So, am I the only one feeling lost about drafting these essays? It would be pretty hard to believe I am. I feel like I put down all my best ideas when I wrote the original copy. Adding to it just seems to be scraping nonsense from my brain and spreading it on my paper, almost like pointless peanut butter onto a purposeful slice of bread. That may have been a weird analogy... But anyways, It almost seems to be watering down my essay, making the points seem less intense and pungent. It almost makes me feel like I really had nothing important to say about my subject at all.
And a disclaimer! It's not because of bad workshopping or notes received from classmates on the days we go over essays, because those are helpful. Its coming up with enough content to fill the requirement but still provide a meaningful expression of thought.
The topic of this blog is ridiculously boring, and I'm very sorry. As the semester seems to kick into gear, my brain seems to be kicking out of it. I think its because, like all of you, Im spending all my time and effort writing essays, doing homework, remembering oxford commas, and trying to catch the bus that my brain seems to be deteriorating. For example, this blog and my essay were late because I lost my PC charger. My fault. But it didnt even register because I was reading for another class. I think there just has to be a happy medium, a balance of sorts, in order to keep track of everything and maintain performance in school. I just need to find that balance...
If anyone could help???!
I understand where you are coming from, but i feel like you are stressing out a lot. It is a lot of work but the drafts are important. I fixed my essay so much, and i might even change it completely if I seem to like a certain point iI have made. You have not found what you need to fix or change but you will. For the maintaining a happy medium, you just need to get a schedule and get used to it. You will find that balance, I doubt many of us freshman have yet. So keep trying and good luck.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to manage your time. I also understand how tough doing 4 drafts of the same paper can be pretty boring, but finding new material you can add onto to the draft won't. I went to our teacher and she told me basically to write a whole new story. I realized later I couldn't do that, but she said also if I can't do that just add on pieces from the new essay to the old or vice versa. Right now I am just adding on to the subject that I find interesting which is social media.
ReplyDeleteI understand how you are feeling about your essay. The more I edit and add content to my paper the more boring it seems. I feel like I am dragging out a story that should be said a lot faster. But I honestly believe that it feels that way because we have been reading the same story so much. To someone that has never read our paper or even heard of us the story may seem exciting and very interesting, but we wouldnt know that because of how much we know about the story and ourselves. Even though it seems like we are just adding bull to our story to make it longer I believe that we are actually putting more supporting details in it, we just cant see it yet.
ReplyDeleteAnd about the crazy overwhelming part? I know exactly how you feel. The first week I tried my hardest to stay organized and keep a list of what I had to get done each day but in the end I felt even more jumbled up that I originally did. After that first crazy week I started to see what schedule worked for me and now everything runs a lot smoother. I think you just need to take your time and sit and think about what you have to do before you run out and do it. If you know exactly what you have to do before you do it you can organize your time and get what needs to be done faster so that you have more time to do what you want.
I totally understand where you're coming from. I would just suggest to take on one subject at a time when it comes to homework. Sometimes I feel like my mind is all out of sorts but writing down what I have to do and putting my thoughts on paper seems to really help me stay organized. Don't worry, you'll get in the swing of things soon enough. It's only the third week of school! And when it comes to the drafts, I can see where you're coming from. It's hard to fix your paper three times when you thought the first time was perfect. There's always something you can add to it though even if you do think its scraping nonsense from head!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree when you said it feels like we're just adding a bunch of nonsense fluff to our drafts just to fill in the gap and meet the requirement. When i write my first draft I feel like that is all I'm able to spit out and I can't make anything more of it. The classmates comments do help a bunch, but I can't tell if the content I'm adding is answering their questions correctly and not throwing in a bunch of random gibberish. And as for all of the homework and getting your brain into gear, I understand where you're coming from because I'm still trying to get my head 100% into all of my classes and work time. I'm sure we'll all have it figured out soon enough.
ReplyDeleteI definitely was on the same boat as you when drafting my second essay. I didn’t want to add more words because I felt like it was taking away from my paper. I feel too much explanation can just dull up a writing sometimes. Oh well! As for having all these things going on and sending your essay in late, you were not the only one! I was in Strozier all afternoon/ night on Tuesday and then went back to my dorm and worked on a different paper till 2 in the morning, so I didn’t even look at my agenda book and completely forgot to send my essay! UGH SO FRUSTRATING!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was having trouble adding on to my essay too. I went to the reading and writing lab in the Johnson building and a lady there helped me a lot. I totally understand what you are saying about having a lot on your plate. In college it's hard to balance all of your classes and your social life. I feel like there is always something more fun to do then homework. I often get stressed. Its all about time management.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how you are feeling. I thought my paper was great too but there is always room for improvement. I think that because we are all freshmen we are still learning the ropes of college. For the amount of time we have been here we are doing pretty darn well, in my opinion. I have such a hard time fixing other papers in my group because I know how much time and effort they put into their papers. I think we need to all take the criticism positively because this is a once in a lifetime learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same way. I'm having a hard time making my paper four pages long without filling it up with fluff. I was struggling to add to my second draft. I'm also not sure if what I fixed in my second draft is any better than the first. Also, I'm still trying to find a balance with all my classes. I usually just do things that are going to be due first. However, I think that I have much better time management skills than I did in high school. I've learned to do a little each day except putting it all off till the last minute. This has helped me not be as stressed as I was in high school when I used to pull all-nighters just to get things done. Even though I'm not as stressed I'm still getting used to all the changes. It's only been three weeks of classes and I still don't have a routine that is set in stone.
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ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from but the point of drafting is to make sure your paper is perfect by the time you turn it in. The corrections may be minimal on every revision but it could make the difference between a letter grade. I am very glad we have so many rough drafts and workshops, it really gives us the opportunity to make sure our papers are flawless. I agree with your thoughts on this topic and how you are feeling about this new transition into this new world. We all know where you are coming from. This is a new experience for all of us. Living on our own, being self motivated, not having your parents breathing down your shoulder making sure you are keeping up with your studies. Eventually you will develop a routine and figure out how to balance all this work and the rest of the responsibilities you now have.
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