I can't believe I'm half way through my semester already! The time certainly goes, but now the heat is on. I've just completed a 'take home exam' - which is really an assignment, not a nerve wracking exam, thank God! Even though I'd read both the books, done the homework, attended lectures/tutorials, it still felt like an exam because I did my usual, "I can't do this - I'm no good at this - Why am I doing this?' scenario.
I don't know if I'm ever going feel truely confident about my writing. I know my understanding and analysis of the novels is spot on, but for some reason, I lose my flow when it comes to writing the essay. I think I'm worrying so much about 'the right way' to do it, my creativity tends to become a little blocked. The lecturer suggested 'three hours' is all we needed to write two 500 word responses to two passages. Well, I can tell you now, it took me three hours just to go over notes and find appropriate quotes. Anyway, I've handed it in and now need to concentrate on my second World History brief and it's a bit hard to feel confident about the second one when I haven't even received the results of the first!
And as usual, in between all this are the three children and all their little dramas that can't get penned into my daily schedule. Just when I feel I've taken two steps forward, I get pulled back another four! Over the last couple of weeks we've had a sprained knee, bronchitis, teenage attitude, groundings and even a school detention!!! I'm sure any of you lucky, parents of teens out there can feel my pain!!!
To tell you the truth, as hard as it is sometimes, uni's the one thing that keeps me sane!
Uni has definitely kept me sane all these years. I have stopped worrying over how much longer it takes me to put together an essay - about 3 weeks compared to 24 hours sometimes by younger students! You will get to know what you need to do to write the best essay you can, and as older students we just need to accept it takes us longer. Also writing improves the more you do - my worst part is the first sentence. Like you I worry too much about getting it perfect, when really I just need to get going, and getting it perfect is what editing is for. It is annoying though when waiting for feedback that will help with a second assignment, maybe you could ask for some verbal feedback?
ReplyDeleteGood luck - with the teens too!
" I don't know if I'm ever going feel truely confident about my writing... " ..
ReplyDeleteI am a normal person ..
not a writer like you ...
but let me tell you somethings ...
may be cliched but true...
write as a person whom you see in mirror... coz thats the reflection on you without any error...
(don't know what I write but I am happy that I wrote something.... so write something which makes you happy .. and don't put conditions for being happy ... ) ...