#inksprouting

Simone de Beauvoir wrote

that in media, there were two types of women:

a woman who does no wrong;

a woman who does nothing but;

March 8 is International Women’s Day, but it marks 10 years since your grandmother passed away. Write a story about something you wish your grandmother taught you, if she were still alive.

You’re a cashier at a gas station. A man with a swatsika tattoo on his chest walk in for gas. His son flicks a booger at you. Write a story about how you would feel, if this happened to you.

If you've been working on your paper for hours or staring at your homework, it's time to take a break. You can't put forth your best effort if you fry your brain from overworking or boredom. It's ok. Browse social media for a few minutes; watch funny videos; check on your friends; get some fresh air. Taking breaks prevents burnout, excessive typos and procrastinating. Link to the original article: 

https://underscorenewsblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/how-to-write-successful-papers-featuring-cats/

This week's post aims to help those tasked with writing about anything but don't have a clue on what to write about. This post has commentary added to the original post.

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Your instructor assigns a paper, in which you can write anything you want. A light bulb clicks above your head, so you begin drafting for ideas. As you draft your paper, that light bulb suddenly shuts off and your head is full of static. The paper's deadline is closer than expected.

Here's a few things you can do to make your paper the best it can be.

Read Your Previous Papers

Photo by grapaiva

Reading your previous essays can help you expand on a topic, create new topics, or write from a different angle. The few instances where this is the least effective method are: you don't have the paper anymore; you can't expand on a topic beyond "I asked this person questions, they answered them and I wrote it into a story;" or the topic no longer interests you.

More importantly, try remembering any feedback your teachers or classmates gave you on a paper. Highlight the most common statements, and write them on the margins of your draft; or type the feedback on the top of your document, put it in bold, then highlight it.

Write and Proofread Your Notes

Photo by naobim

This is obvious, but what if your topic is something like a book with a plethora of themes? If you want to take the scholarly approach, databases such as EBSCO, JSTOR and Google Scholar have articles about certain themes. Scholarly articles take a while to read, so paraphrasing paragraphs, taking notes and citing key events in the book and the article can help ease both the writing and citation stages of drafting papers.

If Googling is your only option, try other search engines such as Yandex, StartPage, DuckDuckGo or Bing (which is my favorite, because every day has a new picture).

Be sure to keep track and narrow down your sources based on how many sources you want, the length of your paper and the depth of your topic.

Take Breaks

Photo by luxstorm

If you've worked on your paper for hours or staring at your homework, it's time to take a break. You can't put forth your best effort if you fry your brain from overworking or boredom. It's ok. Browse social media for a few minutes; watch funny videos; check on your friends; get some fresh air. Taking breaks prevents burnout, excessive typos and procrastinating.

Review What You’ve Read

Another obvious step, but most likely you forgot a mandatory element on the paper: Summaries, presentations, headings or *gasp* your name. You could have spelling or grammatical errors, or you typed something that you're not sure what it means; and if you don't understand it, then your instructor most likely won't. Take advantage of peer reviews, and take your time reviewing your paper.

Don’t Give Up

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I’m a cat lover who drinks coffee <3

I’m currently an incoming first-year grad student in Communication. I like reading, music, and video games. 

Hello, everyone, and thank you for your patience. 

I created a new blog, with the goal to blog from a more personal point of view.  This does not mean inksprouting will go away.  

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