my writing process

 1. sit down

2. open tiktok, twitter, instagram... no! back to writing!

3. kinda hungry... make food.

4. okay, writing starts NOW.

5. open tiktok, twitter, intstagram...

6. oh my god it's due in two hours!

7. write anything and everything you can to get to word count as coherently as possible.

8. submit.

9. why didn't i do well?!

10. repeat process.

...I'm kidding! ...kind of. I love writing for fun. However, writing is not always something that is used for fun. Most often, I would say, it's not. Writing is academic and isolated, at least while you're in college, it is. I think that the main thing I struggle with in writing is the overwhelming feeling of "this has to be perfect." So much so, I go to extreme lengths to avoid it. This is why I loved the Spandel reading this week. "The Right to Write Badly" is honestly something that everyone should read. Often, people struggle with "writer's block" or the paralyzing fear of writing itself because they are worried that what they do won't be good enough. Spandel emphasizes that it is absolutely ok to write something that isn't good. It's a whole part in the process. They quote Stephen King as saying, "Only God gets it right the first time." Religious or not, I think anyone can appreciate that for what it is. Nothing will be perfect the first time. Write out some ideas, play around with form, experiment with voice. The worst thing that can happen is you don't like it and you change it. I really think that that's the main thing that people need to do to overcome that paralyzing feeling. Just have fun with it!

Some might argue that this comes first, but I think that getting all of your bad ideas out is the first first step. The second first step is to plan. 

Okay, I have a perfect idea of what to write about. I want to write it in verse, and I want the voice to be my long lost childhood friend's dog named George. But what order does everything go in? Do I want to include an opposing perspective? Does everything I want to write about tie into my main argument? 

Another thing I struggle with is staying on topic. Everyone I know can tell you that I will ramble and ramble until we are talking about something completely different from where we started. That's why planning is important. In the Flowers & Hayes reading, we learn that there are a few sub-categories to planning (organizing and goal-setting). Organizing is the main thing that I struggle with in this part. 

Why do you put certain information in certain spots? Why do you talk about this certain thing in certain parts of the paper? 

Then, goal-setting. It's mentioned later than organizing in the reading, but I feel they happen somewhat simultaneously. You need to know your goals while you organize your paper so your organization leads to the goal that you have. 

I want my paper to explain [whatever argument]. I will organize it in [whatever way], so that it makes the most sense to the reader. 

Something that I think helps with the overall writing process is imagination. 

Tying this to the Hicks, Turner & Stratton reading, I think that imagining your writing as something else (movie, educational video, a documentary, whatever) can be extremely helpful. Of course, they talk about actually using digital storytelling, which is great to do if allowed! However, I think that for most assignments or writing projects, people want to see actual words. So, imagining what you write as a different form of media would be a great way to make sure it's cohesive and makes sense in multiple different ways. 

Lastly, on a semi-serious note. I struggle with severe ADHD and it went undiagnosed for a very long time, so I always felt like I was just stupid or lazy or whatever. I found this article that gives ideas on how to write while struggling with simply doing it. There are a ton of articles I looked at that just gave ideas that have never helped me, but this one seems much more useful than most. https://www.adhd.org.nz/how-to-write-with-adhd.html