Thursday, January 19, 2012

"Get Weird, Get Writing"

On a humorous, yet somehow still evidently pretty productive note, take a look at seven odd writing habits of famous writers such as Hemingway, Capote, Hugo, and Angelou at theshortlist.com.





http://theshortlist.com/entertainment/sweven-strange-writing-rituals





Check them out, and as they say on the site, "Get weird, get writing!" If you have a creative or unusual writing ritual you think might help others, post it in our comment section.

Help for the Doubtful and Procrastinators among Us

Overcoming Writer’s Block

That heading should be accompanied by ominous music and this special affect echo so that you hear the words fading into the distance long after you’ve read them (writer’s block, writer’s block, writer’sblock…). Yes, don’t adjust your eyes, I was playing around with the font size there to visually reinforce that whole idea of distance…It seems one of the main problems students in Rhetoric and Composition classes (as well as other areas of the known universe where we are required to write) is this infernal issue of “writer’s block.” To help with this, I’ve put together some advice from people I’ve encountered over the years—all of whom make their living writing so they can certainly empathize with you when this malady strikes.

Dan’s Writing Tricks

(from Dan Barden, professor at Butler University)

1. Writing for a little while each day is much easier than writing a lot once a week.

2. Exercise. The body is connected to the head. The head is where imagination lives. When the body is sluggish, so is the head.

3. Prayer and meditation. If you have a spiritual practice, use it. Walker Percy’s prayer for writing was, “I am starting from nothing. Help me.”

4. If something’s not working, try turning it on its head. Change some significant detail and notice if it works better that way. Be light on your feet. Don’t take yourself and your work so damn seriously.

5. When in doubt, remember: if you knew what you wanted to say, you wouldn’t have to write about it—you could just say it.

6. When you don’t know what else to do, recopy what you’ve written. There’s genius in your hand holding a pen. There’s genius in your fingertips on the keyboard.

7. Read as much as you can. Reading is like food to writing. Writing is also a version of reading. Great writers are always great readers.

8. Write about things you know, but if you don’t know about something, don’t let that stop you. You can learn about it while you’re writing about it. That’s what libraries and museums and smart friends are for.

9. Cultivate kooky interests. If your imagination wants to know more about naval aviation or fastpitch softball or Dean Martin’s youth in Ohio, by all means, let your imagination have what it wants.

10. Make friends with other writers. It takes a lot of courage to work every day, know what’s valuable in your work, and kill your babies.* You’ll need help.

*Barden is, of course, speaking metaphorically about editing and what it feels like to cut out parts of your writing that you may love dearly, but that still need to go.

Summarized from “Some Truths about Writing” published in the Writer Magazine

1. No matter how experienced a writer is, everyone has to work through their writing problems. The difference is that more experienced writers feel more confident in their ability to handle and overcome these problems because they have done it before. New writers need to find this same confidence.

2. Writers need someone they trust to read their writing who will critique it honestly and constructively. This is how real writers work.

3. Everyone stumbles now and then, gets hung up, has a gap in his writing, gets stalled, etc., but there is no such condition as “writer’s block.” It is not a real condition-merely a phrase used to cover difficulties in the writing process, difficulties that exist for everyone.

4. Everyone needs a break from writing. Doing something, especially something physical, helps clear your mind, relieve some stress, and lets your mind work on whatever problem you are having in your writing while you are paying attention to some other task. You get out of your own way. Just don’t forget to get back to writing.

5. Successful writers don’t talk about when they are going to write or what they are going to write. They spend their time writing instead.

6. Writers are always learning, always trying out new things, always looking for ways to improve.

A Plan for Block Writing based on David Taylor's article “A no-fret, no-sweat plan for getting it DONE”

This article, published in the Writer magazine, discusses how to use block writing to overcome fear, self-doubt, and procrastination. Hmm…not that those are ever related to “writer’s block”…Although Taylor suggests 45-60 minutes per block, you might try something shorter such as 20-30 minutes if that’s all you can commit to on a regular basis. It might take longer to get the writing done, but the principles should still hold true.

The Rules:

1. Divide your writing into blocks of time lasting from 45-60 minutes, each followed by a short break. The time you decide on should be consistent, so-always 45 or always 60; don’t flip flop. Treat your writing just like any other job you have to do. That’s what professional writers do. They show up to their jobs on a regular basis just like you do for whatever job you have that earns you your pay. Even though you are writing for a class, it’s helpful to think of writing in this way. The skills you have that make you successful in other areas of your life, many of them involving your job, will help you here, too.

2. Use an alarm or timer to keep track of the time so you aren’t constantly checking it. Try to focus on your writing at hand for the time you have set aside.

3. Once your posterior is in the chair, it stays there until the time is up. That doesn’t mean you have to be writing or typing furiously for that whole time, but checking e-mail or Facebook because you happen to be on the computer or writing out your grocery list…yeah, those aren’t activities directly related to your writing. There is a Buddhist saying that goes, “When walking, walk. When running, run. When sitting, sit. Above all else, do one thing at a time and do it well.” That’s what you should strive for here. Try to give your full attention to your writing for the amount of time you’ve set, and you will find that you are more productive and that the work is ultimately more enjoyable. I know this is a hard concept for some—ok, many—of us to master in our culture, but it is a skill worth working on.

4. Accept “the law of regularity.” Try to avoid goals for specific writing sessions (3 pages, 500 words, etc.). Realize that what is going to get the job done is sitting down on a regular basis and writing. Some sessions may be more “productive” in generating greater output/more measurable output than others. That’s ok. Don’t kvetch over the ones where you only get two sentences put together. Don’t be over joyous at one that goes particularly smooth. Both events occur for a reason that’s important to your writing, even if you can’t readily articulate what that is. Good grades are wonderful! Finished papers are too. However, it’s important to learn to take pride and satisfaction not only from our goals (whatever they are), but also from the process it took us to get there. Have you ever heard the saying, “Life is a journey not a destination?” Writing is the same way. If all you see is the end of the assignment, the end of the class, etc., you are missing out on a lot of good things the task and practice of writing can open up for you-both about communicating with others and discovering/refining important aspects about yourself.

5. Make a commitment. Just like any other skill you want to sharpen, any other goal you want to achieve, your level of commitment is going to dramatically affect your level of success. It doesn’t matter if you don’t “feel like” writing that day, how bright and sunny out it is, what cool thing your friends are doing, what crappy thing just happened in your life. Follow through on what you said you were going to do.

Discipline is divine-in writing as well as in other areas of life. Lots of talented people end up not doing much with that talent because they lack discipline. Lots of less talented, less smart, less (insert any adjective here) people end up going further in life because they are disciplined. And how many of us have made some sort of resolution in January only to backslide on what we’ve set as our goal? Think about how that made you feel about yourself and your ability to do something or follow through on a commitment to yourself.

Make your goal realistic-maybe 15 minutes at a time is all you can commit to. It’s better to be able to do that and follow through than to say to yourself that you are going to sit down and work for 30 minutes at a time and not be able to do that on a consistent basis. That is just going to add to feelings of doubt or failure you might already be associating with your writing, and who needs to do that to themselves? If you start small, it’s always a better feeling to be able to add more time, rather than to have to back away.

Value yourself and what you do as much as you do other people. If you’re the type of person who’d follow through on doing something for or with someone else once you’ve told them you would, hold yourself to the same standard when it comes to what you’ve said you’d do for yourself. Many of us have a hard time doing this because we tell ourselves “It’s only me. No big deal,” but what we are really doing is devaluing ourselves in our own eyes.

6. Stop worrying about what’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, when will it happen, etc. and just trust that it will. Something important will happen in each session (see #4). Even if it doesn’t seem like a whole lot is happening when you first start block writing, the more you sit down and expect it to, the easier the process will become.

7. Have clearly defined limits. Stick to them. If you said you were going to write for 30 minutes, then you have to—and no changing the time once you sit down! Don’t let distractions or frustration be an excuse for quitting early.

8. Most people start feeling “writer’s block” in relation to some outside pressure. Realize, though, those imposed deadlines, expectations from others to get a certain grade, perform to a certain standard, etc. can be a good thing. They are motivation for getting the task done, for sticking with it when it’s hard. Writers who make their living through writing use this all the time. If they fail to meet a deadline, they don’t have money for the mortgage, for food, etc. Use your grades as the same type of motivation. Use it as a goal to work toward instead of something that intimidates you.

9. Have a clear focus of what steps you need to do to accomplish your writing. This is different from what is discussed in #4. While you shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to accomplish a specific goal in a certain amount of time (beyond your deadline for the assignment), you should have a clear idea of the steps you will need to go through to get a writing task accomplished. How do you turn that blank Word file into a clear, succinct essay? If you don’t know, then you need to find out. Many students and writers have good intentions of getting a piece of writing done, but stall out somewhere along the way because they simply don’t know what to do next-or they waste a good deal of time they’ve set aside for writing trying to figure out what that next step is rather than actually writing.

While this may seem contradictory to what was being said earlier in regards to not saying you wanted to write a specific number of pages or words in a block of time, it isn’t. You do need to have specific goals for a session. Do you want to work on the introduction? Revise your draft so the organization is clearer? Work on editing? Those all help you have a clearer focus on what task to accomplish so that your piece of writing is stronger at the end of the block of writing. They help you stay “on task” during your time, give you something measurable to assess how the writing went, break down the writing process so it’s a bit more manageable, and help you have a greater sense of accomplishment when it’s done. (And who doesn’t need more to feel good about when it comes to their writing?)

That’s different, though, than looking at outside conventions such as word or page count and using that as a focus of your writing. Think about it—so you’ve sat down and written 200 words…so what? Did that get you any closer to your end goal? Maybe. Maybe not. Not necessarily, but you have the 200 words, right? It’s sort of like if you want to eat healthier so you decide to count the calories of everything you eat and not exceed 2,000 per day. Ok, that’s a good start, but you could have 250 calories of fruit or 250 calories of donuts in the morning. Each is the same 250 calories, but we know that 250 calories of fruit is going to have a different impact on our diet and health than 250 calories worth of donuts so if the number is all we see, we are missing a vital part of the picture about how to make our health better. The same is true with writing. Something more needs to be going on in our discussions with ourselves to make sure those required words or pages we’ve come up with are the ones that really need to be there. Also, being able to break down the task of writing and to look at where you are with a piece and where you need to go and plan out how you will get there is an invaluable skill in itself that will ultimately lead to stronger writing. This isn’t a skill very many of us (if any) are born with, though. It’s something that is only acquired with much practice. It’s also important to know what your focus is going to be for a particular block of writing time before you begin. If you’ve set aside 15 minutes to write, you don’t want to spend 10 trying to figure out what you should be doing. That’s not a very productive use of time. A good habit to get into is as you hear the timer going off to end your block, wrap up what you are doing, and then before you shut down your computer or close your notebook, think about what the next logical step is in your writing. Jot that down somewhere you won’t lose it, and make that the focus of your next writing block.

10. Realize that you need to not only stick to time limits you’ve set as a minimum, but as a maximum amount of time as well. Although it varies with the individual, there comes a point in time where our productiveness, concentration, etc. starts diminishing sharply. (In fact many education classes teach that after 20 minutes, we're essentially done mentally.) Pushing yourself to continue beyond that point only leads to greater frustration and doubt about your abilities.

If you’ve scheduled 30 minutes to write, there may be times when you just need another five to finish up whatever thought you are on or when you are really on a roll and don’t want to stop; however, expecting to sit down in one huge block of time and churn out a draft as a regular course of practice is unrealistic. Unfortunately, it is an expectation many students have. Either because fear and/or procrastination has led them to develop this habit or because they have romantic ideas about how writing really works. You take breaks at work, when you study for other classes, etc. Writing is no different. Your mind needs that rest. And, as Barden and the article “Some Truths…” both say, taking a break and doing something else frees up your mind to work on your writing without you getting in the way. Also, once you come back to your writing after a break, you will see it differently, usually from a more objective perspective. This is why having a set schedule to write in blocks helps. You have time scheduled to allow yourself the ability to do this rather than waiting until the night before or a couple of hours before something is due and having to scramble to get something, anything done.

Parting Shot

I'm a big believer in the theory that those of us in education have contributed at least in part to the malady of writer's block that befalls our students from time to time. Systematically as they have moved through the educational system, we've taught them that the writing process is very linear, very neat and tidy. Students are often taught that they need to come up with a topic (or use one provided), figure out what they have to say about it through prewriting, write a draft, turn it in to the instructor, get feedback, "fix it" per the instructors editing marks/comments, and turn in the final draft a few days later. Many students don't really understand the difference between editing and revision. They are shocked to discover that it's ok, heck sometimes it's even desirable to sit down to write with no idea what you are going to write, that it's valid for your whole goal to be to discover what that is through the process of actually writing. It's ok for your final draft to be drastically different in content, organization, etc. from the rough draft. Some students are shocked to discover that getting ideas down in a rough draft is just that, getting them down, down on the paper where they are outside your head and you can look at them. It's a starting point. Hopefully, it is at least somewhat coherent (and you should do your best to make it so), but the draft doesn't have to be perfect. Nor is the job of "drafting" done. There may be gaps. You may have to go back to the invention stage and gather more ideas, more possibilities. Your instructor may ask that you get rid of two pages of content that don't really belong before the final draft. You may need to completely change your slant or even your topic. This does not necessarily speak to your ability as a writer or as a student. It doesn't mean you've suddenly "forgotten" how to write because you are now being asked to do these things if you never have been before. It also doesn't mean you won't make it through a particular class or assignment if you find yourself struggling. Writing is messy. Writing is ugly. Done well, though, it is extremely rewarding-both when your realize someone "gets it" (whatever "it" is that you are trying to articulate) and from your own sense of accomplishment.

A good deal of your work may never "show up" in the final draft, not in an obvious way, anyhow. Not in a way that is apparent to your reader. Many students feel this is somehow a "waste." It isn't. You can't get to this point (the final draft) without going through all of the others that lead up to it, and think about it--what is one of the greatest compliments people often pay to others when they can do something well? That they make it look easy or effortless--which does not mean that it really is. If you really hone your skills, that's how your writing will appear to those who read it. It takes a lot of work to get there, though, and frankly, many students arrive in a college classroom without a realistic idea of that. It seems as if writing is "easy" for those who are "good" at it, those who've unlocked the mystical, mythical secrets of the writing process. And, therefore, as that line of logic goes, if it isn't easy for you, that must mean you aren't good at it. All of this adds to or helps create a mental petrie dish where writer's block can thrive.

Anne Lamott is a writer from California who writes a little about writing, a little about life, and a whole lot about how the two are mashed up with one another. Lamott addresses quite a few topics in her book, Bird by Bird. One chapter that I would particularily recommend to students who suffer from writer's block would be "Shitty First Drafts." In it, she discusses the myth of the great first draft and why, in fact, those that aren't so great are valuable-even perhaps desirable. You can access it here: http://buddha-rat.squarespace.com/shittyfirstdrafts/.

Good luck with your writing, and remember, the best way to get over your writer's block is to be proactive in trying to prevent it and figuring out a way to manage it once it strikes. Use these tips to help you, and if you need it, drop by the Writers' Room to talk with one of the tutors. A good deal of writing problems, as with many problems in life, are solved by talking about them. Tutors can help mentor you through the writing process or through parts of it that you are finding particularily difficult.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Things We Like to Call Writing That Really Aren't (but might help our writing anyway)...

Writers and writing students alike know that an integral part of the "writing process" consists of activities that are loosely related to writing that may not move us any further toward the completion of whatever project we are currently working on, but usually involve a writing utensil, a computer, perhaps a book or two--you know those things to make it look like we're actively writing (both to others and ourselves) even if we aren't. Being the good stewards of writing and scholarship that we are in the WR, we can't condone engaging in these activities instead of ones you will need to in order to generate your draft (prewriting, research, actual drafting and revision, editing, etc.) or devoting so much time to them that you don't have enough for those pesky ones listed in parentheses, but we do know that from time to time you need a break from the task at hand in order to let yourself and your work breath. Time and space away from your work can sometimes give you the distance you need to either gather energy to stay with the project you are working on or to gain the perspective to see/solve a problem you are having. To that end, this post provides you with a a few musical selections--about writing of course--to occupy your time away from the page.

Most of us, well at least those of us of a certain generation, are familiar with the Schoolhouse Rock songs from Saturday mornings of the 1970s. And in case just the mention of them has you longing for a lazy morning in your jammies with a bowl of Super Sugar Smacks and nothing more planned than watching Justice League cartoons, I've included two of my favorites for your viewing and listening pleasure:





By the way, did you know that in addition to these favorites there's a whole slew of songs from the pop/rock genre that deal with writing? Chris Coplan has complied a list of what he says are the top ten songs about writing on the Consequence of Sound. You can access the list, read commentary about the songs, and watch videos of them at http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/10/list-em-carefully-top-10-songs-about-writing/. And for those of you who thought the music video was invented when MTV was launched, check out number four on the list. Enjoy the songs and let us know if you have any songs you think should have made the top ten.

Finally, if you subscribe to the theory that inantimate objects come alive when no one is around (or if you're a skeptic) check out this video about what happens once the bookstore closes for the night.

Meta-blogging

As get ready for a new semester in the WR, we've updated our blog to include links to other blogs which our followers might find useful. The list "Blogs We Follow in the WR" contains blogs which cover a variety of topics for students and writers in general. "Blog Resources for Instructors" contains information for instructors who either currently use writing in their curriculum or who are interested in incorporating more WAC elements in their courses.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Netiquette 101

Tips for E-Mailing/Messaging Instructors:

Understanding the rhetorical situation and audience awareness are two basic skills taught in most college writing classes. However, students sometimes forget what they learned (or are learning) about these two aspects of writing when communicating with college faculty. Often, they mistake instructors for friends or peers. Friends know you well enough to fill in gaps in your writing/thinking process. They know what you really mean even if it’s not there on the page. Peers use the same language and style of communication.

The relationship (and therefore the communication style) between an instructor and student, however, is generally more distanced and formal. When communicating with your instructors, therefore, you want to state your point clearly and avoid overly informal language. When you e-mail them or contact them using the message tool for an online class, you should be sure to do the following:

1. Include a brief phrase in the subject line which clearly refers to the topic of your message. Remember, even something that seems specific like “question” or “assignment three” might be too vague, especially if you are submitting assignments in the same place where other communication about the class is happening. Phrases such as “question about assignment three” more clearly indicate to the instructor that you have a question which needs addressed so you can complete the assignment. This helps the instructor evaluate and prioritize responses from several students and also to find a specific piece of communication from you (which can sometimes be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack) if he or she needs to refer to it again later in the semester.

2. Include your name and the class in which you are enrolled in the text. Again, be specific. This is especially helpful at the beginning of the semester or if you are in an online class where face to face contact is limited or non-existent. It may be clear to you which history class you are in, but an instructor may be teaching several different ones, not just several sections of the same class. By using the specific class name, you will automatically help the instructor narrow down points of reference for that particular class as he or she is reading your message which in turn translates into a faster and better response to your message. If you are using a message tool only open to students in a specific class section, of course, you don’t need to state the class you are in. Including your name, however, is always a good idea because it reinforces your presence in the class to the instructor, and although many students prefer to remain anonymous, success rates are higher for students who have a real or perceived connection with the instructor.

3. Begin your message with a salutation such as “Dear Professor X,” or “Hello Ms. Y,” and end it as you would a letter. Unless your instructor has explicitly said it is ok to do so (or has previously used his or her first name only when corresponding with you), it is advisable to avoid referring to your instructor by his or her first name only. Doing so implies a familiarity and a relationship that does not usually exist between a student and a teacher. Some instructors are not bothered by students using their first names, others are. Generally, it is more polite and respectful to err on the side of formality.

4. Be as direct and concise, yet as clear as you can in stating the issue or question at hand. For example, “I’m confused by the assignment and need help,” might seem pretty specific, but might also appear vague when read by your instructor. Try to articulate what is confusing you or where you became lost. If you are referring to problems you are having accessing information the instructor has posted or given you a link to for an online class, try to summarize what steps you have tried in order to access the information. State any error messages you see. Also, remember to clearly reference which assignment you are referring to. Often students are working on more than one at a time within the same class or different sections of the same course are working different assignments.

5. Before clicking on send, try to evaluate whether or not the question you have can be adequately answered through e-mail or whether you would be better served meeting the instructor during office hours. For example, if you have a specific question about the assignment that you can’t find the answer to, that could probably be handled through correspondence. However, if you are working on a paper for an instructor and would like him or her to read it before you go any further because you are unsure how to proceed, that would probably best be handled in a face to face discussion.

6. Your tone throughout the message should be friendly and professional. (See number 3 on this list about erring on the side of formality…) Remember that humor and sarcasm may not “read” the way in which you have intended it; therefore, unless you know your instructor will “get it,” it’s best to avoid remarks that might be appear differently than what you intend because non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, vocal tone, and body language will be missing from your message. Also, you shouldn’t use e-mail or the message tool to vent or rant or otherwise air your frustrations in the heat of the moment. Generally, that’s never a good idea. Whatever concerns, frustrations, etc. you might have, try not to let your emotions get the best of you. As a rule, instructors don’t set out to intentionally create situations which confuse and frustrate students. On the contrary, most work very hard not to. Give yours the benefit of the doubt, even if you are sure he or she is one of those rare ones whose goal is to make your life miserable. After all, pretty much any message you send an instructor includes either an explicit or inferred request for help, leniency, etc., and human nature dictates that the more defensive someone feels (as your instructor probably would be after reading a good rant), the less likely that person is to A.) Really hear what you are trying to say, and B.) Respond in a manner that is favorable to you. It is sometimes easy to mistake the digital distance provided by electronic communication as a buffer of sorts; however, you really shouldn’t write anything that you wouldn’t be willing to say to the instructor face to face—in a public setting. This applies to content as well as tone. If you have a personal situation you need to discuss with your instructor because it is interfering with the class, a general outline of the situation is usually enough. If the instructor needs more details about it, he or she will ask. A good way to avoid an overly emotional message is to just stick to the facts at hand. Also, remember that if you need to emphasize something, you should use the underline or italics function. Using all caps. indicates shouting.

7. Always use good grammar. It doesn’t matter if your teacher is your friend on Facebook, or if you follow him on twitter, or if your friends understand what you are trying to tell them when you text them. That this is the 21st century isn’t a valid argument against good grammar, either. Neither is “the man” keeping you down. Refer back to number 3, concerning formality and the relationship between you and your instructor. Therefore, you need to use complete sentences, proper paragraphing, correct and precise word choice, correct punctuation, and accurate spelling. If you want your instructor to take you/your concerns seriously, then you should be willing to show her that you do. A good start to this is to put the effort into constructing and editing your message so that it is grammatically correct and coherent.

8. If e-mailing an instructor, you should use the e-mail address you were provided by the school to send your message. Many institutions have their spam filters set so that they filter out e-mail from free e-mail providers. Sometimes, these messages go straight to a spam or trash file that your instructor doesn’t see when she is viewing her inbox. She will have enough there on a daily basis to keep her busy and won’t take the initiative to go looking for more, especially if she is unaware that you are trying to contact her.

9. Before you e-mail or message your instructor, check your course outline or syllabus for any guidelines that the instructor has posted concerning response time, etc. Know what these are and plan accordingly, especially if you are asking about an assignment. Make sure the instructor will have time to see the e-mail, respond to it, and that you will then have time to use that information to complete the assignment before it’s due. Unless he states otherwise, you should assume that your instructor doesn’t check e-mail outside of what is considered the normal business hours for the college-even if he has before. You don’t want the one time he is unable to do so to be the one time you really need him to. Also remember that just because you have the ability to contact the instructor 24/7 does not mean he reciprocates on that same schedule. Most instructors have indications of when they are online for classes that are held online, days when they do or do not check e-mail (such as holidays and weekends), and an expected response time. Try to respect the guidelines that he has posted. Conversely, if the time indicated in the syllabus has passed with no response or if it seems to be taking longer than it usually does to get a response, follow up with another e-mail or phone call to the instructor’s office.


Online Discussion Threads:

Although many instructors use discussion threads to encourage the exploration and exchange of ideas among students in a way similar to classroom discussions in a face to face setting, there is a major difference between this type of discussion and an oral discussion in a classroom. Remarks posted on a discussion board are in print. They can be accessed, downloaded, and printed—all which lends an air of permanence to what you say that does not exist in a regular conversation. Therefore, you should keep the following guidelines from William Draves’ Teaching Online in mind when posting remarks to a discussion thread:

1. Think of your comments as being published in a newspaper. A newspaper is available to members of a local community. In the same way, your comments are available to everyone in the “community” of your class. You may be responding directly to one member, but you need to always keep in mind that the other members of the class, including your teacher, can read what you post. And like information in a newspaper, your comments are archived and available for quite some time.

2. Don’t let emotion drive your comments/responses. It’s great to have emotion and be passionate. However, reason and logic should be the driving force behind your comments. Remember, these discussions are class assignments. Instructors are issuing grades based on them, and they are interested in seeing how you understand, evaluate, and synthesize ideas and concepts presented in the class materials and readings.


3. Focus on the ideas at hand. A personal connection, if relevant and helpful to the class, is usually fine, but otherwise you should avoid delving into personal problems and issues.

4. Avoid being overly negative. You can disagree, but you can also agree to disagree. Despite what we might see portrayed in various media, reasonable people often do. Avoid being aggressive or condescending. Don’t use all caps. or excessive question marks or exclamation marks for emphasis. State why you disagree with the ideas someone states; don’t attack the person for having those ideas. Remember, one of the goals for discussion board assignments is usually that—a discussion, an exchange of ideas. Talking with people is inherently different from talking at them. Work on creating posts and responses to others that facilitate communication, not that inhibit it.


5. Make the comments you post about other students’ work the ones you’d want to read about your own posts. Whether you agree or disagree with the content of what someone posts, try to frame your remarks in as positive of a way as possible. Doing so will have a higher chance of encouraging a real discussion between you and the person you are responding to. Also realize that while you might emphatically disagree with someone on one specific post, you may find that you agree wholeheartedly with that same person later in the semester. That person may also be the only one who comes to your defense when it seems as if everyone else shares an opposing view from yours in a later post. With the distance and anonymous quality of digital communication, it’s hard to sometimes remember that there is another real person on the receiving end of the comments we write-or perhaps that our comments would have any impact on a person we have never met. Therefore, it’s a good idea to take some time and review the comments you’ve constructed in a response before you actually post them. Try to imagine logging on to the discussion board and seeing those same words in response to something you have written. How would you react? Be polite and understated with your remarks. Remember, the words on the page are the only clues to what the reader has as to your tone. Any negativity will be magnified by the sense of vulnerability most people feel by having their writing available to others. Humor and sarcasm usually doesn’t read well in situations such as this and should be avoided, especially any attempts at inside jokes or any humor which comes at the expense of others in class.

Tutoring Schedule/Lab Information for Spring 2012

Tutoring is available through the DACC Writers' Room Monday through Thursday from 9:00 AM-3:00 PM and on Friday from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM. Appointments are 30 minutes each. Students are strongly encouraged to make an appointment either by stopping by the Writers' Room which is in Clock Tower 205 or by calling (217) 443-8877. Drop in appointments are also available if there is no prior appointment scheduled or if the scheduled appointment for a particular time is a no show (more than 10 minutes late). Students needing more assistance than what can be given in a regular 30 minute block will be asked to make a follow up appointment. Students may also be referred to the Writers' Room by their instructors. We will be glad to provide instructors with written verification of a student's attendance and work with a tutor.

All tutors are DACC faculty members or professional staff members who used to teach writing. While the majority of students we see are working on assignments for writing and humanities classes, tutors are glad to assist students with writing assignments from any discipline on campus. Tutoring is available free of charge to all DACC students. Students are asked to bring a printed copy of the assignment they wish to discuss as well as any materials they have been given by the instructor which detail the given assignment. Please be prompt when arriving for your appointment. Come prepared. If you cannot make it, please call to cancel your appointment. When you arrive, please make sure the tutor on duty knows you are there for an appointment.

The Writers' Room also has a small computer lab available for student use. All computers use MSWord. The lab is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It is also open on Friday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. We ask that you keep these hours in mind when working so that you have work saved, completed, etc. when the lab closes. Also, realize that since this is a small lab, priority is given to students who are using the technology to work on class assignments/writing skills. If you are using the computers to check e-mail, facebook, etc. during peak hours, you may be asked to let another student use the computer. Also because of the limited space, we ask that you refrain from bringing food or drink into the lab. There is a lounge area just down the hall if you need to take a break and grab a snack or something to drink.