{"id":366,"date":"2024-02-01T10:29:50","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T15:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/?p=366"},"modified":"2024-03-18T13:45:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T17:45:54","slug":"the-power-of-chatter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/the-power-of-chatter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Chatter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Thomas Pitney ’24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sun Tzu once said, \u201cevery battle is won\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0it is fought.\u201d How can we apply this principle to the writing process? Talking. That\u2019s right, writing breakthroughs often occur without even putting pen to paper! So, how can the simple act of conversation help you in your writing process?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brainstorming<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you are given any prompt, a sea of ideas likely pop up in your head. You could answer it in several different ways, but you\u2019re unsure which response is best. Often, the infinite number of choices can be overwhelming, leaving you repeating the same question: \u201chow can I sort through all the options?\u201d When this \u201cbattle of ideas\u201d happens, talk it out with someone! This could be anyone \u2013 a professor, consultant in the Writing Center, friend, or even a family member. They can serve as your sounding board and give helpful ideas that help you select a topic. Be sure to write notes while you talk so you can remember your brainstorming session later!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outlining<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So you have an idea as to how you want to answer the prompt, great! But now you\u2019re stuck trying to organize your ideas. You know what you want to say, but don\u2019t know how to say it. Never fear because you have the power of conversation! You don\u2019t even have to talk with someone who knows about your topic; in fact, being able to talk about your topic with a non-expert can be even more helpful to you! Walk them through your ideas and note areas where they say your paper could be organized more logically. Better yet, explaining your ideas to someone else verbally gives you confidence that you can write a quality paper!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drafting<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evidently, drafting your paper involves a lot of time typing in front of a computer. In that case, then why is talking helpful during this step of the writing process? Even with an intricate outline, you will often hit the dreaded \u201cwriter\u2019s block.\u201d These moments can make you feel trapped and unable to break through. A simple conversation \u2013 whether to think aloud, brainstorm, or even cry \u2013 may be all you need to smash down the writer\u2019s block holding you back!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editing and Revising<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You have a rough draft and can see the light at the end of the tunnel! All you need to do is make final edits and revisions before your work is complete. Why bother talking at this stage? A fantastic strategy to catch missing words, misspelling, and grammatical mistakes is to read your paper\u00a0aloud<\/em>. You can do this by yourself, or better yet, with someone you trust. In fact, the best revisions originate from others. This could be a minor suggestion, or a deeper conversation that results in more substantial edits. These conversations, to yourself and to others, can greatly enhance the quality of your work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations! You\u2019ve completed your paper and, thanks to your wise decision to use talking as a tool throughout the writing process, you received an A! Whenever you feel stuck during any step in the writing process, the simple act of conversation can get you back on track. Don\u2019t overlook the power of talking!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Thomas Pitney ’24 Sun Tzu once said, \u201cevery battle is won\u00a0before\u00a0it is fought.\u201d How can we apply this principle to the writing process? Talking. That\u2019s right, writing breakthroughs often occur without even putting pen to paper! So, how can the simple act of conversation help you in your writing process?\u00a0 Brainstorming When you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}