Thoughts about the writing process

Commence rant: I really, really, really hate presenting. A lot. It’s close to the top of my list of skills that I need to develop. End mini rant.

Other than my discomfort in presenting to a class, I really enjoyed the process we went through to write our papers. I like that I was broken down into so many parts because it forced me to slow down. I couldn’t just write this paper in two days with a third day for revisions like all the other papers I was writing in the midst of this process. I was able to break it down and allow ideas to develop instead of trying to put them all together at one time. Ok, even the part I disliked the most was still helpful by making me evaluate the main points and flow of what I had actually written. Another reason I really liked the way we approached this paper is it invited me to be more involved in the writing. By reading and hearing about other people’s papers, and having them read and evaluate mine (regardless of whether it was the initial abstract, the draft, or the presentation), it was no longer just a paper. Instead, it caused me to ask why it matters to us. What is the value of what each of us is writing and how can it apply to us?