Staving Off Laziness In Academic Writing: A Four-Part Rehab Program

Pure, plain, and inexcusable laziness is undoubtedly among the greatest challenges that I face as an academic writer. I love writing witty little poems, or profound commentary, but when it comes to writing an academic paper with research and sources and deliberation, I find an unnecessary burden. Unnecessary, because my primary obstacle is laziness. This laziness is closely linked with the intimidation that I feel when reading over an essay prompt for the first time. Of course, my perennial procrastination compounds this effect of feeling that I am not able to devote enough time and effort to an academic paper, and the rest, as they say, is history. As much as the Writing Center would like to encourage people to bring in any writing, be it fiction, nonfiction, or a scribbled itinerary for some obscure purpose, chances are that most students will be visiting for help on academic papers. This is the stuff that many don’t want to do, which of course means that it’s the stuff that makes you seem famous and intelligent. At any rate, what follows is a list of combating laziness and apathy when it comes to personal writing. Here are my personal tips, and believe me, I’m going to need to use them, myself; I have a thesis due at the end of the semester, and it’s kind of a big deal.

1.     Start writing. There’s a very good essay by Anne Lamott called “Shitty First Drafts,” which expounds upon the cathartic experience of writing, well, shitty first drafts. Say that: A.) you have a thesis, or B.) you are writing an exploratory essay and don’t need a thesis yet, or C.) you have no idea what the hell you’re writing, Just get words onto paper. It doesn’t matter how bad they are, which is a good thing, because they will be bad. Mine are bad. Everyone’s are bad. But "It’s the job that's never started as takes longest to finish, as my gaffer used to say,” said Sam Gamgee. To paraphrase another geeky pop culture character, "Do. There is no do not."

2.     Once more unto the databases, dear friends! Look for sources. Complete an extensive search of surrounding systems. Do not give up until you have found enough scholarly and popular information to fill a few tomes. You don’t have to use it all, nor read it all in full, but if you can avoid piling research near a project’s deadline, you will be doing yourself a favor. This might seem obvious: don’t procrastinate, but instead it is about having the willpower to start writing, to start searching, etc.

3.     Once more unto the beach, dear friends! Relax, everyone! Another way of saying this, other than paraphrasing Henry V for the second time in a row would be that old expression, “Work hard, play hard.” Not necessarily a chronological next step after research, devoting time to leisure is a necessary respite from the difficulties of the project. The only problem is that relaxation can be addictive, and you need to make sure that you return to the task at hand. Which brings me to my next point…

4.     Putting it all together Synthesis, which is my unofficial term for the coherent compilation and combination of research and one’s own opinion, is possibly the most difficult part of writing an essay. It’s not as though this is the absolute last stage of journey; writing is, of course, always an ongoing process. At the same time, this is the time when laziness is the most devious in its effort to infiltrate one’s consciousness. The best way to stave it off, for me, is to take pride in my work and find personal meaning and worth in each assignment. Once you actually have a connection to your writing, you will find that it isn’t just you giving up a weekend to write about something. Instead you are going to be enjoying what you are doing and making your time, and your writing, far more meaningful.

--Peter the Blogcrafter

Writing Contest!

“And the sound was coming from the basement.”

Yes!  It’s that time again!  Welcome back to Roosevelt University’s Writing Center’s semiannual writing contest.  The season: Halloweeeeeen [read in spooky voice]!  The theme: we decided (well, actually, Hillary decided, brilliantly, and then we all voted on it) that you can pick the the theme.  All you have to do is incorporate the blood-red, bolded sentence above as the closing of your story.  It can be fiction, poetry, or even--but hopefully not--a true story!  The rules are yours, as long as you pay heed to the ominous portent stated above.  Last spring we had a rather meager number of submissions.  This is supposed to be fun, people!  Write for a chance to win an amazing gift card, and if you don’t win, you will probably have just as much fun becoming a better and more creative writer (and eating pizza at our party).  In addition, for the first and last time ever, there will be free The Lord of the Rings Pez dispensers for the first eight entrants. Would you rather have Gimli than Gollum?  Then enter soon, but take heed that haste does not inhibit your storytelling craft.  This is it, people!  I, for one, am psyched!  I might even have to enter, myself!

Bloodchillingly yours,

Peter

Bad thoughts

There’s not a wrong thought in the Writing Center.  You may disagree.  You may only want people to see things your way.  Let’s be honest; we all want that.  But the fact is that not everyone is going to agree all the time, even at a “social justice institution.”  A feminist, an anarchist, and libertarian walk into a bar.  They wonder why they start fighting.  “We all want equality,” says the feminist.  “Equality as law is reprehensible, and I won’t have it,” says the anarchist.  “You can both have whatever you want,” says the libertarian, “but as for me, I’m going to have another drink.”  We’ve all heard this one before (or not), and we know it won’t end well.  

In our lack of agreement, we begin to realize that the other side helps us either to see more clearly the flaws in our convictions, or else to strengthen our initial beliefs.  Not many people are afraid of sharing ideas (at least I hope not), but I think some people are afraid of being “corrected” by the powers that be.  Honestly, though, we’re not powers, we’re students.  Hopefully we’re diligent and thoughtful students, but we don’t have the right or intent to down-vote your opinions.  From a purely selfish standpoint, we want to be inspired, provoked, and intellectually challenged.  Rather more altruistically, we want you to be able to express what you’re believing in the STRONGEST WAY POSSIBLE.  There’s nothing worse than a good idea imprecisely expressed, or we’ll be like:

 

Remember: Keeping an audience is just as important as gaining one!

Welcome back!

Welcome back for a new semester!  It’s been a fairly quiet year on the blog the Roosevelt University Writing Center, but we’ll try to keep the posts coming frequently and insightfully from here on out.  The Writing Center opened for student tutoring on Tuesday, September 8, but you knew that from the notice on our door.  Time for something more interesting!  You may have heard several times about why you should visit the Writing Center, but do you really believe it?  If you do, likely you have been here at least once, whether for extra credit for English 102, or for fine-tuning a speech to present at a symposium.  Or perhaps there was that impending final research paper gnawing at your peace of mind, or maybe you just wanted advice on a short story you’ve been writing for potential future use.  Whatever your purpose, we’re here to help.  Okay, that wasn’t so interesting, either.  It’s true, important, and holds the potential to great future fun and success, but nobody likes a pedagogue, which is not our intent in tutoring sessions or on the blog.  Nope.  You know what will be really interesting?  Your writing.

That’s write--(sorry, couldn’t resist)--your paper will be better if you come here.  This is a big claim to make, so let us append some fine print, which would be advantageous to read:

Even if you have the best paper in the world, which is subjectively quite possible, it will still be better for visiting the Writing Center.  We can’t guarantee you an A, it’s true.  We also are not infallible; we are not Gods, and we do our best not to pass judgment on papers.

What we can promise you is a dialogue.  You may totally disagree with us, and that’s fine.  But hopefully we won’t give you any outright statement of opinionated rubbish with which to disagree!  Regardless, this dialogue is like any other conversation; you will learn many things, whether because of a tutor’s advice or in spite of it.  In other words, you may gain keen, self-discovered inspiration based on a tutor’s comments--and wouldn’t that be just lovely?  On the other hand, our criticism (the nice kind) might lead to a strengthening conviction that you were right all along.  And that, my friends, is what the Writing Center is (somewhat) all about.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Back in business (in two hours!)

"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!"  Oh, wait, wrong reality.

Well, folks, the Roosevelt University Writing Center Blog is active once again, and nary* a moment too soon, for we open at 9 AM today, Tuesday, September 8, 2015!  So bring your friends, bring your writing, and bring your eagerness to think creatively, as a great, new semester of writing commences!

Note that our hours have changed since last semester; they are now:

Monday: 9 AM-2 PM
Tuesday: 9 AM-2 PM
Wednesday: 11 AM-4 PM
Thursday: 11 AM-4 PM

See you soon!

*We can't really recommend that you use the word "nary" in your essays.  It does have a nice, informal ring to it, though...

--The Writing Center Tutors