Essay Crises

[mos dan]

As requested by Pangaea (http://dissensus.com/showthread.php?p=118560#post118560). I had a lot of these at uni. Sadly I still do, except now they're called deadlines. I am fundamentally a lazy person, but always respond to a deadline - always at the last minute. The essay crisis mentality is just ingrained in me, but I almost don't mind it now. I'm still frequently up at 4am with tea and a j (no fags anymore).

I don't really have any grand technique. The other week I had four articles to write in a night (don't ask), which somehow I managed, and did fine - I think, and my editor seems to agree.

I would say, if you're going to use caffeine, don't overdo it - you don't want a stomach ache. Water is better for hours sat in front of a computer screen. Go for a walk. Eat some nice food. Sit down again. Consider turning down invites out in the evening - if you can feel self-pitying and martyrish for missing a night in the pub with your mates it can help motivate you into at least getting something out of a crappy friday night. Especially if said mates roll in to your flat drunk when the pub closes.

In terms of the writing, I think detailed essay plans really do help. Make them as detailed as you like, it all helps if you feel like you're behind schedule - gives you a conception of what the *end* of the bloody thing might look like, and in doing so stops the task seem like an unscalable peak.

Anyway that's just me. I'm issuing a blanket disclaimer for all the above just in case that makes you even more screwed

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Sit down again.

Good advice.

 

[baboon2004]

I'm so glad I no longer have to have crises of this sort.

In the given situation, anyone who avoids essay crises completely is not to be trusted.

 

[childrentalking]

the one thing i learned at university was how to get first class marks in my coursework.

this is how i'd do it: read relevant articles and books. make notes as you go along. when you're reading pdfs on the computer, i do this in a word/notepad window off to the side (obv helps if you can touch type). these 'notes' can really just be the article paraphrased a bit incorporating some of your personal thoughts on it.

think of the 'themes' that keep cropping up in these paraphrased notes as you go along. that's your essay plan there.

paraphrase them a bit more. (this is called 'making your own work'.

paste them into paragraphs together based around those 'themes'. there, 60%+.

now make up some unique critical points, very possibly through synthesis of other people's. fit these around your themes.

voila, 70%+ essay

 

[Mr. Tea]

Personally I'd much rather cram for exams than do coursework. Having said that, I enjoy writing essays, which is something I haven't had much of a chance to do these last nine or ten years, since I finished my Eng Lit A-level.

 

[Guybrush]

Childrentalking has some good points. Additionally, I really like these tips (although something tells me most Dissensians are high scorers already):

Let's start with Mark Twain: "When you catch adjectives, kill most of them -- then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together; they give strength when they are wide apart."

Novelist John Gardner: "The abstract is seldom as effective as the concrete. ‘She was distressed' is not as good as, even, ‘She looked away.'"

And Jacques Barzun: "Look for all fancy wordings, and get rid of them."

 

[Mr. Tea]

"When you catch adjectives, kill most of them" - this may apply most of the time, but gratuitous over-adjectivisation certainly has its place. I say this as someone who gets a kick out the phrase rugose and partly sqamous, however.

 

[nomos]

the detailed plan is crucial. my partner does hers almost down to the sentence. for me though, a lot of the ideas come during the process of writing so i do better with something closer to an elaborate table of contents. stick that in a document and then start filling out the sections, ideally with a target word count attached to each.

when i'm stuck on a given paragraph or sentence i try to remember to step back and ask myself if i actually know what i'm supposed to be saying in those lines, what the progression of thought is supposed to be from a to b to c. often it turns out i've lost the plot so i have to get mechanical about it. getting away from the screen, printing bits and working through problems in pen out helps.

i've just finished something that was meant to take a week or two but ended going on for a month. very frustrating.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Removing redundant adjectives would halve the length of most music reviews.

 

[Guybrush]

Removing redundant adjectives would halve the length of most music reviews.

Yes, and that’s partly why they have such a bad rep.

 

[Grievous Angel]

Learn mind-mapping. It forces you to organise your thoughts while simultaneously eliciting new ones. Great creative / organisational (is there a difference?) tool.