Don't Just Write a Paper, Take a Trip
Have you ever asked this question before: Do I really need
to take the time and go through a writing process to achieve a good quality
paper? This is a question most people
who have written an academic paper have asked themselves at some point in time,
especially during tight deadlines and time constraints. I confess, I have.
The answer is yes. You do have to go through a writing
process to achieve quality writing. However, it does not have to be just any
process. Producing good quality writing most often involves some type of pre-writing, outlining, drafting, and
revision, which can all add up to be a lot. However, instead of the writing process being an extra series of tasks or chores to trudge through (sometimes
begrudgingly), I suggest you look at your process in a new way and try something different to make it work
for you. Try this. Each time you start a new piece of scholarly
writing that involves research, imagine your writing process like taking a
trip, the trip of a lifetime, complete with a satisfying narrative.
Beginning –The
Pre-writing
I encourage you to begin your writing process, as you would
your travels, with keen analysis. From your experience as both a traveler and a
researcher, you will gain useful information and you will find flaws in your
information. When you travel, you may encounter the hotel brochure’s
description of your quaint charming accommodations was just an act to
masquerade that your room is nothing more than a mop closet with a doll sized
bed. In turn, as you do your research you may find that one of your sources produced a
thorough analysis of the season of winter, spring, and fall, but for some reason
left out summer. You make a decision to look to a different research source or
to look into reasons as to why the author of this source may have done left out summer. Your
individual take on your own experience with the information you acquire on your
topic is the value of your paper. Your readers want to gain your perspective:
the pros, the cons, your response to them, and your stance on your experience
(your trip) and what you make of it all.
Middle – The
Outline
From there, you must decide how you will document your
journey –the process of transcribing your thoughts into words. The thing is –
is that thinking is not a linear process, and molding and shaping thoughts from
the brain into linear formats like paragraphs and essays involves
transformation. Thus, the very nature of the writing process itself helps
connect writers to a linear path. This linear path is your outline, often
referred to as a road map that illustrates how you want your readers to get
from Point A to Point B and so on.
Because the writing
process is cyclical, meaning you do
not have to follow a specific chronological writing process order, like: pre-writing first, then outlining, next
drafting/composing, and last revision, you can go out of order and shape the
way you write just like when you travel and decide how would reach your
destination. You are free to orchestrate
it however you would like. If you prefer to take the train to a café and then
bike out to the coast, do it. Or, if you prefer to take the train the whole way
to the coast, you can make that choice. You can decide because it’s your trip. Similarly,
if you want to free-write then create a draft, or if you want to create a
draft, revise, and then brainstorm, it’s up to you to decide. It’s your paper. Navigate
your thinking process like you navigate a trip, choose what is the easiest and
most enjoyable for you.
End –The Product
The climax of the writing process is when the writer discovers what her thesis or the purpose statement will be and sees the
subtopics that will further support and prove the thesis to be true. This
revelation presents the ah-ha moment, for the writer now has solved the problem
of what to write about regarding the topic at hand and knows the one main
point, the overall stance she will take on her topic. This is the moment when
the whole paper often comes together and falls into place – so to speak and the
outline, the road map, the plan is realized. For example, I may conclude my
tropical vacation presented island life as a series of marketing
disappointments among a back drop of serene natural environments. In regards
to my research topic, I may determine that the Midwestern climate presents four
distinct seasons that parallel human states of being. In both cases I have
reached a final main point based on my interpretation of my topic.
And it’s all downhill from here. When you engage in your
writing process, you really can partake in a narrative trip to a new
destination and discover your topic in a new and rejuvenating way. I highly encourage you to do so! Throw
yourself into new territory, and be a traveler in your own narrative writing
process from the beginning all the way to the end.
Christina Lundburg is a writing instructor in the Walden University Writing Center and is driven by the desire to grow, shape, and develop a page to reach its highest potential. When she is not immersed in student papers, she enjoys dance classes, coffee shopes, and time with her husband and son.
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Thursday Thoughts: myPass Primer Tonight!
Are you curious to learn more about the 1-on-1 paper review services that the Walden University Writing Center offers? Would you like to know more about the kind of feedback you might receive when you submit your paper to one of our professional writing instructors? Has your instructor suggested you seek out additional writing instruction to help you develop your skills as an academic writer? You're in luck!
What: A primer event explaining the process of making a paper review appointment
When: Tonight, February 25th at 8:00-8:30 pm est
Why: To learn how to make a paper review appointment so you can work with a professional writing instructor to improve your academic writing
Who: All undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral students writing their coursework
Where: A fully online, live webinar (Register Here)
Tonight, we are hosting a live event illustrating the steps for accessing myPass, the Writing Center's scheduling service, and making an appointment to work with a professional writing instructor. During this primer, there will be an experienced Writing Center staff member on hand to answer your questions about the process and help you make your first appointment.
Register for this event on our Registration Page
What: A primer event explaining the process of making a paper review appointment
When: Tonight, February 25th at 8:00-8:30 pm est
Why: To learn how to make a paper review appointment so you can work with a professional writing instructor to improve your academic writing
Who: All undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral students writing their coursework
Where: A fully online, live webinar (Register Here)
Tonight, we are hosting a live event illustrating the steps for accessing myPass, the Writing Center's scheduling service, and making an appointment to work with a professional writing instructor. During this primer, there will be an experienced Writing Center staff member on hand to answer your questions about the process and help you make your first appointment.
Register for this event on our Registration Page
Take the Time to Write: On Completing a Dissertation with Sustained, Regular Effort
Writing a capstone study can be daunting. Finishing my dissertation was
a hugely overwhelming and often anguishing experience– mentally and emotionally
as well as physically—and I often thought of quitting along the way. I know that
I’m not alone. Here, I want to share a tip that helped me to overcome my
insecurities and despair and eventually finish my dissertation. My tip: Create
a regular writing schedule and stick to it.
Staff Spotlight: Get to Know AWA Cherri Brown
The WritingCenter’s AWAs (Administrative Writing Assistants) are Walden students with a mission and a desire to help others. When you email the Writing Center, chances are you'll be communicating directly with an AWA. This group assists fellow students with APA and writing questions, and seeks to bring about social change in their own communities and fields of study. From time to time on the blog, we will be spotlighting some of our very own Walden student AWAs to share the great work they're doing in the Writing Center and Beyond.
An
entrepreneur, visionary, and teacher, AWA Cherri Brown clearly lives with a
desire to live passionately and help others. She began her professional life
working for the original Pan Am, which allowed her to visit at least 80 nations
and develop relationships (which continue today) with people all over the world.
When she later moved to Puerto Rico with her husband and family, she opened a
catering and event planning business. She also wrote as a food editor for
Scripps-Howard, performed a weekly CBS radio broadcast, taught at the island's
only cook school, and “played with food” on television cook shows.
When life
brought Cherri, her husband, and her children back to the United States and
hurricane damage forced her business to close, Cherri was determined to pursue
her dream of teaching. After divinity school, a program as a full-time student (living
in a dorm and only visiting family on summers and holidays), and then a move to
a program back home, Cherri completed her MBA. She later enrolled as a Walden
student. She is currently teaching Introduction to Psychology as an adjunct
professor for Andrew College and working on the final stages of her
dissertation.
We asked
Cherri to share a few tidbits about herself, her tips for students reaching out
the Writing Center, and her plans for after graduation. Here are her
responses:
Walden University Writing Center: What are your interests
and hobbies?
Cherri Brown: Making water color paints from stuff around the property (flowers, red clay dirt, plants, tree bark, tree sap, just stuff), then painting (acrylic and oils, coffee and tea, mustard, ground peppers, all sorts of things); making some furniture from some of the trees that uprooted in a storm a few years back. I write, I read, I write s'more; I record printed materials for others; photography (my Nikon is not functioning, it's old, and the newer model is horrid, Nikon refuses to service or even talk about my D70); grow and preserve more foods. I love creating new dishes because that's the caterer in me (probably why I paint with food).
Cherri Brown: Making water color paints from stuff around the property (flowers, red clay dirt, plants, tree bark, tree sap, just stuff), then painting (acrylic and oils, coffee and tea, mustard, ground peppers, all sorts of things); making some furniture from some of the trees that uprooted in a storm a few years back. I write, I read, I write s'more; I record printed materials for others; photography (my Nikon is not functioning, it's old, and the newer model is horrid, Nikon refuses to service or even talk about my D70); grow and preserve more foods. I love creating new dishes because that's the caterer in me (probably why I paint with food).
WUWC: What was your program of study here at Walden?
CB: Psychology, Education
WUWC: What
drew you to want to study at Walden?
CB: Researched the online education offerings. I wanted just a click away, to stay home; one child and her children moved back in. Lots of family love and considerations. Click away was choice. Met with and random called many WU faculty. Checked credibility ratings with friends in big biz, people in high places: Results all positive, so WU it was.
WUWC: You
worked as an Administrative Writing Assistant with the Writing Center for
almost 2 years. What is the one thing students should keep in mind when
emailing the writingsupport@waldenu.edu email with a question?
CB: Consider the e-mail a formal academic writing assignment. Clarity and detail are equally important. We're here to help, that's our only job, so help us help you.
WUWC: What are your plans once you receive your WaldenU degree?
CB: If Democrat President in 2016, then a chat with folks who know folks who introduced me to folks who I met with and asked me to return upon graduation to lend their ears to a pilot program I have for teaching English to non-English speaking immigrants to the U.S. with special attention to Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants.
To
continue writing and publishing about all the background noise, to finish the
book with three co-authors (they have been extremely patient), to buy a new
chair and petrify the one I've been sitting in for too many years as a reminder
of the price of goals and end visions.
To
get folks with “bux” motivated to invest in properties with buildings for
housing homeless female veterans and their children. We are a very dedicated
group of women.
My
friends still vote for me to run for the Senate or House. I think maybe they
just don't understand that social change begins with the little steps when no
one is looking and few know or care about who the changer might be or how the
change was done, but it was, and the changer sleeps well.
Oh,
and after Andrew College, I'd love to teach at WU because it's a good place to
share.Many thanks to Cherri for all her hard work!
Cherri Brown was born in California somewhere between Topanga Canyon and the Santa Monica Hospital. She and her family grow, harvest, and preserve a whole host of foods at home and live in a semirural area. She was a wonderful AWA and she will be missed as she moves on to bigger better things.
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Can You Doodle Your Way to Better Writing?
Can you really doodle your way to better writing?
Perhaps, if you’re a kinesthetic or visual learner. Students are familiar with
their academic interests but often not their learning style strengths and
preferences. Learning style refers to how a student might approach an
assignment to help them focus on and develop the skills necessary for it. Understanding
your learning style preferences can mean the difference between staring at a
blank computer screen for hours and actively engaging in the process of
writing.
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