Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomsecrets2016-06-04 04:04 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2016-06-04 04:04 pm
[ SECRET POST #3440 ]
⌈ Secret Post #3440 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 79 secrets from Secret Submission Post #491.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Re: BSing an essay
(Anonymous) 2016-06-05 02:46 am (UTC)(link)1. Fast track your research. Paper due soon means only online research it is. Stick in some keywords in online journals or google books and read the abstracts, intros and conclusions to get a quick grasp of the general topic. Keep the tabs open for the sources you're going to quote or footnote.
2. Decide on your essay argument based entirely on the argument you can most easily back up based on the research you've done. Stop researching when you have the minimum amount of sources you judge you need to look like you've put work into research.
3. Work out the minimum you have to write, then plan to that. E.g., if I had to write 2000 words give or take 10%, I would plan an intro and conclusion of 250 words each (pad these out as much as you can), then 3 paragraphs of 400ish words or 4 paras of 300ish words. Total: 1800ish words, the bare minimum I have to write without having marks deducted.
4. Write the intro first, even if you don't usually. It solidifies your plan in your mind and helps you clarify the argument you are going to bullshit your way through. Also, pad pad pad it out. Your intro bloats to 350 words? Good! That's 100 words less to write in the rest of the essay.
5. Quote. Quote long and hard. If I was writing a 2000 word essay, I would find about 50 words to quote in each paragraph to support my points. The more you quote, the less you have to write. And even if quotes don't count to the word count, you can use up words introducing and explaining the quote. Plus, it looks like you wrote more than you did and worked hard doing "research".
6. Know what you need and where you need to be to write. It might be in the library, with a laptop and a chocolate bar, or at the local Starbucks while listening to Kenny Loggins, or in your pajamas in bedwith chinese takeout and red wine (though not too much). Whatever and wherever you meed to be to write that goddamn essay, do it. Stay until it's done, or as done as it needs to be that day.
7. If you get stuck, move onto another part of the essay, or do your referencing or formatting while you work it out. Keep it moving and don't get dispirited. The more you write the less you have to write.
8. Give yourself scheduled breaks and/or a reward system to get you through. Punishing yourself further for leaving it to the last minute isn't going to makre yourself more productive, so don't even think about it.
Good luck anon! You can do it!
Re: BSing an essay
(Anonymous) 2016-06-05 02:57 am (UTC)(link)Re: BSing an essay
Re: BSing an essay
(Anonymous) 2016-06-05 05:13 am (UTC)(link)Most of my students find essays to be daunting, but when I give them 45 minutes to produce an essay on a certain topic, they're always amazed at how much they wrote in a short period of time. Just write. You can always go back in and revise once you have your ideas on paper (or a computer screen).
Re: BSing an essay
Re: BSing an essay
(Anonymous) 2016-06-05 06:31 am (UTC)(link)Yeah, I maybe should have qualified the quoting bit. I think I got away with a lot because I'm a good writer and a lot of the time my markers were just so happy that my argument and writing flowed that they couldn't be bothered picking me up on my bullshit over quoting. Plus, I was good at spreading them around so they didn't look too obviously like padding.
Christ, I hated university. Lol.