I would be lying if I said that I am an overly organized person. You can just ask the four moving boxes that are still in my room from that move out day from Ann Arbor – a month ago. I’m not a great planner. I keep big ideas of due dates but I rarely sit down and organize my evenings down to the minute.
This has gotten me into some trouble. Never serious! I always made deadlines (knock on wood) with a piece that I feel fairly confident in, but I sure do give myself some major stress until I turn in that assignment. I came into the Gateway course this January with the hopes to unravel my “Binge Writing” habit. I wanted to become a more disciplined writer.
My writing process in the past has largely been based on feelings: “This feels like a good time to write my essay,” or “Tonight feels like I’d rather watch Love Island Season 2 on Hulu.” I think the flaws in this process are rather evident.
Writing 220 has made me aware of my writing process from general discussions in class to actual writing logs. By listening to others speak about their writing process, I began to feel convicted. I knew that this was my time to confront my natural inclination to rely on spontaneity rather than routine.
Surprisingly, this was a rather easy giant to fight. The key? Just write little by little.
Who knew you could break up your work bit by bit? Who knew that you could plan for the next day!!!
I started doing just that, deciding that I would write one paragraph and then be done. No editing, no stress. I decided on general times (still never down to the minute) and held myself to it – mostly. And guess what? I survived!
One of the biggest takeaways I will bring out of this semester is that there is an enormous relief in returning to a work that is already part-completed. Bit-by-bit is the way to go – Binge Writing is a big no. I can still be spontaneous. But… a less stressed spontaneous!
Malin Andersson 