I agree with certain aspects of Boice’s prescription for good writing habits, but there are some parts of his recommendations that haven’t worked for me so far. I do find that I practice Brief, Daily Sessions (BDS) in my writing, and I find I get a lot done this way, even though there’s not much accumulation from session to session. On the other hand, there are certain aspects of my writing process that conflict with Boice’s recommendations. For one thing, I like to write in different places all the time. I keep a selection of places in constant rotation: coffee shop #1, coffee shop #2, coffee shop #3, various library nooks (depending on the density of undergrads at a given time), my couch, even my bed. I get bored if I work in the same place all the time. I also hate to write in absolute silence. It’s actually difficult for me to concentrate if there’s nothing going on in the background. I’m even writing this blog post while House (the TV show) is playing nearby.
One concept I’m going to try from Boice is Finishing my Conceptual Outlining (COL). I’m working on a seminar paper at the moment, but I think I’m wasting too much time messing with outlines for my paper, instead of actually starting to write my paper. The thought of producing 20 + pages is kind of intimidating when I don’t even have one page, or even a page with my name and the class title on it. Maybe I should start with that…
Sarah, I like what you are saying here. Boice's initial claims about utilizing prewriting and BDS can be quite liberating. Instead of feeling like we are not doing anything of importance until we actually start to produce something, Boice gives a reason to congratulate and reward ourselves for the many different activities that precede formal composition but are still essential. However, what where this time ends and writing begins does not seem to be as clearly established. We--and I know I am always at fault for this--can as a result find ourselves spending too much time researching or outlining.
ReplyDeleteBut, I suppose what Boice would say is that yes there are times we just need to sit down to the page and write. But don't forget to see the value in what you have already done and how far you have come. Or, at least, I think it would go something like that.