Quick HW assignment

Click the link and read the (short) article. Then come back here and give me your reactions. Leave at least one comment below, and if someone says something you want to respond to, feel free.

  • Does this look anything like your method? 
  • Does anything sound familiar? 
  • Do you agree/disagree with it? 
  • Could you steal something from this? 
  • What would you use, what would you skip?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

After reading this article, one thing I thought that I would skip when writing my essay would be to not take a break after I found all of my information and either take notes when I write or start my essay right then and there. Then, I would not forget any of the information I may of needed to remember from the research for my essay. But, I feel this is a similar method to mine and a lot of this process sounds very familiar such as taking advice from editor and rewriting certain parts to make sure it sounds like "you".

Anonymous said...

I may steal the out loud reading tactic so my essays flow better. I also use a similar tactic to word vomiting, but instead I idea vomit, and form the jumbles of ideas into a paper, but I may change this habit since it does not have a 100% success rate

steve p brad said...

"Not Harry" it isn't the idea vomit that you need to scrap, it is that you need to add in the "rewrite 1,2,3,4 times" part.

Jen Piekarz said...

From this article, I might use the step of writing all of my ideas and thoughts about the topic at once. Usually, when I write an essay, I think of ideas to include but forget to incorporate them in my paper later on. The tactic described would make my essays stronger and more interesting. A step explained that I already use is the one about reading it aloud to make sure it sounds like yourself. I always do this because I find it easy to get caught up in the editing part of things and lose my own voice in my papers.

steve p brad said...

Jen- I'll rewrite something forever, but reading my stuff out loud is something I always say I'll do, but never manage to. Good for you!

Andrew said...

For my normal school essays, I tend to follow a more rigid style of: collect ideas, "vomit words" and then reorganize. Then I clean it up a little bit more and BOOM! a peer-edit draft has appeared. After, I take the peer-edits and alter/clean up my essay and BOOM! final draft.

For blog posts, I follow the tactic of vomiting words, checking if it slightly flows or makes sense, and then I post it. Also, if post something, I'll normally post or start some other ideas.

Overall, the process is slightly similar to mine, but a bit more complex and extended.

Similarities:
- Vomiting words
- Burst writing

Disagreements:
- Starting in the early AM's ... http://territrespicio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SweetBrown.jpg

Methods to Steal:
- Maybe reading out loud? <-- I normally do this in my head
- Rewriting more

steve p brad said...

Gao- I forgot you had a blog. I liked a few of your posts earlier this year. I'll have check it out again.

Unknown said...

I also read my essays out loud, however I often struggle with finding my voice and making it distinct. Also similar to your process, I write my ideas all at once but I rarely rewrite after that (other than structures, etc.) because I tend to fine-tune sentences in my head before I type anything, thus preventing the "word vomit".

Anonymous said...

While reading the article, I observed similarities between my steps for writing an essay and the author's. Like him/her, I write in an unorganized manner. I immediately start my rough draft, keeping it rudimentary but I also attempt to improve my essay through searching synonyms for basic words. Depending on how satisfied I am with the rough draft, I sometimes edit my essay entirely or simply revise the items we are obliged to (such as passive voice, gaping, and LV/ADV). Most of the time, I find myself improving all areas of my draft. Therefore, in some ways, my steps of writing is synonymous to the author's.

I will certainly consider reading aloud my essay in the future, it will allow myself to decide whether my paper is at the point where I want it to be. In fact, I should probably be doing that right now with the debate essay.

Unknown said...

This article, with the exception of writing multiple pieces at the same time, is exactly how I go through the writing process. I always "vomit" a disgustingly bad first draft. Then I begin the edit process. I edit it for everything (content, word choice, organization), and do that multiple times, repeating the process until I am satisfied with the final draft.

I agree with the author's writing process, as it first gets the ideas onto the paper, then moves them around and rewords them into a better piece of writing. Having another set of eyes to look over a paper is imperative, as they may have a different view of the same writing, and see mistakes that were glossed over.

The only thing I would not do that the author did would be waking up early in the morning to rewrite it, as I would be too groggy to think straight.

Unknown said...

Also, reading out loud is something I will need to do.

Rachel Baltas said...

From reading this article I realized the method of reading it out loud to myself would help improve my writing tremendously and would be an amazing method to adapt. A lot of my writing can be confusing at times because when writing a paper I throw out all my ideas and notes onto the paper and parts come out not as hoped. When I read my essay aloud to myself it will make me realize the mistakes more clearly because sometimes when I am just skimming through the essay I will miss confusing sections but when I read it out loud, it will immediately sound off and I will know I need to change it. Having two different senses searching for mistakes can make you more aware and improve my essay. Also I think by rewriting more times my essay would improve in every rewrite and that is one thing I will defiantly attempt to adapt.

Michael Wu said...

I feel like I never actually read my essay and writings out. It seems that it just never came to me. The closest thing I get to is just mumbling but thats it. For the majority of the time I rely on a editor to actually catch my mistakes or even strengthen my essay. Reading this article has shined light on me. I could be just as useful as my editor if I just read out loud, this allows my mind to think clearly.

Anonymous said...

I prefer writing around two drafts. Usually, I try to spread out my workDuring the the time given. I usually reread my work multiple times. Something I could work on is not getting distracted during my work. More specifically, I should try to stop working on both my essay and my math homework.

Matt Walker said...

This writing style is completely different from mine. I don't think I'd really use any of it except for two things. I would "vomit" words on the page and read it out loud to make sure it sounds right but I would definitely not re-write it about 30 times and depending if I liked it or not then scrap it.

Anonymous said...

Also, I think about my essay throughout the day, and hopefully, maybe, a brilliant idea comes to mind.