Category Archives: Uncategorized

Highlighters: The Balancing Act

Last week, I described a strategy for using highlighters to clarify your thoughts on the first draft of a piece of writing. You may recall that this strategy creates a colorful visual that helps you identify the number of ideas you introduce in a single piece of writing, the relationships (or lack thereof) between thoseContinue reading “Highlighters: The Balancing Act”

Beginning, Middle, End?

I was flabbergasted. I’m sure I looked like an exaggerated cartoonish caricature of astonishment, with my eyeballs popping out of their sockets and my jaw on the floor. Have I mentioned that I was flabbergasted? The students in my first-year college writing class were equally flabbergasted. All twenty-four of us stared at each other inContinue reading “Beginning, Middle, End?”

Time (What to do when you haven’t got any)

Last week’s post was full of magical ideas about words falling out of your mind and onto a blank page, arranging themselves in no particular order until several drafts later, after you, all of your friends, one or two teachers or tutors, and every expert on writing who happens to live in your neighborhood (doesn’tContinue reading “Time (What to do when you haven’t got any)”

Setting Realistic Expectations about Your First Draft

In my work as a writing instructor and tutor, I’ve often been asked simply to sit with a student as he or she drafts a writing assignment. My role in such situations is to provide moral support while simultaneously serving as a sounding board, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a grammar rule book, and a cheerleader.Continue reading “Setting Realistic Expectations about Your First Draft”