vswpaper's Diaryland
Diary
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Slowdown
Not so much done today as I had hoped, not so much at all. Instead of 3 pages, I did not quite a half. I'm stuck at a transition that I didn't work out in the outline. There were about six of them in a row at the start of the paper, and they slowed me down considerably. This one's maybe not so bad, but after I did some touch-ups--including ones recommended by my friend--I couldn't really get it worked out. I didn't know what I'm saying there exactly, although I've now roughed in something to start work with tomorrow. I can start straightaway so I'm still hoping to do some substantial work.
Transitions have always been a difficulty for me--I can remember finding exasperated notes about them in the margins of my earlier college papers. I'm better at them now, but they're also harder than what I used to imagine them to be because I don't want to make just meaningless joins, but useful elements that play a real structural role. I'm also chafing at starting each paragraph with a topic sentence--it's very difficult finding a way around that while hewing to the requirements of an academic paper. Partly, too, I don't have the energy for this kind of nicety.
One thing my friend said was that I was well clear of the quality bar of undergraduate papers and that's all I really need. I want an A because of the dismal state of my grade point average, and I expected I was there. It was delightful to have it confirmed.
Tomorrow the other friend who's reading the paper has promised to phone me and give me feedback. She talked on the phone this evening about reading it seriously, and frankly that has me worried. I think I'll be ready for serious reading once I've got my first or maybe second draft finished. I'm thinking of getting it all down as the first draft, and then tidying it up and reviewing the quotes for any that seem worthwhile to add, and calling that the second draft. Which would be good to have them review, then revise and send it off.
9:00 p.m. - 2007-02-18
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