I've recently sunk to a new low of procrastination. At the breakfast table this morning, my roommate Ali and I were discussing an English paper we had to write. We are taking The Art of Writing Life class. I was writing my paper on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave and she was writing hers on 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen. She stayed up until 2am to finish it, while I decided to sleep and wake up at 6am to write the paper. Either way, we both left it to the last minute and had to finish it quickly.
This race against time tactic is not something I try to do often. I knew this paper was coming up, but it was one of my last for the semester, so I stuck it on the bottom of every to-do list I've been writing. There have been several.
The impressive part of my procrastination is that in the morning, instead of writing it all at once and then taking time to edit, I would take breaks between sentences. In my defence, I had a detailed outline from which I was writing the essay, I was prepared. But getting the actual words on the page felt like I was pulling at Clay Aiken. They just did not want to come out, but felt great once they did.
The essay was handed in on time, edited twice. I did not have the same luck with my Critical Thinking paper. I finished that puppy days in advance, but forgot to submit it to Turnitin.com, a plagarism website. I remembered two days late, and am being deducted 6 per cent. I've never missed a lecture in that class. I'm really upset about this late penalty.
...and by the way, I'm supposed to be writing a take-home exam right now.
6 comments:
I'm studying in the library, but I literally laughed out loud at that Clay Aiken reference.
I too am procrastinating by reading all these blogs.
"In my defence, I had a detailed outline from which I was writing the essay, I was prepared."Making an outline is actually the first step toward procrastinating. Mapping out what you want to say is an unnecessary step that gets in the way of ACTUALLY writing your paper. It's true.
Essay outlines are an outdated high school method that doesn't translate well into the real world of writing--by real world of writing, I mean when you're writing essays after high school. Depending on how your classes work, most profs don't even care if you follow the "burger" format. As long as your thesis and argument are apparent, the rest of the format doesn't matter at all, apart from citation.
Proper citations and main thesis arguments are the only critical part of essays.
I shit essays.
"But getting the actual words on the page felt like I was pulling at Clay Aiken. They just did not want to come out, but felt great once they did."HAHAHA. I see what you did there.
"I plot as I go. Many novelists write an outline that has almost as many pages as their ultimate book. Others knock out a brief synopsis….Do what is comfortable. If you have to plot out every move your characters make, so be it. Just make sure there is a plausible purpose behind their machinations. A good reader can smell a phony plot a block away." -Clive Cussler
I'm enjoying these tips from the two of you. Good advice all around.
When I'm writing my English essays I need some sort of outline because I have specific quotations in mind that I would be using.
David Foster Wallace, Chuck Klosterman, John Seabrook, and Nick Hornby are good reads when it comes to essaying.
David Foster Wallace especially. I've found his essays are a billion times better than his fiction.
Also, writing fiction and writing an essay are two different forms. The process behind both differs. Especially if it's academic in nature.
Kavi, pulling out the claws now are we? I'll ask my philosophy Professor about this outline dilemma. I did just get an A+ on my essay in her class...
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