Tag Archives: writing

Rookie Mistake

Posted on by under Books, Life, Pop Culture, Whedonverse, Writing

Hey everyone! Happy Friday!!! Thanks for joining me in Banned Books Week! It’s been a blast, and I’ve loved spreading the word to my students. They’ve been surprised, inspired, and intrigued.

In other events…. I made a dang rookie mistake, and I’m beating myself over the head for it!!  I always tell my students that whenever they have an idea for a paper, they MUST write it down!  I explain that by the time they get home and go to work with the idea, the rest of the day has probably disturbed it, and the idea may dissolve. When I was working on my master’s thesis, I always captured my ideas in some way. Sticky notes, notebook by the bed, voice mails to myself. Whatever it took. Most of us get inspiration of the most random times – in the shower, in the car, while falling asleep. And we must hold onto those ideas by jotting something down as soon as possible…

So… the other week… at some point when I was away for my monthly trip for grad school, I had a big light-bulb moment for my book on Buffy and Angel. My examination has been focusing purely on the two television series and not on the comics. However, I had an epiphany about how the comics tied into my analysis and my lens and the importance of this expansion beyond the aired series… and now??  I don’t remember the epiphany. I remember that I had it. I remember it was on this area of the comics… and I thought it was so great and perfect and I was convinced I did NOT need to write it down. I remember thinking, “I’ll never forget this!!” But by the time I listened to all the lectures on Greek Myth, Alchemy, and African Traditions, it was gone… faded… buried somewhere in my unconscious… I’ve been trying to remember, but I feel like the more I try to access it, the further I get away from it.  Damn.  Surely it will return, right??  Hopefully….

But, let this serve as a reminder, writers!  Don’t count on remembering your brilliant moments of insight!  If you’re like me, life gets in the way, you have 15 billion thoughts a day, and if it’s not written down, it’s forgotten.

Pen vs. Keyboard

Posted on by under Grad School

I just read the article “Why You Learn More Effectively by Writing Than Typing” over at Lifehacker, and it’s really got me thinking. I definitely see the efficiency of typing (especially for me personally since I have sloppy hand writing and can type over 100 wpm), but also recognize the claim made in this article. I have heard before that writing something is equivalent to reading it three times. There’s definitely an important memory component tied in with hand writing. Also, I find there is something magical about actual pen and paper. I typically take crazy amounts of typed notes in my grad classes. I use a laptop (or, more recently, my iPad with a wireless keyboard) and nearly copy lectures verbatim. I realize the purpose in note-taking is simply to hit on important points. However, there are so many important points in the 7-8 hour lectures I attend, that I inevitably stop absorbing info at varying points in the day. I love having the detailed notes to look back at, especially if something was covered that didn’t resonate at the time but ends up tying into my research later down the road… but in my summer school class, as I mentioned at the time, our instructor told us NOT to take exhaustive notes because she would be providing us with all her notes and power points at the end of the course. I found this very freeing and enjoyed handwriting just the most important ideas that resonated with me. I can’t decide how I plan to tackle my note-taking this upcoming fall quarter. Shall I pack up the tech again, or go buy a paper notebook with an inspirational cover?

How do you take notes??