Exercise 2E – My Style of Writing

Writing is anything but a simple, sit down process for me. When I have to write a paper, I mark the due date in my calendar and then set out specific days that I should have my outline, first draft, second draft, and writing center appointment or peer review completed by. I feel more stressed about writing in college than I did in high school, so physically setting a tentative schedule for the paper reduces my stress levels significantly.

I don’t dress any specific way to begin writing my papers. Almost always, however, I end up wearing light, comfy cotton clothes while doing any kind of schoolwork. My work environment has to be very quiet. It’s the only way I can concentrate.

To begin an assignment, I start with Microsoft Word. The blank page is never a welcome sight, so I usually just start brainstorming random thoughts. These thoughts eventually turn into a rough outline. I put a very condensed version of the outline at the top of the page, and the different sections turn into paragraph topics, which I bold. Without these constant reminders about what the paragraph should be about, I usually get off topic and subject after awhile. The thesis is my basic starting point as well. I’ll write a thesis header and then a tentative thesis. It usually changes after I’m done writing the paper.

After I write a rough draft of the paper, I go over it and make sure everything flows and makes sense. This draft usually ends up being my rough, first, and second drafts combined because I edit as I write. While looking over a paper and fixing paragraphs, I often cut and paste phrases into new places, or set them at the bottom of the paper for later use. The next step in my writing process occurs after I am confident enough to share my work. I send it to my boyfriend via e-mail for a virtual peer review. We write comments on each other’s papers in a different color within the paper itself. Then we e-mail it back to each other. Whenever we both have a spare moment, we’ll open the reviewed document and go over the comments, discussing possible changes.

While I’m editing the content of my paper, I begin thinking about my T.A. or teacher. I wonder if my paper will be entertaining or unique out of the hundreds they grade that day.

Because my editing tendencies are so exhausting, I am usually very happy after turning in a paper. It’s one less thing to worry about. I feel like after it’s done, it’s done. And I never want to go back and re-do the paper or even revisit the topic again. I remember one time, I was even hesitant to re-do it even though I could improve my grade because I immersed myself in that topic for two or three weeks without coming up for air. For example, after I turned in my paper on foot fungi, I never wanted to talk about athlete’s foot again. In this case, wanting to forget the subject is understandable, but in general, writing is never finished. Since I am a person who enjoys checking items off of checklists, I like to think of graded papers as things of the past.