I know, this is like a week late. We’re just going to ignore the space-time continuum for a bit though. :P
The first issue when it comes to essays is always the subject. I can sit for hours in front of my computer thinking, “This? Nah, maybe this?” Sometimes I get an introduction in mind and start writing something, but before long I run out of steam and give up on that. Maybe this then? Nope. What’s the idea I want to use? This? Yeah, sure. But what are the specifics. Hmm.
It’s time for an epiphany.
Luckily for me, they do usually come when I really need them. Suddenly a sentence comes to me that is just perfect. It might sit in the middle of the essay, but it is exactly what I need. This time around, it’s the thesis (what luck!). I write it down and start to build off it. I put together an introduction that I like and feel I can really get the rest of the essay done with it.
But nothing’s coming to me. I skip down a page and start mapping things out. Here’s the intro, this is my thesis, now what? I jot down the order I’ll work things in, the specifics I’d like to use. I flip through the book and pick out a few good quotes. Some I’ve already picked out in earlier brainstorming and they work with this subject, even though it is very different from what I was originally considering. I write them down.
With my map now set, all prepared to get me through this, I get working on the second paragraph. Now that I not only know what I want to write about, but what specifics I’m going to hit and when, things seem easier. But after a couple more sentences, I’m stuck again. I know this is what I want to write about, but I just can’t think of what to say next. Would a quote work? Yes. I put one in, but can’t think of what to say after that.
I minimize Word and consult my amazing turtle desktop. Surely Mr. Turtle will have some advice for me.
“Eat an apple, Mary,” he says. “Fruit will bring you wisdom.”
A break sounds good to me. I stop and go eat an apple.
A half hour later, I come back feeling rejuvenated. Time away from the computer has got my brain working again. I’ve come up with a few sentences that will work awesome later in the essay- in particular, one for the conclusion. I have a hard time with conclusions, so this is good. Thank you, Mr. Turtle.
When I raise Word again, I can also think of how to continue and do so. From here, I write on unimpeded for several paragraphs. I make an addition to my map, another idea that could help out striking me. The order of the paragraphs surprises me slightly, but I consider it and realize that I really like how it’s working out. I continue.
Sometime I stop and minimize word to ask Mr. Turtle for help again, but he doesn’t tell me to stop working completely anymore. He gives me little bits of inspiration instead and I thank him and tell him he was definitely the inspiration for the turtle in “Kung Fu Panda” and go back to working.
I’ve ended up double-spacing things to make this take up the right amount of space, but that’s okay. I’m pretty sure that teachers prefer double-spacing essays, even if it feels like cheating to me. I prefer 1.5. But I’ve finally reached the conclusion. I add a fitting quote that I removed from an earlier section and then my awesome concluding sentence that I came up with earlier.
Sweet! I’m done. My relief causes me to forget to proofread and almost to forget to remove my map. I remove that just in time to avoid wasting a sheet of paper on it. Once it’s printed, I staple it, stick in my folder, and forget about it. I’m finally finished, I’m pleased with what I wrote, and I’m nearly exploding with my relief.
The next day I go to school to turn it in and it turns out we have to read through our essays in class. I notice that not only have I forgotten one of the things the teacher wanted us to use in our essays, I am missing words here and there, making phrases that I pick up and gasp at even though Word didn’t. I carrot in a few small additions and cross my fingers for a good score. I now feel much less confident; it’s too late to change things. But I’m done, and maybe things will go my way… they have in the past. Until I find out, well, that’s just part of the process of an essay.
