I have always been praised for being a strong writer throughout my school career, however, my writing style is more of a diamond in the rough. I often just write and don’t really know where I’m going with it all. For instance, right now I have no idea what I will talk about in the next sentence. But now that I have stared at the wall for a minute I can formulate an idea of what I want to talk about. It seems every elementary school teacher had some corny way of helping us prewrite out essays. From the hurricane like funnels to the F.O.I.L method they always urged that we have some plan before writing our name on our paper. I agree that this does help but I feel like I express more of how exactly I feel when I “ramble” in my papers. Maybe that is what I have been lacking as a writer? Who knows! I tend to mix things up in my narratives, and sometimes they don’t always make sense. Heck, I probably should have prewritten this entry so you don’t think I am a total ‘tard.
As for a second draft… I think the only second draft I have ever considered was another beer at a bar! Just kidding I am only 18 and enjoying a frosty draft would be both legally and morally askew. In middle school I had the pleasure of being lecture by Mrs. Weirsema, whose reputation as a teacher was one of strict revisions. So I guess I have had practice in second, third, and even fourth drafts. It always seemed however I was always trying to put more into my essay and give it more gist – in retrospect it was just adding more B.S. to dumb papers about “how my summer went.” I also agree that producing revisions of one’s work will ultimately aid in a more substantial paper, both in bulk and in intellect. Can’t you tell that I revised that last sentence? Yeah it does work.
It was a godsend when my peers graded papers. To me I thought that the teacher was trying to give themselves a break by having the students grade papers. It was always a joke to me. Yeah sure there would be some red marks on my page but at the end of the paper sat a big ole’ 95 percent and that was always good enough for me. Nobody wanted to be the guy who really went in depth critiquing his buddy’s essay, cause that would just be wrong to give your friend less than an “A.”
You may have been able to tell, or you might not have, but I am more or less of a sporadic writer. I think of an idea and just kind of stumble all over it. So know you know where I stand on the grounds of writing habits, and in the words of Forest Gump “That’s all I have to say about that!”
I always end up rambling on and on in my papers and then reread it and take out a bunch of stuff that was really just too much or irrelevant to the point. I understand the diamond in the rough metaphor because my papers are also similar. For example, writing these crots has turned into somewhat of a chore; I am finding I can go on and on with these stories and end up not really having a point or showing a characteristic or attribute that I have.
ReplyDeleteI find that second and third drafts really do help, because after I have spit up this long mess of ideas and sentences, I can stop recalling/producing ideas and read from another perspective, getting rid of anything I find to be distasteful or superfluous. I encourage you to do this as well because it sounds like we have similar writing process and practicing writing drafts has really helped me increase the quality of my papers.
First off, I want to say thank you for reassuring me that I’m not the only guy who’s been there thinking, “hey, this is pretty much nonsense, so why am I still going on with it”? I’ve been there far too many times my friend, there and the point where you stare at the wall with your earbuds in thinking of nothing for 15 minutes. I definitely agree on the overuse of lame ways for past teachers to get us to write. No worries about the rambling, it’s what gets 60 percent of my papers done.
ReplyDeletePeer editing has saved me a few times too, especially when your partner is a meticulous overachiever who catches it all the first time. I don't know how you might feel about it, but I think stumbling all over the idea makes it the most genuine, like it’s all your words.
And lastly, I commend you for the Forest Gump reference, hopefully we don’t leave FSU with a similar story to Forest, “College was confusing times.”