In order to produce their best work, writers need to write informally to generate ideas and test possibilities. This kind of informal writing is often quadruple the amount I actually publish! I believe informal writing works best if writers can work privately, without the fear of criticism. This sort of writing is crucial, but will look different for each writer; I don’t want to impose a particular format for fear it might cramp your style.
To ensure you have the freedom to explore possibilities for informal writing and the motivation to actually do it, I’ve devised the “your doc, our doc” system. When I ask you to read or watch something and come to class prepared to discuss, I ask you that you compose a reflection or take notes in “your doc” and then, before the start of class, add an excerpt or summary of what you wrote under your name in our shared word online document (“our doc”).
We will also use our doc for in-class workshops. This involves each student adding an excerpt of their in-process work to complete a brainstorming or revision exercise. These workshops are meant to give you a start on a process you can then apply to your entire project, but having everyone’s example in our shared document helps you all learn by seeing the wide range of possibilities and the kind of feedback I’m offering across the board.
You are always welcome to share your doc with me–I LOVE helping students see the brilliance of emerging ideas by looking at their informal writing. Here are some options for “your doc” and some possible advantages and challenges for each:
Hypothesis
advantage: you can keep track of your ideas privately or share them with classmates; reading can be a social experience; ideas can be tied to specific passages of the text.
challenge: only available for text readings…you’ll need something in addition to this.
A Notebook/Binder
advantage: handwriting is freeing for some; ideas might flow more easily
challenge: harder to share. You could snap a photo of a section and e-mail it to me if you want feedback
Word Online Doc
advantage: easy to share an collaborate; can access from any device; can @mention classmates or Dr. Isbell to get quick, in-context feedback
challenge: The document can get long and there’s no table of contents option in Word Online
Google Doc
advantage: easy to share and collaborate (even easier interface than Word online); easy to insert table of contents; can access from any device
challenge: Not possible to @mention Dr. Isbell or others via university e-mail address
OneNote
advantage: easier to keep organized and access earlier work
challenge: If you’re not familiar with the platform, there’s a bit of a learning curve. I don’t think you can @mention people to get feedback
Zotero
advantage: child notes are kept on specific texts; can access sources and notes on whatever device you use to access your library
challenge: I haven’t really seen a student use Zotero as a place to keep informal writing during the semester, but it could work!
Another Idea?
Run it by me!
