Ask the Center Staff

How am I ever going to get this project done if I keep changing my mind???   A couple of weeks ago, I finally figured out a claim for my sustained writing project.  But after reading more and talking to people, I’m not sure I think about this issue the same way I did when I started.  NOW what do I do?    – A worried ITW student 

____

Dear ITW student,

What you describe sounds like you are digging into your own education by thinking, writing, talking, and rethinking.   Believe it or not, this is a good thing.   It may seem like you are losing focus when you are learning so much, but the tutors say that rethinking and rewriting is entirely normal, and an important learning process.  Here’s their advice:

 
“Come up with a thesis early, but be prepared to edit and change it later, sometimes multiple times.”  — Jenn Kant

“Research will help lead to a claim.”  — John Vespa

“When it comes to formulating a claim, don’t force it; it may change many times throughout your writing and it may not even come to you until the end of the process.”  — Ellen Estabrook

“Take your claim and re-write it three or four times in different ways.  Keep what you like and get rid of what you don’t.”  — Alex Candee

“Explore and develop your ideas through discussion with peers, teachers, and anyone willing to give you their thoughts.   Through discussion, your ideas will develop which will add depth to your writing.” –- Josh Starkey

“Do not be afraid of revision.  Think of your first draft as a tabletop of puzzle pieces that you will toy with, rearranging and finding new shapes and forms through your own exploration.”  – Erin Stewart

Every tutor on the Center for Writing staff has experience developing a sustained writing project.  That means that students can trust that any tutor they work with will understand the particular struggles -and pleasures - of such a writing challenge.

One of the workshops we now offer is an in-class Q&A session led by a tutor who has been in the other students’ shoes.  Students can ask anything about the writing project experience — strategies, struggles, and all. 

Faculty report that it’s valuable for their classes to hear how another student successfully handled the process of researching, writing, and thinking through a complex issue.   

Read more about our other  workshops or use our workshop request form to schedule a classroom visit.

The University of Aukland’s Referen©ite won the 2007 Outstanding Academic Integrity Resource Award — and for good reason.  It has excellent student-friendly presentations that explain why citation is so valuable.  It also has tools that walk writers through the steps of the referencing process.  There’s much more to this welcoming, up to date, and well-researched resource. 

Here’s what the creators say about it:

The main purpose of Referen©ite is to encourage students to correctly reference the sources they use in written work. To do this, it:

• Promotes the meaningfulness of the practice: it is not mere institutional compliance - the values at the core of the practice are shared across cultures;
• Provides tools and information to make correct referencing sources significantly easier - to virtually eliminate any excuse that it is too difficult or confusing.
• Provides 24/7 access to referencing information via a single simple url (www.cite.auckland.ac.nz); through the site’s own content and also by acting as a central ‘hub’ for excellent online referencing resources.

Highly recommended!