While working on my literacy narrative, I kept a process log
to record the following items: date, time, activity, environment, tools used,
accomplishments, and feelings. Here is a brief summary of my processes and how
they changed / evolved as I worked through writing and editing my narrative.
Jan 16-17
Before I began writing down my ideas, I did a lot of
brainstorming as I commuted home from Chicago and ate lunch with my husband the
following day. At this point, I was hopeful and started to formulate some
topics in my mind and through conversation. I felt positive but was a little
worried about what specific experiences I should use in my paper.
Jan. 22, morning
At this point I began writing down ideas on my laptop,
working in my office in relative quiet because none of my housemates were awake
yet. I wrote out my answers to the prompt questions and wrote in a creative
non-fiction style, not very formal and not very structured.
Jan. 22, evening
I started fleshing out my rough draft. I worked at my laptop
in my office again. I was feeling very positive and inspired at this point.
Jan. 23, afternoon
I finished fleshing out the rough draft on my train commute
to Chicago. I was starting to feel burned out and not sure what else I could
add to the paper, but I was looking forward to peer review.
Jan. 23, evening
Peer review and self-reflection in the classroom. I was
feeling a little uncertain about possible revisions but was glad to get
positive feedback from one of my classmates.
Feb. 11
Read over my notes from our peer review day, was unable to
find teacher comments. I had a conversation with my husband about how I felt
daunted – editing my paper would be a big task.
Feb. 13
Reflected on my fears of revision and shared them with
classmates as part of our class discussion. Read over teacher comments and realized
I would need to do a lot of revising. It felt good to know that classmates were
having similar concerns, but I still felt a little overwhelmed.
Feb. 14
I started brainstorming some revisions and edits to the
paper and started to rewrite my introduction and conclusion. I was working on
my laptop at the train station and my laptop died while I was trying to make
these revisions.
Feb. 15
While we were driving around running errands, I talked to my
housemate about the paper and how anxious I was to make the needed revisions. This
conversation wasn’t very productive but helped me vent a little. When we got
home, I cuddled up on the couch with blankets and turned on reruns of an old TV
show to create a comfortable atmosphere. I spent the next three hours entirely
scrapping my original drafts and then reworking some of it back into an
entirely new paper. At the end of this time, I saved and then tried to reopen
the file and thought I had lost everything. I immediately went into panic mode
and started crying. I eventually found the file saved in the wrong location and
re-opened it. I decided it was time for a break and decided to take a nap. I
posted on Facebook, hoping for some sympathy from friends or at least a
friendly conversation to lighten my spirits.
Feb. 16
Managed to get some feedback on Facebook and chatted with a writerly
friend about my challenges and frustrations. Thought about possible revisions
while at work and then came home to set up shop in my office again and get the final
revisions done on my paper. I’m still not fully satisfied with my final draft,
but if I continue to pick at it, it will never be finished to my liking.
Started struggling with the next part of my project: translating my portfolio
to a web format.
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