Introduction

Using this book

GOALS OF BOOK

This workbook is for you, our college students. The primary goal of this workbook is help you write a term paper—or major writing assignment requiring research— in ten weeks. The workbook provides a series of steps so that you can avoid three of the most common problems when an undergraduate (and even some of your professors!) approach writing: anxiety about writing, procrastination, and perfectionism.

I hope this book inspires you to develop a weekly writing practice as part of your study time. Carving out X numbers of hours to write the term paper two days before it is due can be very stressful. Why would you want to engage in stressful activities? By following this ten-week program, I hope to inspire you to write more with less anxiety and more joy. And who knows, perhaps the new writing practice you will learn here will help you complete those short stories and poems you used to write when you were younger.

Because academic writing is a new language for all of us, this workbook is for both “native” English speakers and multilingual students.  UC

HISTORY OF THE BOOK

Why ten weeks?  Simply, I teach at Portland State University, a university that uses the quarter system, so that translates to ten weeks. Since 1998, I have taught writing composition in both Spanish and in English at various institutions. This book outlines a teaching approach that I have developed over the years, one that helps students feel more confident about their writing.  As an educator, I also have struggled because sometimes teaching writing has seemed to me as an afterthought. We, as educators, sometimes do not have the class time to teach you about our discipline and then guide you through the writing process. I wrote this book so that students themselves and with peers can also empower themselves to write even if the professors may be concentrating on other important aspects of the classroom experience.  UC

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Don’t follow the old maxim about not writing in books. If you own this book, please write in it.  If you own a digital version of this book, print the specific sheets and write in them.

Let’s also be honest. For this workbook to “work” (meaning that you will turn a term paper in ten weeks), you will need to do the weekly work. You will find that this book does not shame you when you do not write (or even when you write very little). This book realizes that it takes time to develop a writing practice. Let me share something embarrassing with you. As a graduate student and as a professor, I would check out how-to-write books and I would never open them. If you got this far in the book, congratulations!

Give this book a chance. You may be surprised how these strategies will help you be a better writer in the long run and will instill (I hope) the love for the writing process.

Let’s also talk about the other elephant in the room: TIME. How much time do typical college students spend doing homework.  How much time do you typically spend doing homework and writing your papers?  Let’s spend a few minutes doing some math about your sense of TIME.

You may be surprised to find that the typical college student spends a total 15 hours a week doing homework and writing papers for all of their courses! You will notice that the book is organized by 10 weeks. In those ten weeks, I have created three study sessions per week, each devoted to a writing practice.  As already mentioned, the goal of this book is to show you how to make writing a habit that you bring to your study time.

If you follow this method, you will not need to “cram” to complete the term paper. How many times do you hear your peers talking about how “I am stuck at home writing the term paper”?

Let’s do a bit more “math.” Let’s figure out how many courses you are taking and how much study time you can devote to reading, studying, and writing.  I will use “Lidiana” as the model student.

REFLECTION PROMPT (5 min)

Be realistic. Use this book as part of your study session time. If you have written that you only can spend 10 hours week on college homework (and that includes studying, reading, and writing), carve time from those 10 hours to complete the work in this book. Too often students consider writing as one more additional thing to do at the end of the term. Make writing part of your study time throughout the term and you will be surprised how much easier the term-paper writing process becomes and how happy you will become with your writing.

To summarize: make writing part of your study time throughout the term. UC

USING THE BOOK ACCORDING TO YOUR MAJOR

This book will show you how to write within your discipline by making you aware of the keywords that already appear in your syllabus. In future weeks, you will be asked to analyze your professor’s syllabus for keywords and key concepts. Should the syllabus be just a list of due dates, do not worry. You will be asked to analyze the website for your major or department, and you will find keywords and fundamental concepts.

Why are keywords important? Keywords will give you find articles and books to support your ideas and ways of thinking. UC

USING THE BOOK BY YOURSELF

I designed this book in mind NOT as a solo adventure. In my courses, students always work in writing groups with peers (I call them “Success Teams”). I know that organizing writing groups with peers may be difficult to organize. For example, your professor is teaching a large introductory course with 250 students. You may also be a student who commutes, does not live on campus, and may not be able to meet with a peer group due to family-related commitments.

I also know that some students just want to work alone—I was one of those introverted undergraduates who just wanted to work alone!

In any case, you can use the workbook by yourself, though I would urge you to visit your writing center for some of the peer shares I mention.  Think outside the box about who may be a member of your writing group. Your writing group may include a co-worker, a romantic partner, a spouse, a friend, or just someone who is around your house. UC

USING THE BOOK WITH A WRITING PARTNER OR WRITING GROUP

I designed this book with the idea that once you are part of a writing group, you will thrive. I will not bore you with the evidence, but study after study show that people who are part of writing groups write more and are happier about the writing process. I want you to be that undergraduate who is proud and happy about writing. UC

USING THE BOOK WITH WRITING CENTER STAFF

As students, we tend to use the wonderful writing center staff only at the last minute. I have seen students just throw their papers at writing center staff and demand for their term paper to be read and corrected!

First of all, let’s not be rude. Let’s always show kindness and gratitude to anyone who is reading our work. Next time you turn in a term paper, thank your professor for reading your work. You may be surprised how this act of kindness may be received. I am not guaranteeing a better grade—more on grades later—, but kindness shows that you honor the time you spent writing the term paper and honors the time that others spent reading your work. I purposefully created this book so that you would visit with writing center staff throughout the ten weeks.  UC

USING THE BOOK IF YOU ARE MULTILINGUAL STUDENT

I am a multilingual scholar and faced many difficulties getting used to writing “college English.” I grew up speaking Spanish and when my mom remarried, her new spouse enrolled my siblings and me in American schools in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Although I spoke English when I first came to college in the United States, I did not know anything about “the college essay,” “an argument,” or “the difference between a primary source and a secondary source.” This book does not address directly how to improve your English writing skills by completing grammar exercises.  As a bilingual speaker, I became more proficient in my writing by just reading and writing more, and by being more efficient about how I read and how I modeled good writing.

This book DOES address how to give all students the opportunity to develop a writing practice.  I hope you bring this practice when you write papers in your other languages. This book is about teaching you how to make writing a practice you bring to your study sessions. I am convinced that by setting up a writing practice, you will improve your English skills and you will honor your family’s languages and cultures.  For example, for my Spanish-speaking students, I hope this book inspires you to write not only in English, but also in Spanish. This book is about adopting the habit of writing.  UC

USING THE BOOK WITH YOUR PROFESSORS

You may have heard your professors say this: “Visit me early and often” and “Don’t wait until the last minute to talk to me about the exam/the term paper for it may be too late.” I have said those very same words to my students. This book will help you talk to your professors about your writing. First of all, early in the term, share with them that you are using this book to complete the term paper. Your professors will be impressed that you are so organized! Who knows, maybe one of the professors will think of you when they need a research assistant?

Why share with your professors that you are using this textbook? They may also offer specific—and additional—guidelines about the term paper that do not appear in this book.

This book will ask you to generate short statements that you can take to your professors.  Once again, your professors will be impressed that you are sharing written work with them early and often. By talking to professors early and often and with some writing to show them, you are going to receive helpful feedback early in the process. Equally important, you will feel more connected with your writing and happier about the process of writing the term paper.

And may I share a harsh reality with you about writing AFTER college? College will be the last time a professional will look at your writing and will be open to talking about your ideas. Future employers will expect you to write. I meet with students after they graduated from my home institution, and they share with me that even after four years of college, they are still anxious about writing (even writing a work email!), are still waiting until the last minute to write the business report, and are still bogged down by perfectionism.

Work with your professors now that you have the time. Your professors have spent a lifetime thinking about ideas, research approaches, and writing. We are here to help you, and do visit us early and often. UC

TALKING TO PROFESSORS ABOUT WRITING ASSIGNMENT GRADES

May I be honest with you? My least favorite part of my profession is talking to students about grades. My favorite part of my profession is when I spend office hours talking to students about what we are reading class, the ideas that the students have about those readings, and the ways that we can improve our arguments and the ways we can find evidence that is applicable to those arguments. In other words, turn your comments away from a fixed mindset model (avoid talking about letter grades) and toward growth mindset one  (ask “process questions”).

What do I mean by “process questions”? You will impress your professors if instead of saying, “Why did I get a B- in this paper” or “How can I get an A in this paper?” you start the conversation by following these steps:

1. Show gratitude. Thank you for reading my work.
2. Show that you are aware of problems in your writing. I want improve this specific section of my essay, because I think I am making this type of error in this paragraph/sentence: ___________. What are the main problems you see in my writing?
3. Show that you are open to suggestions. Avoid these statements, Well, in my other school, I never received comments or This is the first time I get a B-. Too often, students are defensive about comments and are closed off to receiving advice. Remember that your professors have spent a lifetime thinking about research and writing. They are sharing knowledge with you and are not attacking you.
4. Show that you approach writing as a process and not as a fixed outcome. Avoid these statements, how do I get an A in this paper? Instead, ask “process questions”: Do you have any models I could use to help improve this specific part of the essay?  Professor X, do you see other students with this type of writing problem?  How do you help them?

Try these writing prompts with your professors. Let me know what you learned by asking process questions rather than why-did-I-get-a-C? questions.

USING THE BOOK IF YOU ARE THE PROFESSOR

Although this book is designed for undergraduates, professors may want to assign this book as the writing component for courses or use sections of this book in lectures and in approaches to teaching writing in your discipline. I designed this book so that professors from across disciplines could have a tool that would allow their students to write a paper in ten weeks. In a given term, I know that it is difficult to create a classroom community, teach content, grade papers, do research, publish, attend committee meetings, and pursue governance activities. I designed this book so that students would develop a writing practice, one that is guided by class material you already provide them (the syllabus, for example). I realize that this approach is idealistic. Your approach and your discipline’s way of thinking are crucial, and it will further guide how your students do their research and approach the writing process.

This guided tour of writing may relieve some of the anxiety that professors have about undergraduate writing. We are aware that our students come to our courses without having a writing practice and without the knowledge that writing and information literacy skills transfer from one class to another. I designed this book to help undergraduates develop a writing practice and submit a final “product” to you.

If you have a mentor or a graduate assistant, consider using this book as the workbook they use with your undergraduate students.

FEEDBACK TO THE AUTHOR

If you are a professor using this book, please email me with feedback. I welcome corrections (typos, for example), examples of student work, and insights on how you are using this book in your discipline.  I also welcome feedback of what did not work well when you used this book.

If you are a student, I especially want to hear from you.  This book was designed with you in mind and with ample feedback from my students. Please share your experiences with me: What parts of this book helped you? What approaches did not help you?  I also welcome your student work (send me a paper that you are proud of, for example), and your reflections about your writing practice. In short, if you were my co-author, what would you do add, delete, or expand? If you are a multilingual student, what worked for you and what additional tips would you like to master?

To contact me, please go to my website www.UNDER CONSTRUCTION (Gandalf, create a website via PebblePad?)

rite your introduction.