Audrey L's response to "Getting Launched"

I feel so much better about my writing after reading “Getting Launched.”  All through high school I would dread writing papers because I always felt like I was going through the writing process wrong.  My teachers seemed to have one set process of how everyone should write essays, and everyone had to conform to that process.  I, however, never felt that whatever process they recommended worked for me.  I couldn’t just sit down the day I was told to write a paper and write something without thinking about it for a time beforehand, but I always felt like I was procrastinating when I didn’t actually write anything down on paper until a few days after I got the assignment.  It wasn’t that I was avoiding the paper, usually; I just felt like I would write better if I thought about it for a while, turned it over in my mind, observed it from every aspect, and wrote it out in my mind, before actually writing it out on paper.  Then, once I felt I had considered it as much as was necessary, I would sit down, and write the whole paper in one sitting.  I will admit that I probably didn’t ever revise a paper as much as I should have.  I don’t have any excuse for that, it just didn’t happen. 

My other problem with my high school English classes was that I never had to try hard to get a good grade, so I usually wouldn’t.  I would do just enough work for the A, but I very rarely went the extra mile.  I could write a rough draft, read through it once to correct all of the grammar mistakes and typos and turn it in.  I might lose a point here or a point there for small mistakes, but I still got A’s so I never changed the way I wrote.  If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.  Reading what Trimble said about writing a “zero draft” and revising multiple times intimidated me.  It feels so overwhelming to have to write and rewrite a paper over and over again.  It is a new concept for me, but I can definitely understand how it would be useful, and, now that I am at college, necessary. 

I also enjoyed the advice that Trimble gave about answering questions on 5x8 inch slips of paper as part of the brainstorming process.  It seems like a really good way to organize thoughts, and it will help determine which direction the paper is going.  Instead of just having one main topic and millions of jumbled thoughts running through my brain, these cards can show me what is important, what questions need to be answered, and how to answer them.  I will definitely need to try this exercise with my next paper. 

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I am actually not dreading the next paper that I will have to write.  I don’t know that I am looking forward to it, but it does not seem quite so overwhelming or intimidating if I just follow the steps the Trimble suggests.  I feel good about a few of them, that they will really help my writing to become easier and better.  But I also need to remember that I need to find whatever works for me, and perfect that process.  Writing is an individual process.  No two people will write the same thing, so no two people should write the same way.  I wish I had learned that a long time ago.