I found Chapter 8 – Organizing and Drafting to be somewhat of a review. Most of material we have seen since middle or high school, but I guess it’s important to really know it. I did, however, find a few interesting tips/comments on conclusions and genres. I just need to make sure I think about these tips when I’m writing.
I’m sure we are all familiar with the whole intro, body, conclusion thing, considering its been pounded into our heads since we were in grade school. The part I’m not familiar with is writing the introduction last. I agree with the “six opening moves” they cover but I don’t agree that the introduction should be written last. Why don’t I start with the conclusion and work from there? Didn’t see that in the reading. I understand the premise of doing the intro last or not first, but I need the intro to get the ball rolling on what I’m going to write. After I write my intro I usually have a good Idea of where I want the paper to go. I feel like it sets the whole tone for how I’m going to write the paper, not just how it’s read.
The section on genres was interesting too. I never really thought about the purpose or genre of what I was going to write. In the past, I would only be thinking about the topic and how I was going to lay out what I wanted to say. I think subconsciously I knew what the purpose was, but never really spent time to think “I need to define a concept or set of terms”. I can see that if I spent time at this step my writing could improve.
The reading also made a good point about poorly written conclusions. I know I’m usually not happy with the way mine are constructed and they need some improvement. Normally this is the part of the paper that I dread writing and don’t really spend much time on. I always feel like it’s tough to sum up my writing in a condensed form that still says what I want it too.
While this chapter had a lot of review, I still think it had some good tips and helped to point out some basics of good writing. I just need to add this stuff to my constantly growing long list of things to remember when writing.
Writing your Intro last ...
I understand your misgivings about writing your intro last, because I use to share them as well. However, there are times when, in a paper or proposal or other document, your focus shifts or your direction changes from what you initially intended it to be. As I started writing longer pieces where I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to say from the get go, I found that it was easier if I simply started writing and discovered, for example, just what my thesis was, then it much, much easier to write my introduction. I think it all depends a little bit on your individual writing process, but often, even when you write your introduction first, you need to revisit it after you’ve written the rest of the paper to be sure that everything in your introduction is still applicable. On that note, you could probably write your conclusion first, if you wanted to. It would help you know what you were working towards and what you needed to support. Since the intro, conclusion, and the body should really all have similar content, write whichever part you can get out first!
Kristin
Starting in the Middle
I believe starting in the middle of a document rather than the introduction was offered as a tip to help people who struggle with introductions, get better at them. The introduction, sort of like the conclusion, is a just a summed up version of what you want to prove or say. I think for a lot of writers, organizing the introduction is tough because they haven't worked out all the main points and arguments they want to present for their case. Starting in the middle allows writers to get their points out there and well organized and detailed. Then, going back and writing the introduction and conclusion becomes much easier, as it’s just a short summary of the document already written!
Intro and Conclusion
I agree with your thoughts on starting with the introduction. If I try to start in the middle of a paper without doing the introduction first I feel like I am not getting anything done. I understand that the strategy of starting in the middle of a paper was presented for people that have trouble with the intro, but it just feels weird to me. I also agree with your thoughts on conclusions. I know that when I finally get to the conclusion I just don’t want to be writing anymore. It just makes it harder to care about the proper construction of the conclusion. I also don’t like repeating myself.
I Agree
I must say that I agree entirely with you in regards to this reading seeming like a review. I too remember being taught the importance of an introduction body and conclusion in writings early on into my schooling. Upon reading this however, I feel that they have overcomplicated the topic. Back in middle school, I was taught the meatball sandwich philosophy. This concept consists of two buns, 3 pieces of cheese and three meat balls. With this model, the two buns were on the outside, representing the introduction and conclusion. The meatballs consisted of the three main topics discussed in the wrings and the three pieces of cheese represented details supporting the main topics.