Having a stake in it. That is how he puts it. You have to actually care about the subject you are writing about. Otherwise it ends up flat and boring. If you don’t care, why should your readers? This has happened to me a lot. The essays I completely hate writing, (and finish as fast as possible to get them over with), usually aren’t that good. In fact they are terrible. At least to me, and probably to other people too. I don’t like them, I don’t really care about them, and I expect to get a bad grade on it anyways. But the essays I’m passionate about? I get excited, enjoy myself, and even spend extra time on them. And I am proud of my work! That is really important, when I do my best, even if I didn’t get as good of a grade, or there are things I can improve, I know that I worked at it. And that’s worth it. I think that is what makes the difference. The emotion just has to be there, just like Trimble says, even if it’s a subject you hate. At least you care about your writing. There is an example of a scathing review that he cites as very emotion-filled, passionate writing. The author hated the movie, but she cared. I also liked how
Trimble suggested to find a “new take on an old subject” if you aren’t excited about it. Just finding some way to be engaged in the paper makes it better.
There were a lot of good suggestions of how to write in this article. I liked the idea of just jotting things down and free writing. The author describes writing blocks as self-criticism getting in the way. I agree with that to some extent. I do think there are times when it just feels like nothing you write is good, which is where the self-criticism comes in. But there are also times when you just need to take a break, go think about something else for a while, until the frustration wears off. The advice about letting go of the self-criticism for the first draft is valid. There is something about just writing whatever comes to your head that is therapeutic. I think that’s why I like to have a journal. There is always time to come back and revise. I am one of those perfectionists who likes to revise every sentence. But it is nice to just get the ideas down, and then go back and correct later—it cuts down on the stress level. I also like the idea of “stockpiling data.” I find that this really helps my writing. If I look up things and write down what comes to mind, when I actually sit down to write the paper it is much easier to start.
My favorite part about this article was the very beginning, the section about how everyone has their own unique style. I definitely agree with that. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to write, just however it works for you. For example I hate outlines. Let me correct that, I hate outlines for papers that aren’t a research paper. Research papers are an exception in my opinion, because they are so long and involved that there is no way I could even start one without planning it first. For other papers though, I would rather just sit down, write, and then come back and revise. I always hated it in school where we had to turn in our rough drafts. I always felt they were horrible and should never see the light of day. I’d rather just correct as I go and end up with a good finished product. And there’s nothing wrong with that as long as it works. To each his (or her) own.
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I appreciated this article on "Getting Launched," because sometimes I feel that a lot of my writing endeavors initially are about as successful as the Challenger space shuttle--flying for approximately 75 seconds and then crashing and burning. It's true that the best papers are the ones you're invested in; I've written some dry prose in my time. I think back to a time in my senior year when I was having a really hard time and everything descended on me at once. In tears, I sat down at the computer and just wrote, pouring all my frustration and pent-up emotions onto the page. Reading that entry, I consider it some of my best writing--my feelings are crystallized clearly in word form. Not that a highly emotional state is necessary for good writing--it just helps to have strong feelings about the subject. Too often I rush through a paper, having to settle for "good enough"--I don't spend enough time on the writing process, drafting, revising, and so on. That's my goal this semester; to thoroughly work through my papers like never before, producing something I'm truly proud of.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the ideas presented in this article. I believe that you must be passionate with the subjects you write about. I have often completely boring and dull essays only because I had to for a grade. But I have noticed that the essays with an open subject or a subject that I am passionate are much better. It is these essays when I realize how much I love to write and how easily it is to convey my experiences, my thoughts, and my emotions through writing. It is amazing how much easier it is to write when you love what you are writing about.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Getting Launched” I really like a technique that the author suggested and have since employed it while writing my research paper. He suggests that you write your notes on 4x6 pieces of paper. Each subject has its own card. This has really helped me organize my paper and I plan to use this technique on future papers.
Wow. Trimble includes some really amazing ideas about writing in his article, and they’re organized so well it really makes sense. I also love how Trimble includes his own personality into the writing. He truly follows his own advice, and I can tell that he truly cares about his topic. I really liked the section where Trimble includes quotations from notable writers. As an amateur writer, I sometimes feel that my writing needs to be perfect the very first time, that it should be easy and natural to write. Trimble reminds the readers through these quotations that all writers struggle at some point in the writing process. It allows the reader to relate to what Trimble is writing about.
ReplyDeleteI also really loved the quote that Trimble uses from Betty Sue Flowers about the madman. It’s so true and hits writing right on the mark. There is a madman, an architect, an engineer, and a janitor. Flowers says that too often do writers skip the madman and want to go directly to the janitor. According to Flowers and Trimble, writers need to accept and even embrace the madman within themselves. I know, personally for me, that I do that same exact thing. It’s kind of scary to embrace the madman, but Trimble emphasizes that only then, only when you include all these steps, will your writing be successful.
Since I would like to eventually be a fiction novelist, writing research papers is kind of a struggle for me. It's a totally different style of writing from my preferred style of writing. I have to agree with what Trimble said about writing. It's definitely better to write about something you are passionate about. It makes it so much easier to write it without putting yourself to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThis article had a lot of cool tips that I am definitely going to use in the future. It will make writing a paper so much easier. I really like the suggestions he gave for how to do all the prewriting. Sometimes I kind of rush that part. I really like the suggestion about asking questions about the topic and then making notecards and organizing that by question. That will definitely help me when I research in the future. This article had a lot of really amazing ideas for ways to make the process of writing a paper much easier.
I really enjoyed Trimble’s insights on writing a paper. Although it had never before occurred to me, I now realize that you definitely have to care about the subject you are writing your paper on in order to write an interesting and cohesive paper. If you do not care, you will rush the job and not bother to create a quality paper, in order to finish the paper as quickly as possible. I also appreciated the idea of a free write. I never before realized how important it is to write down all your thoughts without censoring yourself. I also never realized how beneficial this could be for your paper, in terms of giving you more ideas and areas where you need more knowledge. I will definitely use Trimble’s advice in my future papers.
ReplyDeleteCaring about the subject is key. I agree 100 %!! In fact, I just changed my topic for the research paper because I wanted to do something I was more interested in. I wanted to do something that I could use in my daily life and have a desire to learn about.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I write about things that really don't interest me, it always ends up bad. This is because I never have any good ideas that can really make my paper flow. It is always choppy and incoherent.
I also think another way to make it so my writing flows better is to just write things down without caring how or what it looks and sounds like. Brian storming without censoring. This advice given by Trimble is awesome!! I have found as I have practiced this recently, that I have many more ideas (that work well together, might I add) that I can include in my paper. It is great, and there was some really good advice given in this article.
The best advice I found in this article was number three, to “stockpile data”. The author suggests that by knowing only that facts that you’ll want to include, you’ll have an information deficiency when you start to compose your paper. What you’ll need an entire arsenal of that information. I’ve found that when I sit down to write a paper with only just enough information, none of which I’ve mentally organized, I run into a solid writer’s block. When I’ve thoroughly researched a subject, my inhibitions disappear. The best way, in my opinion, to avoid choppy, incoherent sentences is to know what you want to say ahead of time. Stockpiling data is one way to do that.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting that you say that about assignments you like and ones you don’t like, because now that I think about it, the papers I haven’t liked have been written badly and vice versa. And here I was thinking I was getting away with it.
ReplyDeleteI think the part about taking your feelings into account was my favorite, because I’ve never heard that before, but it makes a ton of sense. If you are feeling upset, how are you supposed to suddenly be happy about the topic? So I’m all excited about this and am thinking I am principled and will never write something I don’t care about again, and then I read about how I’m supposed to create a stake in the topic. That is some of the best advice I’ve received about reading. I have to get involved or it will forever be awful.
Trimble's the bomb, by the way. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
I agree that one must feel passionate about the subject he or she is writing about. I have definately noticed this during this semester. Take something that I don't feel very passionate about, say Honors 150 papers, and watch just how fast I write those. Actually, it's how fast I don't write them. When something is assigned, and I have no interest in it whatsoever, either it does not get done, or it does and isn't very pretty at all. On the other hand, I can crank out a beautiful editorial about politics or LDS topics in no time flat. I think the reason behind this is that I am very logical, and see things in a very logical sense. When I am trying to persuade others, I am very comfortable with, and can almost always win an argument using logic. Writing a paper using logic to communicate information is almost second nature to me. It's like hopping in my car and taking off down the interstate. On the other hand, writing a paper that does not have any logicical reasoning in it is like borrowing someones old truck and trying to figure out how to best drive it. I write best when it is in a style I am comfortable with, and a topic that I am passionate about.
ReplyDeleteThis is true, this is completely true! I hate it when people slam what someone else writes because everyone has their own individual style of writing. Being an aspiring author, I look to published novels for guidance, but I always go back to the same thing - my own individual style. It's unavoidable and perfectly alright.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the suggestion of just free-writing. There's no better way to spark the brain than to just sit down and write whatever comes to mind. Soon you're spitting out words and you have no idea where they came from and you look back at the page later and, woah! There are some pretty good ideas in there!
But this could just be my love for the written word. I don't know.
Trimble's article was really interesting. I enjoyed the opening paragraph when he talked about the different styles of writing a paper. I am totally a "bleeder." I slave over every sentence as I go and am never very satisfied with the results. It's good to know that others are "bleeders" too.
ReplyDeleteA zero draft is a such a good idea. It allows you to get all the crap out of your brain so you can focus on what you're actually writing about. I'm going to try this every time I write. It sounds like it gets you super pumped and ready to tackle your paper.