Procrastination- Prewriting's Finest Strategy.

I guess we can officially consider my prewriting techniques "scattered," to say the least. It's funny how going into this assignment I was convinced that my strategies were as organized and succinct as the writing that usually comes from them. However, after actually thinking about and observing my own procedure....I wasn't correct as I had previously thought.

First thing was definitely first. It quickly became clear that my planning changes depending on the kinds of writing that I am attempting to compose. For this assignment it was research based. (I think this is where my problem originated).

Its fair to say my planning began yesterday, when I had decided to devote today to finally sitting down and focusing long enough to get the ball rolling on this assignment. However, when today arrived, I unsurprisingly had a hard time executing my plan. I woke up nice and late (naturally) and moseyed to the other room. Deciding that a proper planning day should start with a proper breakfast, I put off the assignment to fill my stomach with the most delicious of all learning fuel....PANCAKES!

After devouring my leaning tower of "deliciousness on a plate," I made my way back up stairs where I thought about starting my paper....but David Tutera's "My Fair Wedding" was on, a tear jerker that just couldn't be passed up.

An hour later I seriously considered finally getting started...
But when the ideas didn't quite flow out of my brain and the large words in the few articles I Googled frightened me out of my seat I headed out for a bike ride. Maybe some exercise and some fresh air would stir some enthusiasm.

Well long story short, I was motivated when I came back from my ride and slowly but surely began part two of the prewriting process. I realized that for me getting started was the hardest part. What helps me is if I google key words related to my topic or read a few sentences from different articles i may stumble upon to really get my flow going.

Once I found a few concrete article to work with i sat down an finally got things rolling. I find it helpful to jot down note from the article as I read. Sometimes I even jot down quotes and their page numbers so that they will be easy to reference quickly in my writing without having to go back and find it and interrupt my writing process.

finally I open up a word document and let it flow out of my brain and onto the paper, not caring about grammar, spelling or fluency. Just having a concrete basis to work off of and edit until I have a solid and succinct final copy really helps get all my ideas in some form of writing.

In the end procrastination is not always a bad thing. Sometimes writing before you are ready and completely focused only produces dead ends. It's pointless to try and create something just because you need to get it done. It is more important in the writing process to take your time and prepare yourself mentally for the writing process before you delve right in. This approach could have positive effects on the quality of your writing.