On Thursday, Sept. 18, I had my first session as a client. I brought in a few ideas I had for a column I was writing, as well as the intro paragraph.
First, the consultant asked me what I wanted readers to get out of my piece. With every response I had, the consultant had another question about my answer, how it related to the piece, and what new territory that answer opened up.
I didn't feel odd or awkward at all in being tutored. Maybe it's because I've already led two sessions and have observed the interaction several times; maybe it's because I know we're learning from each other. Either way, it didn't feel like a teacher-student relationship; I felt as an equal, someone who had ideas and thoughts to exchange and share, as well as strategies to implement in my writing. It felt pretty fantastic, actually.
The consultant often digressed in her suggestions, making me feel like she was giving me as much feedback as possible while acknowledging that she may not know precisely how the piece should be written or structured. I found the constant stream of questions to be most helpful, because I myself don't always ask enough questions about what I'm writing. What's the point of this paragraph? Don't people already know this? Isn't this common knowledge? Once you have an idea in place and think it's a great one, you don't continually second-guess yourself; this session made it that much clearer that a second set of eyes, regardless of how much experience lay behind them, is critical to the writing.
To tackle the last bullet point in the Bedford guide, the tutor made me feel comfortable the entire time. The session was productive, relaxed, and appropriately engaging. I look forward to my next one.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Rituals
Last Wednesday when we discussed our rituals I didn't really discuss mine. I'm not certain that calling them rituals is correct, and in fact calling them that may give them more significance than they deserve. Regardless of whether or not you'd call them rituals, the following is what I am relatively consistent on when I write papers:
I sit down in front of my computer. I lean over and move the books and notebook I am using for the paper from the floor to my desk. While I do this, I notice my fingernails haven't been clipped in a while. Hmm, I should probably take care of that before I forget. While I do that, I figure it only makes sense to get my toes as well. I return to my chair and look at my computer. Better check my e-mail, just in case. While I'm at it, I should probably see if anything is new on facebook. I never use MySpace anymore, and have absolutely no reason to check it, but should probably check it anyway, just in case. Before I know it I've spent an hour on Wikipedia looking up a wide array of things.
Essentially, my only real ritual is putting it off as long as possible. I've survived this way so far. I like to think I'm a good writer, and rarely alter much in the paper after I finish it. Sometimes I don't even read through it when I'm done because I don't want to think about it anymore. I think the greatest disadvantage of this is that there isn't enough time to have anybody else look at my paper. Though I don't think I'd want any peer revision among my friends. Being a client at the writing center will be a strange experience, and I'm not sure what to expect. I do not know whether or not I will be given advice and ignore it through pride or actually consider it.
I sit down in front of my computer. I lean over and move the books and notebook I am using for the paper from the floor to my desk. While I do this, I notice my fingernails haven't been clipped in a while. Hmm, I should probably take care of that before I forget. While I do that, I figure it only makes sense to get my toes as well. I return to my chair and look at my computer. Better check my e-mail, just in case. While I'm at it, I should probably see if anything is new on facebook. I never use MySpace anymore, and have absolutely no reason to check it, but should probably check it anyway, just in case. Before I know it I've spent an hour on Wikipedia looking up a wide array of things.
Essentially, my only real ritual is putting it off as long as possible. I've survived this way so far. I like to think I'm a good writer, and rarely alter much in the paper after I finish it. Sometimes I don't even read through it when I'm done because I don't want to think about it anymore. I think the greatest disadvantage of this is that there isn't enough time to have anybody else look at my paper. Though I don't think I'd want any peer revision among my friends. Being a client at the writing center will be a strange experience, and I'm not sure what to expect. I do not know whether or not I will be given advice and ignore it through pride or actually consider it.
My so-called writing process
My writing process reminds me of driving. Both are organized with set a rules or directions that I keep in the back of my mind. Both involve specific emotions: feeling lost, confused, frustrated, excited, and sometimes happy. And although I almost always feel lost driving and was born with no sense of direction, I have learned that some of the best writing comes from this horrible emotional chaos.
When I have a paper to write, I generally wait until a day or two before. I usually don't have a specific thesis or outline, but a variety of ideas I want to use. I write the introduction and a rough thesis to get me going. I write a few pages first and then go back and revise. Then I am able to see the direction of my paper and outline an organized thesis.
Writing a paper the day or two before it is due may not be very planned. I think feeling stressed and pressured to respond to a specific due date gives me an adrenaline rush, motivating me to write. When I drive, I try to concentrate on my destination and am usually late as well.
My writing process is partially organized and partially disorganized, but this leaves room for improvement and revision. I usually revise a good portion of anything I work on. I think writing on a computer helps make revision easier for me too. I like to write by myself, somewhere quite when I can concentrate easier. I usually ask for an outsider's opinion of my paper. As I continue to write, and study in professional writing and English classes, I continue to adapt and learn. Depending on the assignment, I usually overcome and frustration and end up happy and excited about my work.
When I have a paper to write, I generally wait until a day or two before. I usually don't have a specific thesis or outline, but a variety of ideas I want to use. I write the introduction and a rough thesis to get me going. I write a few pages first and then go back and revise. Then I am able to see the direction of my paper and outline an organized thesis.
Writing a paper the day or two before it is due may not be very planned. I think feeling stressed and pressured to respond to a specific due date gives me an adrenaline rush, motivating me to write. When I drive, I try to concentrate on my destination and am usually late as well.
My writing process is partially organized and partially disorganized, but this leaves room for improvement and revision. I usually revise a good portion of anything I work on. I think writing on a computer helps make revision easier for me too. I like to write by myself, somewhere quite when I can concentrate easier. I usually ask for an outsider's opinion of my paper. As I continue to write, and study in professional writing and English classes, I continue to adapt and learn. Depending on the assignment, I usually overcome and frustration and end up happy and excited about my work.
Writing Center Observation #2
By the time i entered this observation, I had gained a much clearer view of what a writing consulting should do to help the student. This time, I was able to observe how a tutor would respond to the student looking for an editor, for someone to write in grammatical corrections. The tutor I observed was very charismatic and friendly. He asked the student to read the paper out loud, having the student fix most of the grammatical errors himself right away.
After that was solved, the tutor began asking him questions to get the student to think less about grammar and more about arrangement and content. A tutor must be able to maintain the students attention and keep the student involved in his or her paper during the session. The tutor constantly asked questions and supported the students answers positively (something I have noticed with every tutor I have met so far).
What I found most interesting was that in both sessions I observed a student who was an ESL student. The tutor I observed had mentioned many students who come to the writing center speak English as a second language. This may require more attention from the tutor. Those learning a second language, as I have experienced myself, often struggle with grammar. The student may want to just focus on grammatical errors, and may need more help from the tutor to look at other aspects of the writing. The tutor I observed seemed very experienced working with such students.
I think I would be able to guide someone away from editing/grammar. I have learned a lot these past few weeks about how to work with others and how to guide a student to focus on his or her writing in all aspects. Keeping a student focused on his or her writing seems to me the most important objective. The student will be able to learn on his or her own and hopefully apply and skills learned from the session on future work.
After that was solved, the tutor began asking him questions to get the student to think less about grammar and more about arrangement and content. A tutor must be able to maintain the students attention and keep the student involved in his or her paper during the session. The tutor constantly asked questions and supported the students answers positively (something I have noticed with every tutor I have met so far).
What I found most interesting was that in both sessions I observed a student who was an ESL student. The tutor I observed had mentioned many students who come to the writing center speak English as a second language. This may require more attention from the tutor. Those learning a second language, as I have experienced myself, often struggle with grammar. The student may want to just focus on grammatical errors, and may need more help from the tutor to look at other aspects of the writing. The tutor I observed seemed very experienced working with such students.
I think I would be able to guide someone away from editing/grammar. I have learned a lot these past few weeks about how to work with others and how to guide a student to focus on his or her writing in all aspects. Keeping a student focused on his or her writing seems to me the most important objective. The student will be able to learn on his or her own and hopefully apply and skills learned from the session on future work.
How I Write
A frequent issue of mine when it comes to writing assignments (that is the only type of writing I do nowadays) is the due date. We do not have a good relationship, the due date and I. Sometimes I will feel it approaching rapidly and begin feeling inordinate amounts of stress only to discover that I actually have another four days to complete the assignment when I thought there was only one. More often, I will be completely unaware of a looming due date and let it sneak up and shock me in a very unpleasant manner. For the most part, however, until the time my assignment is (very, very close to being) due, I usually hardly think about it, unless it involves some type of reasearch that must be done beforehand for some reason or another. When I do think about it, it is only to think that it is something I have to do and not about things I may actually write (this is not true for times when I must present on my written material, but that is not a frequent occurance).
Then the due date arrives and I have no choice but to think about what I'm going to write. I never write anything by hand if I have a choice because writing by hand is a slow process for me for whatever reason. I often leave my room because places like the study lounge and the library offer fewer distractions and therefore fewer excuses to put off writing for five, or maybe ten, more minutes. It's not that I dislike writing, it's just that in the context of classes it almost always feels like too much of a chore to enjoy.
I am held up most often at the very beginning. Starting a piece is by far the most difficult task for me, though once I get going (often after maybe four or five false starts) I generally do not get stuck again. Once I begin writing a piece, I prefer not to leave until the paper is finished, both because re-mustering the motivation to write again after stopping can be difficult and because I will sometimes lose the flow of ideas and words that keep my writing smooth and connected (at least most of the time) from beginning to end. The second most difficult part of the writing process for me is the conclusion. Many times I have struggled to write something that does not feel like a summary or a foregone conclusion. More than once I have left a paper feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion I have written but having not much idea of how to fix it. Another part of the writing process that I do not particularly care for is creating titles. It is the one area of the writing process that I will often not help my friends with and always save till the end to struggle with when writing myself. Titles are important and often personal. Though there are many occasions in school settings when convention dictates how a piece should be titled, there are many more situations in which the choice of title rests solely with the author and, in my opinion, should be considered carefully. I could probably go on longer than anyone would like about my struggles with and opinions of titles, but that is not directly relevant to this blog.
Once I have finished, there is a mild-to-overwhelming sense of relief (depending on the assignment and how many hours are left until it is due). For some classes, such as my Grammar and Style class, I may rapidly reread my paper to check for sentence-level errors, most of which result from my brain moving faster than my hands (one of my more common issues is leaving out articles or sometimes skipping other, more important words). If I have time later and am thoroughly unsatisfied with the conclusion, I may add more thoughts before turning in the paper, though any thoughts I have usually seemingly come from nowhere rather than a conscious effort to improve my conclusion. If I like a piece I have written and it will not bore her to death, I send it to my sister for a second opinion. Anything that both of us think is good is usually something I will save or store somewhere for myself as a reference of my past writing.
Then the due date arrives and I have no choice but to think about what I'm going to write. I never write anything by hand if I have a choice because writing by hand is a slow process for me for whatever reason. I often leave my room because places like the study lounge and the library offer fewer distractions and therefore fewer excuses to put off writing for five, or maybe ten, more minutes. It's not that I dislike writing, it's just that in the context of classes it almost always feels like too much of a chore to enjoy.
I am held up most often at the very beginning. Starting a piece is by far the most difficult task for me, though once I get going (often after maybe four or five false starts) I generally do not get stuck again. Once I begin writing a piece, I prefer not to leave until the paper is finished, both because re-mustering the motivation to write again after stopping can be difficult and because I will sometimes lose the flow of ideas and words that keep my writing smooth and connected (at least most of the time) from beginning to end. The second most difficult part of the writing process for me is the conclusion. Many times I have struggled to write something that does not feel like a summary or a foregone conclusion. More than once I have left a paper feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion I have written but having not much idea of how to fix it. Another part of the writing process that I do not particularly care for is creating titles. It is the one area of the writing process that I will often not help my friends with and always save till the end to struggle with when writing myself. Titles are important and often personal. Though there are many occasions in school settings when convention dictates how a piece should be titled, there are many more situations in which the choice of title rests solely with the author and, in my opinion, should be considered carefully. I could probably go on longer than anyone would like about my struggles with and opinions of titles, but that is not directly relevant to this blog.
Once I have finished, there is a mild-to-overwhelming sense of relief (depending on the assignment and how many hours are left until it is due). For some classes, such as my Grammar and Style class, I may rapidly reread my paper to check for sentence-level errors, most of which result from my brain moving faster than my hands (one of my more common issues is leaving out articles or sometimes skipping other, more important words). If I have time later and am thoroughly unsatisfied with the conclusion, I may add more thoughts before turning in the paper, though any thoughts I have usually seemingly come from nowhere rather than a conscious effort to improve my conclusion. If I like a piece I have written and it will not bore her to death, I send it to my sister for a second opinion. Anything that both of us think is good is usually something I will save or store somewhere for myself as a reference of my past writing.
Consultant Shadowing #2
On this particular observation my consultant worked on paper for a psychology class in which they watched a movie gave a short summary and talked about a character that suffered from some type of aliment and talked about it using class notes and the book.
The client had started the introduction and the summary and was not worried about anything else. So the first thing we did was read the paper out-loud. The paper was very rough but the consultant was able to catch most of the errors that were there by hearing it for himself. The main problem with his summary was that instead of summarize the parts of the movie that were important to his paper he talked about every scene in the entire movie. The consultant asked some leading questions so he could avoid summarizing the whole movie.
After working on the summarization the consultant then moved towards the introduction slash thesis. And this is also where the consultant took over the session in my opinion. They still asked questions, but they wrote out the entire thesis. I thought it could have been helpful to have them work towards answering the questions themselves and have him write out the thesis and then perhaps work on an outline of the paper so he could see how the thesis relates to the rest of the paper.
At the end of the sessions he felt pretty happy and had some direction but I still think that he could have learned a little more by doing more of the work.
Writing Process
My writing process:
1) When I give myself time.
When I have a good amount of time to produce my paper or project... whatever it my be. And I also I have found some uncanny motivation, this what usually happens.
- I will stare at the blank screen of death and then play video-games
- I will come back to the blank screen try to write something then play video-games
At this juncture I will usually have something of a thesis or at least a vague idea of what I am writing about. I will then move my laptop next to my television and take turns writing a sentence or two then playing video-games.
What I have now is a goop of paper that doesn't have much coherence due to writing a sentence stopping half way through to try and beat Rainbow Road on 150CC on Mario Kart Wii. So I now I print my paper and do the following.
- Pick out the good stuff from the bad stuff
- Find which examples are worthy of developing further.
- Retailer my thesis to match my examples
- Try and beat Rainbow Road on 150CC
After building on my examples and body paragraphs and tailoring my thesis to make sense, I now have something that resembles a paper. Now I...
- Send my paper to one of my faithful friends who will read my paper for content as well as grammar issues and awaiting there return while I watch The Wire on DVD.
After getting the commented copy I read the comments fix what I think is applicable and do one more final reading. Then I turn in the paper.
This is the preferable way for me to write as it involves a lot of fun mixed in. The second is not as fun...
Scenario: Paper due in 7 hours.
1- Brew Pot of Coffee
2- Stare Longingly at my Television
3- Curse myself
4- write paper and hope its not non-sense.
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