HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVELY #3 - Perfect is the enemy of the good.

 

 

Many students struggle to start writing because they can’t make what they want to say in their head perfect on paper, especially the thesis statement. This is another big cause of the dreaded blank screen struggle.

First, it doesn’t have to be perfect when you write it down, because you’re going to edit and proofread your own work. And then your instructor, tutor, and/or possibly fellow students are going to give you feedback. 

Second, if the thesis statement is really an obstacle, have a general idea of what you’re saying and start with your arguments first. There’s a good chance that by the second or third point, what you want to say as a thesis statement will have jelled and you will be able to write it down or go back and clean up your first idea. 

Third, there’s no such thing as perfect, and if you spend three hours fixating and trying to turn what was a really good thesis or paper into something you think is “perfect,” you will mostly just have wasted a lot of time. So, focus on what you think is “good” or even “great,” but try to leave perfectionism behind.

An addendum to this thought – longer isn’t better. More words don’t make your argument stronger, they just create more work for your instructor. Keeping within the page-length requirement (not too long, not too short), means that you are answering the prompt fully but also respecting your instructor’s time AND learning to be precise with your language. (Unlike Ms. Nan, who tends to be a little wordy.)

So just...start. Sometimes all you can do is sit down, set your timer for half an hour, and start writing. Fair warning, you might feel like you are just barfing up words. 

But even if you don’t think it makes sense, or sounds stupid, or whatever, putting something down helps get your gears moving. Greases the wheels. You might be amazed at what comes out in just 30 minutes. Try it.

You can always fix what you write, but you can’t fix what isn’t there. 

Until next time,

Ms. Nan

HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVELY #2 - ARE YOU A PLOTTER OR A PANTSER?

How do you plan a long car trip? Do you like to know where you’re staying every night, and every stop you might make along the way, or do you just like to get in the car and drive? In other words, when you write do you like to plan, or do you like to fly by the seat of your pants?

The truth is, you might want to be a pantser (and you might learn to be later), but right now it is likely best if you try the plotter method. It is too easy at this stage to just start writing about something, accidentally take a sharp left turn, and end up nowhere near where you want to be. So try making a plan, otherwise known as an outline.

(I had a student years ago who liked to pants it when he wrote. If the prompt said “describe the Death Star” he would start, meander, spin around twice, and end up writing about an X-Wing Fighter. It was not effective, and he learned how to do better.)

How detailed you want to be is up to you, but the more details you can add, the more writing your journal or essay becomes a matter of connecting the dots. At the very least, your outline should include: your general thesis, your supporting arguments (including the citations you plan to use), and any original ideas you have for the conclusion.

It may feel like outlining is a waste of time, but in reality, getting lost is the waste of time. Doubling back, ending up at a dead end, and going in circles can take hours. So if you are trying to be a good writer AND effective with your time, this is one of the first strategies you should try.

Bonus outlining tip: Try color! 

My daughter liked to color-code her outline; each argument had its own color – say green – and every point within that argument would be a different shade of green (jade, turquoise, lime, etc.) This works well if you are an extremely visual person, and/or if you are writing something longer, like a multi-page essay, where you have more than one point to make for each specific argument. It’s not for everyone, but if your brain gets happy at the thought, give it a try.

Until next time,

Ms. Nan

THE ART OF WRITING EFFECTIVELY – COOKING UP THE BEST IDEAS

Many of you know that part of my job here at ATYP involves working one-on-one with students who need assistance with executive functioning, be it time management, organization, or planning and prioritizing. Historically, the biggest problem facing students has been time management. ATYP homework being lengthy, plus students with a number of extracurricular activities, could equal situations where figuring out how to fit in all your homework took some practice. But usually, we could determine a system that worked.

Post-pandemic, student issues seem to be shifting, especially for English students. The jump, for students who have not had to produce a lot of writing in school, is higher. The gap, between what was expected at school and what ATYP expects, is greater.

How do we bridge that gap so students can produce quality work in a reasonable amount of time?

I will be posting a series of blog posts with a number of tips, suggestions, and ideas drawn from my experience as an ATYP English parent, from ATYP alumni, from professional writers, and from my own experience as an English major in college and a sometime writer now. As I always tell students, try one or two new techniques every week, then keep what works, throw out what doesn’t, and then try something else. Don’t stop trying – you never know what might make the difference for you.

I know that many of you are going to read some of these tips and think, “Oh my gosh, that’s just more work.” And it might seem like it at first, but when you string them together you will hopefully find that they do in fact save you time because the time you spend in front of your computer or with a pen in your hand will be more effective.

1.     Give your ideas time to marinate. Or rise. I don’t know about you, but I am not very good about getting a topic and being able to sit down and write about it immediately. My brain needs time to stew things over. Many other writers work this way, which is why we take three years to prepare you for the AP exams, which require you to do just that: read a prompt, decide how to answer it, and write your response in 30-45 minutes. That is not a skill most 7^th or 8^th graders have.

So, when you get home, the evening after you have class, read over your ENTIRE homework sheet carefully, including the prompts for any journals or essays. Maybe write down the prompt in your own words to make sure you understand it. If you’re not 100% sure what it asks, don’t worry about it quite yet. The whole idea of this exercise is to give your brain time to think.

Now your brain can use the time when you’re doing other things – playing basketball, riding the school bus, eating a snack – to ruminate about the prompts and how you might want to approach them. Professional writers guess that up to 80% of what they write has been coming together in their head before they pick up a pen or touch a single key. If you’ve been spending a lot of time sitting in front of a blank screen, waiting for an idea to come to you, this strategy can be a lot of help.

It's like baking a loaf of bread. You’re going to read the recipe (your prompt), you’re going to mix together the ingredients (think about some ways you might want to answer that prompt, including quotes or citations that were meaningful to you), and then you’re going to let that dough rise. Let it really come together. If ideas come to you, be sure to jot them down so you don’t forget. Now you can put it all in the pan (write up the ideas that came to you) and see how you do.

2.     What to do if you can’t figure out the recipe. If you’ve had the homework sheet for 48 hours and still are not sure how what a prompt is asking, this is the time to ask the instructor, a tutor, or another student in your class about the prompt. Many times a five minute email or text can save you hours of stress and anxiety. The key is to not wait until the last day to know that you don’t know.

Give these a try! Be sure to say in the comments what works for you!

Until next time,

Ms. Nan

P.S. Many of the ideas here come from authors all over the world interviewed by host Dan Simpson on the podcast Writer’s Routine. You can find out more at https://writersroutinedotcom.wordpress.com/about/