just this in my paper. I faked it. I wrote crap. I just needed something to revise and edit. But as I faked my way through my paper, I realized it started getting better and I became more confident in my writing. Writing that paper became easier because I started to feel like, "Hey, I finally got this!"
So write crap. Fake it till you make it. It just might help you get that jump-start in confidence that you need to complete whatever task is at hand.
I cant count the amount of times that I’ve had writers block, or just the lack of will to write anymore to be honest. Its not that I don’t know what I want to write, there are just times when I cant fully express it in words that are the most elegant and profound. Sentences that when someone reads it and they are taken aback at how much deep meaning can be found by so few words on a page. There just always seems to be a better way to say the things I’m trying to say. This can get to me and keep my paper from being all it can be. The thing I do most when I get writers block is to step away from the paper and all thoughts about it and go outside. Fresh air usually clears my mind and keeps me from freaking out. Then that moment when I finally grasp what Ive been trying to say for hours finally comes and its like a weight being lifted.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean when you say "its like a weight being lifted." That moment when you come back to your computer, and you're hesitant as to whether you will be just as blocked as before or fresh words will spring from your mind. But then you start to type and it hits you, fast and hard. Why didn't you think of it before? Because you were thinking of another word choice in another paragraph, and it was blinding you from the beauty that is the words being frantically typed out by what seems like someone else's hands. Then you look down and realize that those are your hands and those are your words and this is your paper. A paper that you can finally be proud of.
DeleteI know it is hard for me to find the motivation to write. Cranking out an essay is not that hard of a task, and then going back and revising it to perfect just takes time, but typing out that first sentence, first paragraph, and first page can be such a challenge. Sometimes you need to just take a break and come back from it. However, you can take only so many breaks, or it becomes too late.
DeleteWriting crap.... Sounds exactly what I've tried doing over and over. I'm using this blog right now as a way to get out of writing by writing something else. I've called the girlfriend, worked out, and even made a Twitter just trying to get away and think while working on something. I don't know what people expect of me 100% of the time, but I don't care really either. I mentioned the male reproductive system in my paper, and you know what? It came from a quote a Marine told me.
ReplyDeleteWriting crap has led me to write the best stuff- Dr. KDP said so- and the fact that I was just rambling on and on using what I knew then filling it in with sources and quotes. I guess I'm just not conventional while writing and frankly I would rather just use what information is in my head instead of bother with looking up research. I don't write about something I'm not interested in and I'm definitely not going to take up something I'm not familiar with.
Crap is an understatement for some of the work I've done in the past, just because I didn't follow all the guidelines, or use just the given source doesn't mean I didn't give it my all. I improvise, I'm an engineering student and I have to find the best solution to a problem. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I use that while writing to work on some of the stuff I'm using and it has worked so far. Crap must be my specialty, and if that's the case just put me on Dirtiest Jobs because I'm a student and crap is what I deal with.
That's the thing about writing there is no right answer. It's not like a math problem you can solve there is no a2+b2=c2. It's a personal liking. You either like or dislike. The good part of that is if one dislikes then hell, move onto the next.
DeleteIt's really ironic that I sit do write this post while I'm trying to finish up my research paper. So many more things I need to put in it, but I am struggling to find exactly how to word it. Writers block, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI have always been one to love writing. I sit and write quite often. And I've been told it's good. But when it comes to papers, I struggle. I always blame it on the fact that it's because it's typically not something I really enjoy writing about. So I sit and stare at my computer screen for ages and can literally come up with nothing else to say.
So why not make it something I enjoy writing about? I love pictures, photography, memories. So instead of seeing this research paper on why we crave nostalgia and memorabilia into a "6 page paper" how about I make it into my thoughts... my words... my load of poo that can, at the end, be edited and turned into something that is so much more than just a load of poo.
There is something magical about writing. And that is that you can always change it. What you write the first time doesn't have to be IT. You can keep thinking and keep changing, but you have to start with something. You have to start with the mess in order to create something beautiful. So I will write poo. I will write whatever is on my mind and I will turn it into something that is so much more than word salad crap.
"You ever notice how that paper with all the angst and sweat that you thought was crap got an A? You ever notice how that one that was perfect got a B?"
ReplyDeleteTHIS.
This is ridiculously and literally relevant to my life right now. Every time a write and re-write a paper to where my brain hurts and I hate it, I do really well. I read it so much that I think it is terrible and it is can be better, but it can't, because I've read it enough to know what could be changed.
But every now and then there is Brilliance. Every now and then there is verbiage that streams from me like the water through the gutters after a long, loud summer storm.
And I prance up to turn it in with all 32 teeth showing, waiting for my teacher to place it under the document camera to show it off to the class, because, hell, I deserve it for coming up with such virtuoso.
But then it goes in the file with all the others.
And then, one day I get it back.
And that bulky, bulbous, burly "B" that has been branded into it bombards me for days.
So for my next paper, I'll read and re-read. I'll write and re-write. I'll follow the rubric to a "t." No mistakes. No risks. I'll write my papers until I hate them, because then I will know that there is some chance they aren't crap.
I have observed this same thing with many of my english papers. The papers that came more naturally to me and were easier to write... I earned a higher grade. The papers I struggle a little more with, and put blood, sweat, and tears into get a lower grade. But this isn't necessarily something I can always control. If one topic is of more interest, I probably will write more interesting things about it that a topic that bores me. Although it is frustrating to get back that B after putting so much work into a paper, all you can do is push the envelope even more on the next paper.
DeleteIt's the papers that we actually enjoy writing that turn out to be the best ones. Far often than not, Dr. PD can figure out when I am really trying to write a good paper but it's just not coming easy. That first paper, heck, I LOVED writing it. But this paper, it threw me for a loop. Countless days, countless people revising it. She better love it!!! I worked hard. Put blood, sweat, and tears into it. Yet, you have those who just decide to sit down at 7:00 the night that it's due...what do they get? An A.
DeleteI know good and well though that I worked hard and that my paper deserves an A. So does yours Abby.
Everyone hits roadblocks. You sit at a desk, excitedly pouring over the pages, majesty flowing from your fingertips and immortalizing itself in blood and ink. And just when your masterpiece is almost complete… nothing. Absolutely nothing. You scramble around, trying to catch the thought, you chase it around the room, diving from topic to topic desperately attempting to regain that perfection, but it’s to late. It’s already gone.
ReplyDeleteAnd that’s when it happens. Shit. Crap flows from the tip of your pen, bastardising your poetic perfection. You keep writing and writing, wanting to cry for the injustice you are about reveal do to the literary world, and then suddenly it makes sense. The crap isn’t crap anymore. They say you can’t polish shit, but I respectfully disagree. You can polish it, put it in a little dress and make it your bitch, if you know how.
The ability to make crap sound good is second nature to us! Politicians, lawyers and business owners all utilize the ability to make things sound better or worse than they are. We are surrounded by exaggerated crap everywhere we go! We pick up tips on and figure things out and add deception to our tactical repertoire.
Writing goodness from crap is the best way to write, it is making order from chaos.
Starting the paper is the toughest part.
DeleteThat moment when you get 3 pages and youre stuck, not knowing what to write...
Roadblocks suck. Honestly, I feel like wasting time but at the end, that time i spend just staring at the screen cuz i dont know what to write, helps me realize things that I wouldnt have if i kept on writing.
So roadblocks in a way can help our writing.
I had quite the opposite reaction, I could start and ramble on quoting life lessons and just pouring on the excited and pulse pounding rush that you get from enjoying something. Then it all stops.....
DeleteYou can't think, you can't write. The death trap for grades we call Facebook comes to your attention. Play this game, post status, comment on that picture. We all get distracted and it all happens when the finish line is just out of reach.
Then I googled "paintball upgrades" it led me to pages and pages of supplies and tools made specifically for the subject I'm writing on. It wound up fueling my paper to the end and allowed me to use my words as well.
I just like to think about stuff that i know when it comes to writing that paper. what do i know?
Deletewhat do i do almost every day?. What do i like?..where have i been? where do i wanna go?..what about that one crazy night?
I never try to pick a topic im not familiar with on a personal level, unless forced to by the prompt. Luckily in Dr.PD's class, we've gotten a lot of choice and freedom to move around, so i can write more like me!
It also allows me to maybe even dig deeper into my own experiences, which of course are all awesome
This is usually my method for writing a paper. I just keep writing.
ReplyDeleteIts utter crap when I finish it and read over it, but the 'writing' part of writing is really not
the main focus of my writings. I showed my first draft to Robert for my paper once and he said it was the worst paper ever. haha, it was true. I just wrote everything down in the order that came to my mind.
When you focus on making your first draft sound good, thats when your paper goes down the toilet.
The process called editing is personally the most important part of me.
Editing is what makes it sound nice and it gives the paper structure.
By editing I dont mean grammar or spelling, but just like Dr. PD, finding the ideas i wrote to organize
my paper.
So thats what I think.
A good writer's first draft is pretty good, and his paper ends up good
A great writer's first draft sucks, but at the end, it becomes a masterpiece.
It really was a horrible paper, but then it came together. That is really the best writing process- getting all your thoughts down on paper and then weeding through and picking out the good parts and pruning/ cutting back all the dead parts. That is how we grow as writers, and improve our beautiful garden known as essay X.
DeleteSometimes the best way to start a paper is to just dive right in. Even if you don't have all the pieces together, something down is better than nothing down. It is like doing that stream of consciousness writing exercise - it always works/ helps for me when starting a paper.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to start a paper and even harder to find the motivation to finish. But we all have to force ourselves to get it over with, and somethings we have to just write crap. Some would argue that "crap" and easily fill up the required amount of pages you need, or even more, but its not a good paper until you take the time to go back and revise the "crap" into gold. Like the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Once you have something down, you can work to improve it and craft it into an actual intellectual piece that has a deeper meaning. That is the mystery of writing.
This comment rocks. It is straight forward and to the point, and is extremely relevant to my life (I hate saying that, like I'm pretending that it connects to me in some way, but it does!). Im actually writing three books right now and its super tough, with deadlines and everything. But writing crap works! It allows us to clear our minds and put something on paper. Robert does a really good job of portraying that importance of getting ideas down.
DeleteI like how direct and to the point this comment in. Its a perfect example of practicing what you preach.
DeleteI totally agree with this post. The beginning and the end are always the hardest. This is when crap writing comes in handy. Just to get something on the page is such a relief. Then you go back and change things. This is a great post.
DeleteOf all the people to point out the beauty of writing about crap it would be Robert. That is all you can do sometimes and I am so glad that Dr. P has shed light on this newfound anomaly. Actually that is what I'm doing right now. I am sitting here on my computer typing crap out. I see it as a lost art of the English language.
DeleteThis was rather well said Robert. Props to you. I would have to say that writing crap is alot easier said than done. Atleast for someone like myself. However, I do feel as though what your saying is very straightforward, concise, and informative for writing a great paper.
DeleteOf all the mornings I have to write about crap, it would be this one. This morning where I feel like the only thing I have thought about all morning is crap. I mean it is not your fault, how were you to know that the good Ol’ pain in the arse puppy was crapping all night last night. It was awful. Completely terrible. Literally at one point it was dripping down the wall. Projectile watery consistency shooting out ever hour while I just wanted to sleep.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the little rant things have just been very… crappy the past couple of hours. So on to the actual topic. Writing crap…. I feel like throughout my high school years. My ability to write crap has drastically diminished. When I was a young aspiring author, my ability to write crap was superb. Who needed organization, thesis, or correct grammar? As soon as I read the prompt I was ready to begin my paper. Who knows where it was going to take me, I’d start writing and then see what happened. I wrote some good stuff in my opinion, however, now it would never pass.
Why would it not go over well now you might ask? Well that’s simple. There was no structure. According to the English gods in their ivory tower in the land of literature they have struck down all this crappy writing. From above they look down on the masses of students attempting to write and they speak. “THOU SHAL NOT WRITE CRAP”. Instead they insist on structure. The more the better. And throughout high school that’s what I learned. In order to write a paper you cant just begin. First, there needs to be at least 15 to 30 minutes of planning, organizing, structuring. Then of course you cant begin that until you have the thesis that the whole paper is about. It’s crazy; all I want to do is just begin this paper.
Oh but I am sure there is a reason behind all this organization and planning. Perhaps it is because their scared. The English gods who decide what’s right and wrong are scared of what would happen if the masses of students just began to write crap. An idea might be thought of on the fly… an unplanned idea that might take the paper in a completely new direction. Heaven forbid, if people begin just writing without planning something great might happen.
That was always the stupidest part of essays in high school. Literally, my teacher had a timer, and we had to pre-write until the timer went off. It was non-sense. It was as if she thought that whatever we put down on paper would be etched forever on the desk, never to be edited or revised. Of course, once we were done, we spent 3 weeks revising it. I never did more than put simple ideas on that pre-writing sheet, because why write the whole paper before you write the whole paper? Sometimes, it is just better to spill your thoughts, copy and paste the paragraphs where they make sense, then go back and make it into a flowing paper.
DeleteAnd I'm glad someone else agrees with me on the whole "English gods in their ivory tower" thing, because who the hell gave MLA the right to tell me how to cite? What authority do they have over me? And who decided that there HAS to be a comma after an adverb clause at the beginning of a sentence? Why did they get to decide that?
I feel the exact same way about high school English. The timers, the carefully planned out outlines... well shoot. That's why it's so hard to just dig in now. Because every single english teacher I ever had throughout high school forced me to follow this guideline before even beginning to write a paper. And then once I went through the formalities to get it going, I had to follow the strict guidelines of perfect grammar... of no fragments... of five paragraphs, each one being a specific length. Screw that. The restrictions of all that is what takes out all beauty in writing. There's no freedom and there is DEFINITELY no voice when you have to stick yourself in a 4x4 inch box and be expected to stay in the perfect perimeters.
DeleteBut that's how I learned. So as much as I want to say screw it, it is almost harder to write crap. Because writing crap means getting over everything I learned that was "oh so important" and all of a sudden being vulnerable and being myself and letting my voice come out. And writing crap until the perfect words-- not my 11th grade AP Language teacher's perfect words, but MY own words from MY own heart-- come out, making something beautiful.
It's really funny that this is our blog subject, mainly because for this research paper, the few pages of my paper that I feel are decent are just me writing crap. The material is good and I believe that it showcases my personality and with a little editing, it would be silver (not on gold level quite yet, I can't really reach that at the moment). I seriously wish I could reach that kind of crap (but actually decent) writing for the rest of the paper, I just can't get into the same state of mind again. Trust me, I've tried. Too many times.
ReplyDeleteIt's really fortunate that some people are naturally good writers, whether their style is just this "crap" writing or their way with words is just magic. If we were left with only the proper writers, I would probably not enjoy reading as much as I do and that would be terribly sad. It also makes me appreciate that kind of writing because quite frankly, I really can't do it that well. All those years of having correct writing techniques and grammar and yada yada shoved down my throat and branded into my head have ruined me for classes like this where none of that technically matters. It's been a struggle.
Dear God I hope I can get out of this alive. I'm basically holding on by the tips of my fingernails right now and I don't see it getting any better in the next 2 weeks. I'm hoping for the best, however, and maybe my crappy streak will return with great results. I guess I'm in a sort of slump and I'm going to actually have to sit down and focus and try to write the crap again...if that's possible.
Wish me luck, y'all and happy writing :)
Going aging along with Abby- "you ever notice that paper with all the angst and sweat that you thought was crap and still got an A" "you ever notice how that one that was perfect was a b." I agree STORY OF MY LIFE.
ReplyDeleteNot all crap s bad crap. I for one have come to realize here at the chronicles of Auburn there is no right or wrong in writing. Every taste is different. For some it's a skill, and others a challenge? Something that could be such a blasphemous topic. Alike beauty, writing is the eye of the beholder. We write to please and
Please to right. The hardest step of writing is simply: starting. After starting you know it's not a mission impossible.
I strongly agree with the statement above, "The hardest step of writing is simply: starting. After starting you know it's not a mission impossible." I can't even imagine how long I have spent staring at a little blinking black line that informs the user of the row and column the text will be displayed on. Starting an essay is like pushing a boulder down a mountain. It may be difficult at first to move and sometimes it might get stuck on a tree, but gravity will do most of the work.
DeleteIf we are being completely honest right now, I looked at Dr.P like she was a crazy person the first time she told me to literally write the word "crap" all on my paper. I thought she had gone insane. After all, how was an A+ paper supposed to come out of repeating the same word over and over again? And not even a good word. Not one of those words that you search in the thesaurus for so that you can sound smarter. (Joseph!)
ReplyDeleteSo I'll admit, I didn't listen at first. I continued to write the way I had always been taught. Five paragraphs, transition sentences, intro, thesis, conclusion, etc. But then one day when I was blogging on my own blog, like always, I hit another one of my writing blocks. I LOVE writing when it's something I'm passionate about. Normally these blogs I have to think harder on, but never on my own. I literally sat there and wrote "crap" all over the page. What was I doing? And sure enough, once again, I was proven wrong because it actually worked! Something came to me! A FREAKIN' MIRACLE!
So yes, sometimes we will hit writer's blocks, but I would say that Dr. P knows what she's talking about when she says to write "crap" all over the page. It's what I did for this last paper....I feel like it worked!
I think that's just the thing she's saying about this writing crap thing... Us stubborn perfectionists don't always have the right thing to say, and it's okay. The more of a perfectionist you are, the more often you will hit a writing block. The more often you will find that what you say is not perfection, and you just won't take it. It's okay to say the wrong thing, or whatever else you want until the right thing comes into your head and you can continue to be a perfectionist! It's in there, that beauty, that perfection, and we just have to give our minds something to do until it rises to the surface.
DeleteIt sounds so stupid, but once you try it it actually works.
DeleteStarting to write is the toughest part because you dont know where to start.
Once you start just writing everything down, even if it sounds like crap, it can help you in the longer run.
Perfection is overrated, honestly,
I have that problem too, I have semi-OCD where i need everything to be in perfect order.
but as humans we arent perfect, so trying to be perfect would be us imitating something, not being ourselves. when we be ourselves and show that imperfection, it becomes the perfect paper we want it to be, now im babbling so ill stop. but yes it works
I completely agree with Abby. As a perfectionist... I know I will take forever trying to come up with the best sentence I possibly can for my paper. But through Dr. P's class, I have discovered the beauty in writing whatever is on my mind. I don't need to wait for that one perfect idea to come to me. If I just write whatever I am thinking... a whole slough of great thoughts and ideas will come to me!
DeleteA quote from a person I admire is, "Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial, in fact, that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I've begun to fear more than that, is letting the moment pass without saying anything."
-Taylor Swift
Yeah, yeah I like Taylor Swift. But she has a good point. And I feel that Dr. P has taught us this same idea in our writing throughout the semester. Don't just sit there and not write anything because you want that one sentence to be perfect. Just write something! Don't be such a perfectionist about it.
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ReplyDeleteIt's not always easy for me to just keep writing. I'm not creative, I have a math mind. So it's hard for me to break free of that just write. I usually feel uncomfortable breaking out of my structured shell to really expand on my writing and make it good.
ReplyDeleteGood is kind of a funny thing though isn't it. There's good in the sense I've always known- structure, order, right and wrong. And then there's good in an enjoyable, make you want to read it again kind of way. The only way to reach this kind of good though is to let yourself free and just write. I'm finally beginning to learn that.
I've had to try this whole "writing crap" shindig on my most recent couple of papers and I was shocked how well it turned out. When you're not a writer and you're trying to figure out what to write, you become so fixated on the structure and how these words will fit in the paper that you forget about what those words really mean. And without the meaning of these words, your paper will turn into crap, just like you were trying to avoid.
Sometimes it's best to just let go-- writing and otherwise-- so you can trying reach your destination.
I think that this comment brings up an interesting point. Whereas you have a "math" mind, my mind is completely opposite. I notice colors before I notice anything else, and have never ever had a problem in an English class. However, this class is throwing me for a loop because for the first time I'm not just different because I'm naturally creative. I have to try in this class. In the past I have always been a good writer but it was within the structures and rules of english classes, and in this class I the lack of structure and the push that we have to write crap has made me feel like I don't know how to write sometimes. This comment has shown me that it is important to let go--let go of your "math" mind, or let go of the writing I used to do and how I used to be expected to write. Letting go and writing crap works, "math" mind or not.
DeleteI can completely agree with what you are saying.
DeleteI feel that it is hard to be so proficient and able to accelerate with no problems in one subject, and then struggle so hard in another.
Or am I the only one who struggles? haha.
History has always been a breeze for me as far as remembering dates, events, and times that history itself occurred. But, tell me to write a paper on it and that's when my little confidence is out the window.
Same with English. I can edit a paper, tell you where you are missing a comma, or even explain why you need a new paragraph instead on a long and continuous one. Writing papers, however, is the hardest thing I have faced as far as grades in college!
However, I think that practice makes perfect; by senior year, I should be able to write an 'A' paper with no problem.
I've always enjoyed writing papers where I can fully pick the topic of choice. As in...whatever I feel like writing about. Having to respond to a certain topic or "prompt" isn't at all what I want or like to do. Seriously. But of course we have to be given guidelines and rules in our now day society.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest issue I have with writing prompted to semi-prompted papers is my inability to have a mental word (idea) flow. It's very hard for me to think about what I'm constructing next...where I'm going...or If I'm even going anywhere? I usually end up stuck, confused, and lingering on the idea that I have to get up to at least 5 pages before tuesday night. You probably can agree, right?
What I have found, is that sometimes you just have to write shit. Ya, shit. Just write down whatever you have flowing through your head. When the paper is done (rough draft), then you go back, laugh at how choppy it sounds, and then tighten up the fluff. Fluff? Ya, fluff. The stuff that makes your paper lose its testosterone or estrogen (for the ladies).
End the end, "sometimes writing shit can save you from retaking one of your prerequisites."
-Davis Edwards
Nice Davis, nice. Yup i agree, although i do find it way easier to write when there is a strict prompt, rather than a loose prompt or prompt of your choice
DeleteThe problem with strict prompts though .is that when you write, it usually is crap that comes out. Not even good crap that will lead to anything, but rather just straight bullshit, meant to put a smirk on your professors face(Dr.(Tim)Hayes). As much as I love writing about a Haitian painting...I don't. No amount of crap can ever amount to anything worth reading if you seriously do not find interest or connection with the assignment... So yeah, i dont like strict prompts either
My junior year of high school, I wrote an incredible paper. I loved every single word I wrote on the page and when I turned it in, I didn’t have a worry in the world. It was by far the best paper I have ever written. I got a B- on the paper. Fast forward to my senior year of high school. It was second semester and all I could think about was Auburn University and how I couldn’t wait to get out of high school and have a change of pace. My English teacher assigned a paper on a topic that I can’t even remember. I waited till the night before, was kicking and screaming the whole time while writing. I was writing crap page after page. The next morning I turned it in. When I got it back I thought I had failed, the paper said A+. I could not believe it. But looking back now I see why the papers were graded the way they were. The paper I thought I did really well on, while it had good points was just boring. But the paper I thought I did really bad on, had a little bit of an attitude and the teacher even wrote that because of that she wanted to read more. When I write just what comes to my head, which is part fact and part crap, it makes for a better read (aka a better paper.) So I enjoy writing crap, it’s easy and apparently I get a good grade when I do it.
ReplyDeleteTotally true. Sometimes writing crap really works... on second though, most of the time! I always feel happy with my paper, but not sure if its exactly what the teacher wants. I end up getting a good, or "well-deserved" grade on it any way!Sometimes you just gotta go. Pick that topic and keep on going until it starts to flow. Maybe it'll grow and keep on growing, or maybe you'll feel like nothings coming out of it at all, but regardless, if you keep it up, something beautiful, cool, funny, or terribly awesome will always come out of it.
ReplyDeleteI guess the reason that I'm not always sure if my writings are what the teacher wants, but that i am always happy with my product, is because i usually do just write crap. awesome crap. and I'm not afraid.
I am so random and farfetched that most of the time all I do in papers is write crap. I mean heck it fills the page and sometimes it even looks good. But how does that even make sense? How can CRAP (which in literal terms refers to fecal matter) look good?
ReplyDeleteWell picture this. You write a bunch of crap but you cover it in so much seasoning (also known as verbage and fancy words) that you can't tell it's crap anymore. This may not be the most "efficient" way to handle writing 6 page long papers or your dissertation to get your doctorette; however, it is going to work 9 times out of 10 It's just us be willing to take a risk in our writing. We must be willing to step outside of the box in order to write crap and succeed.
This sounds simple enough, right? So why do none of us do it? Because we have been so brainwashed as children that there is a strict verbatum formula for a while. Teachers discouraged children who wrote "outside of the box". Students who wrote crap. It is an unfortunate thing, but it's the truth.
Excuse me for being SO late on responding to this blogpost.
ReplyDeleteMe reading this came just in the nick of time. I often feel SO overwhelmed with school that it is not even funny. I am constantly questioning myself- what can I do to make this better? What can I do to make my professors like what I am working on just as much as I do?
People say Left-handed writers have a different thought process and view things differently than the other 85% of the world. All jokes aside, I sometimes wonder if that has anything to do with the grades I receive. I mean, to me, my work is exceptional. To my professors, I can do "better".
It is indeed quite a frustration.
But, I can indeed say that one class that has stuck out the most is the class Dr. P said,"When you are stuck, write 'SHIT'. Eventually, something will come to you."
So, I have done just that. Not saying there has been any improvement in my writing grades, but I feel as if there has been a self-improvement. And that's what is important, right? That YOU are the one who notices change.
Writing crap is better than no writing at all. If your not in the mood to write on a particular topic, select another and maybe it will inspire you on your first topic.
ReplyDeleteI don't write papers when I don't have ideas(at least not well). Instead of writing crap during writer's block I prefer to read over my previous thoughts and connect them to other ideas that are related to my overall thesis. Also just reading crap on the internet has been largely successful for me. Getting off topic, by reading crap unrelated to the topic, can be a good way to refresh or inspire your mind.
Random stuff on the internet: ingenious paper writing tool. I've done the same and I must say, it can work quite well. Sometimes even watching videos on youtube or reading the news, basically just living life, can bring forth ideas for even the most difficult topics. I seem to get more ideas from being outside, or being somewhere I really love. This distraction can help provoke thoughts and get your mind rolling again about what to write for the paper.
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