Winter quarter is nearly half done, and I’m sure everyone knows what that means. Mid-terms are over, the snow is starting to melt, and the UCWbL’s winter quarter research-writing workshop is coming to a Suburban Campus near you!
This workshop, “From First Draft to Polished Product: Writing Your Researched Argument,” will be held at the Oak Forest and O’Hare campuses on Saturday, February 26 at 12 noon. The workshop will take place at Naperville on Saturday, March 5th at noon. During the workshop, you’ll explore strategies that can help you tackle long-term research projects, whether you’re working on an Independent Learning Pursuit, a senior thesis, an Advanced Project, or a course-long research paper. To RSVP for the workshop, click here.
While this workshop will focus on research methods, the writing process, thesis composition, outlining, citations, and more, much of the conversation will discuss how we can revise our usual writing strategies in order to become more effective and efficient writers. We don’t often think of revision in this way; instead, we always consider revision something that takes place after the writing process: “Revise this essay.” “This needs to be revised ASAP.” “Did you revise that email?”
Despite that we regularly consider revision in this context, however, most of us use revision on a daily basis without realizing it: Was the Brown Line late yesterday so you took the Red Line instead? Maybe you stopped going to a certain spot for lunch because you found an alien-like object in your food. Or perhaps you didn’t stay up till 4:00am watching Dr. Who on Netflix last night so you had the energy to wake up at 8:00am today. This is revision in action!
Since we’re always revising in our everyday actions, this workshop will consider how everything about the writing process may be revised to benefit you. Having trouble just starting a paper? Revise your pre-writing strategies by trying different techniques, changing where or when you do your writing, and finding what works for you! You could revise how you and if you write an outline. By discovering what works for you, you can revise and construct a more efficient writing process.
If you can’t attend the workshop for whatever reason, always feel free to drop by the Writing Center for an appointment with a Writing Tutor. We’re always happy to discuss these topics with you in as much detail as possible.
P.S. This post was inspired by the writings of Allie Brosh. Her masterful blog is called Hyperbole and a Half. If you want to read her entertaining material, visit her blog here: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/