By: Ian Byers
When I write, my actual writing practices are not too different from what my ideal would be, but there is always room for improvement. For my ideal, I would like to learn how to write more quickly. In reality, I spend quite a lot of time when it comes to individual word choice and tend to think too much about having precise vocabulary. Although I feel that this allows for a truer expression of my thoughts, the negative result is that I spend far to much time on first drafts, when this work is better suited for revision and editing after I have a complete draft. As for prewriting, I don’t necessarily make a written outline before I start, but I do take a few minutes to think about the general structure of what I want to write before I start. Because of how I write my initial drafts, I tend to not change much when editing, besides mistakes and typos. When I revise, I do sometimes rethink my plan that I came up before I started writing and decide to restructure my entire project to one degree or another.
Of course, all of this only applies when I am not procrastinating, which I do often for most of my work, not just writing assignments. My most common form of procrastination is simply not starting an assignment until shortly before it is due. This is extremely efficient at wasting time, and very easy to do. Once I have started, I usually work contiuouly without many breaks. However, if I am listening to music, I sometimes get caught up in it and don’t realized I have stopped writing for a few minutes. I don’t like to set rewards for finishing, as these tend to just distract me more than motivate me. Deadlines, however, are extremely helpful. Stress and time limits make me less prone to procrastinate, and they also force me to write more like I would want to, by making me finish my first draft quickly just to know that I have some working product to turn in, even if it isn’t great.
The main thing which may inhibit my ability to write well is the environment. I’m not super picky, but I do prefer being in a quite area. If there is noise, then listening to music can help.
Overall, I do have some weaknesses in how I write, but I am well aware of them. Thankfully, I have also learned to procrastinate less, as nothing good ever comes from it.