How To Stop Paper Writing From Being An All-Day Affair

[MoneyAddyct]

I'm a philosophy major in my third year of college. As such, I'm often required (quite frequently) to write papers. In fact, I haven't seen a multiple choice exam since high school. All my exams are in essay format, and in addition to those exams, I usually have to write 2-4 papers per class per semester. While I enjoy doing this, for me, paper writing is an all-day affair. That is because I am not one of those people who can simply write everything down and then go back and edit it later. Instead, I am the type of person who deliberates over every word and constantly goes back and makes sure my paper is well-organized and makes sense before proceeding further. My question is, how can I stop spending all day writing a paper? I realize that part of the problem is my belief "that I am the type of person who deliberates over every word" rather than simply being the person who "writes and then edits." But I can't seem to shake it. Thanks Steve and others!

Justin

[nvictor]

Justin,

it's not about the paper. It's about the subject. I believe in creativity, that's why I can sit and write papers that require creativity for hours. Things that rhymes, synonyms, anagrams... I can sit and write them down.

Do they choose the topic for you? If yes, ask if you can choose one by yourself and try (don't like this word much)

[Adrienne]

I probably had the one major that requires even more papers. English. I usually took about 24 credits and worked full time when I did this. Usually, I had about 100 pages or so to write a week. Yes, a week. Now, even back then I loved computers and could type well so that made my life easier as well.

It usually took me about an hour per 5 double spaced pages, even less time if they were not research papers. By the time I got finished with college, I could write a decent (read that as b paper about 10 pages long) as a first draft with some minor issues that were easily corrected with a read through in a couple hours at most.

This is how I learned this skill.

· I knew my resources. I can type fast, if it was a research paper, I found all the quotes I wanted and put a flag by them and often left them on the floor open o the page I was going to need in a circle around me in the order I thought I would need them
· I paced a lot (I still pace a lot when I think). I put on music I enjoyed and I got my thoughts together. I still do this when I am programming today. If I know where I am going with the program, it makes it a lot easier to get there and to do it in the easiest most concise way possible.
· I took a piece of paper and write key ideas on.
· I wrote the paper. No stops, with little checking myself. I just sat there and wrote until I was done. My longest paper in college was almost 30 pages. My average paper length was 10-15 pages.
· I set the paper aside or a day or two or a week
· I edited the paper. And ask the famous questions. Does it makes sense? Grammar? Do my examples fit my thesis? Is my thesis proven? Do my examples illustrate my thesis? Does my paper fall into the guidelines set forth by the instructor on topic, form, citations, length / word count, and any other guidelines set.
· Set paper aside for a couple more days if I have the time
· Last read through, fix any more errors, this is mostly a grammar check and style check. Don’t use passive voice, are all thy theres and tos and yours correct.

So for fun, say I was writing a paper about Steve ( I chose him as a topic because everyone here is familiar with him)

My first step would be to figure out what I want to prove. Say I decided my thesis is “Steve, though controversial, has new beneficial ideas. which he uses to help people. Helping people is his primary goal, not to make a dollar.”

Next, I would find my resources. My best recourse would be the blog and the forums, and if I would be so lucky I might try and interview him. I would find the quotes in which he talks about how he does not recommend products he does not believe in. I would look at the products he does recommend. I would read the forums and grab quote of people coming to realizations from steve’s post.

Then, and this is a personal thing, I would pace with a pad of paper on my desk. I would pace and listen to music and think about how my paper should be laid out. Perhaps make an intro with a controversial quote from his site. The introduction would explain a bit of who Steve is and explain that the quote is one of many examples.

Paragraph 1 would use example 1 from my research. Using 2 quotes and explain how Steve views are controversial. The best examples I can think of here are LOA and IM

Par 2. build on body par 1 showing the forms reaction to his post. How people talk, question it, argue it, and how ultimately understand each other better buy it. People help each other, and explain POV to help further people in their development

Par 3. Use quotes of how steve turned down advertising that he did not feel was awesome. Explain, his site is free, his news letter is free, and the forums are free.

Closing par.. tie back to first par about how steve may be controversial because of the topics he choose but so are many other great thinkers. Example of a great thinker who was controversial but ultimately people adopted his ideas such as Galileo. Finish with the quote from Steve P saying “who knows, I could be wrong” as a way to show how he looks at new ideas different then his own tying it back to the first paragraph of controversy (I mean when was the last time your read any doctrine or paper anywhere that said, I know I did all this research and it seems to work , but I could be wrong.)

Now, those would have been my notes in my freshmen year. As a senior it would go like this

Into- quote steve. Controversial quote. Explain. Steve? Thesis.
Par 1 – 2q (meaning 2 quotes) . steve controversial… why? LOA IM ETC
Par 2 – Tie par 1. forums reaction = positive. +++ development
Par 3 – no icky advertising, everything free
Close – controversy, Galileo, He might be wrong, but think about it.

Now to me my short hand, covers everything and more that is in those paragraphs above. So now I would write. I would not worry so much about grammar, as getting my thoughts where they need to be and get said when I want to say. If you have trouble with this, just write, don’t edit, don’t go back and read, just write. Leave editing for later.

Edit it using the above questions and turns it in.

This method worked really well for me since I had so many papers to do, I needed a way to quickly organize my thoughts and I think better with moving around and music. As it is I have turned out over 2 pages single spaced here in under 30 minutes

And of course practice and patients…

On the bright side, not I can turn out 4 or 5 pages and it feels like nothing.

Hope that helps

Adrienne

[billybrads]

Originally Posted by MoneyAddyct

for me, paper writing is an all-day affair. That is because I am not one of those people who can simply write everything down and then go back and edit it later. Instead, I am the type of person who deliberates over every word and constantly goes back and makes sure my paper is well-organized and makes sense before proceeding further. My question is, how can I stop spending all day writing a paper? I realize that part of the problem is my belief "that I am the type of person who deliberates over every word" rather than simply being the person who "writes and then edits." But I can't seem to shake it. Thanks Steve and others!

Justin

You already gave yourself the same advice that I would give you. You stated your problem as spending all day writing a paper and you gave the reason why you do this as your constant editing and revision while you are writing the paper instead of making writing and editing a seperate process.

For better or worse though I always did the same thing and my grades never suffered for it.

If you are not going to change this habit then I guess you have to decide for yourself why you don't want to spend all day writing a paper. You say you want to change this habit, but maybe you really like dedicating one day to writing a paper more than breaking it up into pieces over a longer period of time.

Perhaps you are being a perfectionist, you are putting too much pressure on yourself, and the process is painful rather than enjoyable to you. You wouldn't be alone if that were the case, but perhaps you would be served by looking into some information on perfectionism.

I think you have to see why you want to stop making paper writing an all day affair. I bring this up, because possibly it is better than your other options, which would be spacing out the work over several days, putting less effort into your work, or breaking your edit during writing habit.

Anyways, that is pretty much what I see your options as. There was a pretty good thread on this forum on the topic of 'showing up' being a large percentage of success. I do not necessarily think it was the point that Steve was trying to make, but some people, who I will call perfectionists, wrote about how they might be served by using this 'showing up' attitude in certain situations in their life to take the stress off.

[MoneyAddyct]

I don't like it because it's not just a one-dall, all-day affair, it's usually several days, depending on the length of the paper. And yes, I am probably a perfectionist. But the way I see it is this: If my name is going to appear on the top of a page, I'm going to make damn sure that I don't sound like a fool; I'm going to make sure what I write makes sense and is logical.

[SamBeaven]

I find the best way to get around a perfectionist streak (something I suffer from occasionally) is to write some nonsense at the start, then get onto the serious meat and potatoes. Maybe start out with a paragraph concerning Descartes' facial hair, or just write out a silly song.

Another idea is to set a timer. Sit down a few days before the paper is due in, write for an hour or two, and at the end get up and do something else. Applying time constraints may help to force you to just get stuff down so that you can come back and edit later.

Or maybe try getting up at three in the morning, or when you're feeling groggy. Get some wordidge down.

Maybe free writing would help to. Just write free for an hour or two on the subject, let your mind carry you wherever it wants to go, and see what happens as a consequence.

Those are strategies I've found help anyway. As usual with these things, your mileage may vary.

[MoneyAddyct]

HAHA, what a coincidence. My paper is actually on Part V of Descartes Discourse on Method.

Thanks for the tips. Thankfully I finished the paper. Although I have one for Theory of Knowledge due Monday and I won't have much time this weekend because my dad is coming for a visit.

[Scipio]

Originally Posted by MoneyAddyct

I'm a philosophy major in my third year of college. As such, I'm often required (quite frequently) to write papers. In fact, I haven't seen a multiple choice exam since high school. All my exams are in essay format, and in addition to those exams, I usually have to write 2-4 papers per class per semester. While I enjoy doing this, for me, paper writing is an all-day affair. That is because I am not one of those people who can simply write everything down and then go back and edit it later. Instead, I am the type of person who deliberates over every word and constantly goes back and makes sure my paper is well-organized and makes sense before proceeding further. My question is, how can I stop spending all day writing a paper? I realize that part of the problem is my belief "that I am the type of person who deliberates over every word" rather than simply being the person who "writes and then edits." But I can't seem to shake it. Thanks Steve and others!

Justin

I am a philosophy major as well. I suggest you learn how to write a paper properly, instead of using your own intuitive method. Take a non-fiction writing course and purchase The Art of Non-Fiction by Ayn Rand, which focusses specifically on philosophical writing. Writing a proper non-fiction article is a process of several revisions. I'm taking a non-fiction writing course through a philosophical not for profit organization, and I am spending 6 weeks writing a 750 word op-ed. Steps involved in the process are due each week.

[MoneyAddyct]

Originally Posted by Scipio

I suggest you learn how to write a paper properly

Does it necessarily follow that just because I spend an inordinate amount of time writing a paper that I do not know how to write it properly? I think not.