Rough Draft Conference Requirements
Do not
succumb to the temptation not to write. If you arrive with nothing in
writing, it will be the equivalent of an absence or a completely missed
conference. (I can’t teach you to
write until you start to show me your writing.)
Unfinished drafts are
acceptable, but bring your notes, outlines, etc. I would
expect that a competent student with over a week to prepare would be
able to produce at least three to five pages, typed and double-spaced, of
more or less coherent prose. Use the
techniques we discussed to help you find out what is on your mind before
you attempt to write fully-formed prose sentences and paragraphs. Make
lists, clusters, conceptual maps, or outlines—whatever works for you at the
most basic level of idea generation. If
you are blocked, give yourself the permission to write badly as long as it gets
you writing. We can deal with the
mechanics later. The paragraphs
don’t even have to be consecutive—they could be two or even three attempts
to start a topic. Or they could be
a conclusion that you lack the means to defend, an introduction that hasn’t yet found its body, or a body without intro or
conclusion. Just start writing.
You can write your way to coherence and insight.