Hey hey! How’s your week been since we talked Monday? I’m officially done with classes for the quarter, so that’s a little crazy. Today and tomorrow are “reading period” before finals madness commences next week… but it’s more like writing period for me, since I’m spending them working on knocking out my essay that’s due Monday. I might sound like I’m on top of everything, but don’t be fooled. I’m just scared enough of my Wednesday and Thursday exams that I intend to spend most of Saturday through Wednesday afternoon studying for those. Fun times.
Anyway, I started writing the essay last night and honestly didn’t make a whole lot of progress. I came back from discussing it with my teacher feeling good and confident and ready to write all of it. And then I ate lunch and stared at a blank Word document, scrolled through social media, wrote a sentence, and got very stuck very quickly. Repeat, all afternoon. So, I thought it might be fun (well, at least for me) to take Thinking Out Loud a little more literally and chronicle my scattered thoughts as I tried to start writing. Linking up with Amanda!
- “Blank Word documents are my least favorite thing maybe ever. So much possibility. So much room to screw up…”
- “Maybe if I copy and paste the prompt in, it’ll look less daunting…”
- “Wrong…”
- “Uh, it’s been like 30 minutes since lunch, so it’s probably snack time…”
- “And I can’t eat and type, so I’ll just check out every blog I follow and also click on a bunch of new ones in the comments and read everyone’s life stories. I can start writing after that…”
- “Just write one sentence. Just one! Okay, now one more!”
- “Nope…”
- “I wonder how life is going for those friends I met at camp after eighth grade. I should probably check Facebook…”
- “Oh, yeah. I wanted to watch that Michael Phelps commercial… Whoa, that’s impressive.”
- “More snacks… I wonder if I could do a Michael Phelps diet… I wonder how quickly I would go through cereal if I just ate it straight out of the box instead of pouring it into bowls. I’d bet a box every two days…? I won’t test that theory…”
- “Alright, just write the first paragraph. Nothing daunting about the intro. It can be terrible, but just write something…”
- “Yep, that’s awful…”
- “This building is so hot. Time to put on shorts.”
- “I should probably eat those last couple mini Reese’s. Sugar = writing fuel. Duh.”
- “Don’t forget to turn in the stat problems tonight.”
- “Maybe the internet connection is even worse than usual and I missed an important email. Probably the one from our econ teacher saying the final is a group exam. Ha. Wishful thinking.”
- “How do I usually write essays?”
- “I mean, I know what I want to say… I just haven’t written it yet…”
- “Why is this so hard to put into words? Maybe it’ll be easier tomorrow…”
- “NO. I am writing 2.5 pages tonight.”
- “First, I’ll just eat dinner.”
- “Okay, so 2.5 pages isn’t happening. Maybe if I can just hammer out this tough paragraph? Is that too much to ask???”
- “Yes. Snacks are a better idea.”
- “String sentences together. Edit later.”
- “Wow, those are not good sentences. I’m tired and the writing totally shows it. Ugh.”
- “I mean, two paragraphs is something. Yep, it’s enough for today.”
- “I really lowered my standards over the last two hours. Oh, well.”
- “Tomorrow will be better. Definitely. Time for lots of snacks. And sleep.”
I will actually finish a draft. It will happen. Today will be better for me and I hope you have a good one, as well!
Did/do you find starting essays hard? Once I get most of a page down, the thoughts usually start to flow a little easier, but the beginning is rough for me!
How long does a box of cereal last in your world?
Of course starting is the hardest part. I don’t really write essays much anymore, but I don’t think it was ever the existential struggle for me that it is for you. Of course I only wrote like three my whole time in college. At least you got a very amusing blog entry out of your struggles! A box of cereal will last a couple of weeks because I tend to have 4 or 5 open at a time. May the writing flow like a mighty river today!
You wrote three over 4 years and I wrote three in my first quarter. Thanks, Daddy. Love you!
Thankfully I haven’t had to write an essay in quite awhile, I’m not a fan! I’m not quite sure how long a box of cereal lasts me as I usually have about 4 or 5 different boxes on the go, but I do eat a bowl with cashew milk every day – or sometimes dry right out of the box. 🙂 Good luck on finishing your essay! Love your blog by the way 🙂
Brandy
Cereal + cashew milk = ? Thanks, Brandy!
Hahahaha yes! Once I get myself to actually start the writing, I’m usually fine and I like to get it done in one sitting if possible! Otherwise when I come back, I never remember what I was thinking and the whole though train is ruined and the rest of the essay ends up being crap!
Totally understand the “one sitting” rule. I usually can crank out a full draft and then I just polish it up a bit.
Wow you are the queen of distraction! If the paper is something I know the information about or am really interested in the words usually come. Sometimes if it’s not happening I do a different assignment and come back to the paper. When all else fails I google whatever the topic is and take advice from the people who have already written about said topic.
I hope you have better luck today 🙂
Haha Google wouldn’t be much help with this topic. But today went much better. Thanks, Ellie!
Oh man. I wrote so many essays through university, and I’m pretty sure that each one of them was a struggle. I always found that getting started was the hardest part, so sometimes I’d just write whatever came to mind and go back and edit it later. That usually worked alright… unless I did what I usually do and left it till the very last minute 😆 Then I’m pretty sure it was nothing but stress powering me through.
Hahaha yep. Stress and snacks get me through 🙂
Oh yeah I feel the exact same way about essays!! I try to think of little “rewards” to get me to write paragraphs or pages, like “I can scroll through instagram after this paragraph” or “I can go grab coffee after two pages!”
I love that you bargain with yourself and I totally do that, too. It’s a pretty good system! 😉
Hehe, cereal doesn’t last long here. 🙂 And I love all your random thoughts about the essay. I love writing essays, but I’m not good at editing. God knows my weaknesses, and He is gracious to have had me edit a lot of my essays over the years. 🙂
I love writing, too, so I have no idea why it’s so hard to convince myself to start!
YEP. I have two papers looming over me right now and I just don’t want to begin! However, I find once I start it is a lot easier!
Good luck, Kate!
I always start typing an essay on the last day, so I have no time for irrelevant thoughts! It is not very affect the estimates, because, after all, I love to write. Otherwise, why would I blog?
I love to write, as well. No idea what it’s so hard to make myself start!
Omg I love this post. This was me yesterday trying to write my lab report. Such a struggle. Especially when there are all the snack possibilities tempting us!
Snacks are such a distraction 😉 I hope your lab report went well!
Oh man, I do NOT miss writing essays at.all. I was a PR/Journalism major so I felt like I was always writing them and it was the worst.
Hahaha I can’t imagine having to write a bunch for my major specifically! My roommate is an English and Theatre major, so she’s always writing essays.
Good luck on the paper…you’ll rock it I know. And, haha, I love this one -> “And I can’t eat and type, so I’ll just check out every blog I follow and also click on a bunch of new ones in the comments and read everyone’s life stories. I can start writing after that…” I do that all. the. time.!!
Thanks, Hannah! And yeah, that’s kinda my favorite form of procrastination. That and baking 😉
Good luck!! You got this:) Starting is DEFINITELY the hardest part. Just start by starting 🙂
I did it! And I cranked out a draft 😀 Thanks for the encouragement!
“And I can’t eat and type, so I’ll just check out every blog I follow and also click on a bunch of new ones in the comments and read everyone’s life stories. I can start writing after that…” – my LIFE hahahaha!
I always procrastinate whilst I eat lunch when I could really just continue what I was doing 😛
Same! I tell myself that lunch is a “break”. But my break tends to last a little longer than necessary 😛
It depends on the box size of cereal I get. Since I only eat cereal for breakfast about 2 times a week. One small box will last me about 2-3 weeks 🙂
Blessings,
Edye // Gracefulcoffee
Haha I mostly snack on it, so it goes fast for me 😉