Monday, October 29, 2012

Metacognition: Floating Through the Paragraphs



I write essays in one day. I think of my thesis, find my quotes and information, and then start writing. I usually get a pretty good grade as well.

I've tried to spread it out evenly through a couple of days, but it never works.

I end up getting 4 pages of paragraphs that have nothing to do with each other. By the time I was finished, I never wanted to go back and change what I had written.

In one night, I'm able to successfuly accomplish an impressive paper in about 4 hours. I sit down, headphones in and just go. Writting until my fingers actually ache. Then when I'm done, I sigh, and go over it and over it and over it until I know that it flows.

Then of course I ask my mother if it makes sense.

I've gotten it down to a science:

1. Think about what I actually want to write about.

2. Find information that I actually want to prove.

3. Write a paper that I'm actually passionate about.

I've figured out how to make most papers I write not a waste of my time. I try not to write things that aren't for myself.

You can tell if you read a paper whether was written just because it was assigned, or because it was something that the person turned into something they loved, and it just happened to be assigned.

I want to be interested.

I don't want to be bored with what I do.

If I'm sitting at a computer for 2 hours writing something that I think is a bunch of crap, then it's going to be a bunch of crap.

And I don't want that.