Today was equally fun as it was irritating. Today was fun because I became closer and closer to printing the final draft. Today was irritating because I became closer and closer to printing the final draft, with still a few more hours of work to complete.
I spent most of the morning and early afternoon finalizing the formatting and adding pictures to the book. Once this was all done, I printed a full color draft of the book so that I can review it for formatting. I am not planning on reviewing the narrative texts anymore, since I spent so much time working on them and reviewing them in their writing process.
With proofreading almost done, my work tomorrow is to finalize and review the pre-final draft one more time. After that, the only thing left to do is print several final draft copies, take the completed versions to be bound, and prepare for my independent study intensive fair presentation.
I am glad that I did this independent study. Overall, it felt very rewarding for me, having worked so hard on all of the aspects that led to its success in the final form (interviews, research, formatting, drafting, editing, polishing), and now holding a thick pre-final draft in my hands (64 pages!).
I am very appreciative for the help of all individuals involved in the process of my independent study, including Larry Anning, Independent Study Sponsor, and Brian Oliver, Independent Study Advisor; these individuals are acknowledged at the end of my book. My hope is that someone else, whether a student or other Maumee Valley community member, continues working to document the school’s history, and the project information page has a paragraph explaining this, as well as a few ideas for future projects.
The end is so close for me, and I am looking forward to presenting my work at tomorrow's intensive fair!
Monday, June 5, 2017
Friday, June 2, 2017
6-2-2017: Almost Done
Today was just more of yesterday: editing narratives and formatting the final project. If not already stated in one of my previous posts, my final project is in form of a book. I use a program called Microsoft Publisher to format everything. With all of my narratives now in final draft, I am copying and pasting them into Publisher, adding pictures, writing captions, and adding charts.
The work that I’m doing right now is quite repetitive. There’s not really much else to say, other than the fact that I’m working hard. The end is near.
The work that I’m doing right now is quite repetitive. There’s not really much else to say, other than the fact that I’m working hard. The end is near.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
6-1-2017: Editing and Revising
Today was spent checking my narrative pieces. I began the revision process today, rereading over most of my work and marking it up, reviewing each part for clarity. However, because I had worked so hard writing my rough drafts, I am more or less pleased with my work, and few major changes need to be made. Final drafts of my narrative pieces should be completed by tomorrow.
I also spent time today reviewing outside information used in my project. While not a difficult task, it was tedious, and I had to write footnote citations for all of these outside resources. Additionally, I began compiling lists of additional resources to be placed at the end of each piece so that readers know where to look if they would like to learn more.
I took a break from all of this at the end of the day and designed the cover of my project. Of course, although my main focus is the writing itself and making it the best it can be, I will be spending some efforts to make its presentation decent and perhaps a little eye-catching.
Here is the cover:
Tomorrow will be more of the same: a little bit of everything, and working quickly to get the project done on time.
I also spent time today reviewing outside information used in my project. While not a difficult task, it was tedious, and I had to write footnote citations for all of these outside resources. Additionally, I began compiling lists of additional resources to be placed at the end of each piece so that readers know where to look if they would like to learn more.
I took a break from all of this at the end of the day and designed the cover of my project. Of course, although my main focus is the writing itself and making it the best it can be, I will be spending some efforts to make its presentation decent and perhaps a little eye-catching.
Here is the cover:
Tomorrow will be more of the same: a little bit of everything, and working quickly to get the project done on time.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
5-31-2017: Wrapping Up Rough Drafts
I came to the realization that I had to forgo writing a narrative piece on Maumee Valley’s strategic plan in order to finish the project strong. Even though the plan as outlined yesterday gave me time to do this, it wouldn’t allow me to truly feel comfortable with my narratives, given the fact I still need some time to revise and edit my pieces.
Given that I have not been slacking off, I think that it isn’t unreasonable to drop this section from my project plan. This will really allow me to invest more time toward making my finished product look visually attractive. Changing the plan does not indicate failure in my plan; all it means is that I overestimated in some of the exact details of my original ideas for the project.
But other than that, my work day went very well. At this point, five out of the six narrative rough drafts are completed, with only perhaps an hour of work on the remaining piece. My day was mostly spent working on my piece about the international student program. This probably was the most difficult narrative to write, given the fact it was more difficult get a grasp of the program’s feel. Not only that, but I also knew little about the program compared to the other areas I’ve written about.
I really do think that I have been working hard: writing six final draft narrative essays over twelve or thirteen days (tomorrow is the twelfth day of the intensive), which has included research, interviews, drafting, editing, and revising.
So the work that’s left is a final push to the end: polishing my narrative pieces.
Given that I have not been slacking off, I think that it isn’t unreasonable to drop this section from my project plan. This will really allow me to invest more time toward making my finished product look visually attractive. Changing the plan does not indicate failure in my plan; all it means is that I overestimated in some of the exact details of my original ideas for the project.
But other than that, my work day went very well. At this point, five out of the six narrative rough drafts are completed, with only perhaps an hour of work on the remaining piece. My day was mostly spent working on my piece about the international student program. This probably was the most difficult narrative to write, given the fact it was more difficult get a grasp of the program’s feel. Not only that, but I also knew little about the program compared to the other areas I’ve written about.
I really do think that I have been working hard: writing six final draft narrative essays over twelve or thirteen days (tomorrow is the twelfth day of the intensive), which has included research, interviews, drafting, editing, and revising.
So the work that’s left is a final push to the end: polishing my narrative pieces.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
5-30-2017: Power Writing
Today was my most productive day yet. I finished a rough draft on my Under One Roof narrative, and I made significant progress with my piece on Upper School athletics, in addition to spending time editing my story on Middle School technology. Otherwise, I really don’t know what else to say about today; it’s just that I sat down, figured out what I need to write, began writing, and didn’t stop. Looking back through what I had completed, I wrote over 1200 words today.
My plans for the rest of the intensive are tight. Tomorrow, I need to finish a draft of a narrative piece on the international student program, in addition to making significant progress on my shorter piece on MV2020. If I have time, I can also begin editing and revising some of my other completed narratives. By Thursday, my goal is to have final drafts of at least five of the seven narratives. Friday will be spent organizing and representing the data I have and presenting them in form of charts, in addition to formatting everything in magazine style. The project itself should be finished by Monday, and Tuesday morning will be spent preparing for the afternoon intensive fair.
Although these plans are ambitious, I don’t think they are impossible.
The only complaint that I had was sitting in front of a screen for so long. Even though I split up the work into two smaller chunks of time, I almost had a headache by the end of the day.
Otherwise, my hope is that tomorrow is an even better day—and with time creeping up on me, I can’t afford it to not be!
My plans for the rest of the intensive are tight. Tomorrow, I need to finish a draft of a narrative piece on the international student program, in addition to making significant progress on my shorter piece on MV2020. If I have time, I can also begin editing and revising some of my other completed narratives. By Thursday, my goal is to have final drafts of at least five of the seven narratives. Friday will be spent organizing and representing the data I have and presenting them in form of charts, in addition to formatting everything in magazine style. The project itself should be finished by Monday, and Tuesday morning will be spent preparing for the afternoon intensive fair.
Although these plans are ambitious, I don’t think they are impossible.
The only complaint that I had was sitting in front of a screen for so long. Even though I split up the work into two smaller chunks of time, I almost had a headache by the end of the day.
Otherwise, my hope is that tomorrow is an even better day—and with time creeping up on me, I can’t afford it to not be!
Friday, May 26, 2017
5-26-2017: Final Interviews
My interviews today went very well. As I have said before, it will be difficult for me to sift through the audio recordings and take what I need, but I have some time next week during which I will be able to do this. However, I have noticed improvement in how I take notes during my interviews: including timestamps throughout my notes allows me to more easily find and jump to different parts of the recording, in other words, getting stuff faster.
Also, reevaluating my progress, I am thinking that I might need to cut a section of my project. Originally, I was going to write a comprehensive section on the Maumee Valley strategic plan written between 2005 and 2008 and compare it the new strategic plan as outlined in MV2020; at this point, because I do not have a good grasp of the previous strategic plan despite my interviews and efforts to learn about it, I will now only be doing a shorter piece on MV2020. Although it may slightly reduce how comprehensive my project is, it will not affect its overall quality, as it already touches on so many other important parts of the school’s recent history.
After my long days of meetings and interviews, I sat down to write, and I was surprisingly productive. Was it because the material was fresh in my mind, or was it because the impending deadline is adding pressure on me? Not sure.
So, to writing!
Also, reevaluating my progress, I am thinking that I might need to cut a section of my project. Originally, I was going to write a comprehensive section on the Maumee Valley strategic plan written between 2005 and 2008 and compare it the new strategic plan as outlined in MV2020; at this point, because I do not have a good grasp of the previous strategic plan despite my interviews and efforts to learn about it, I will now only be doing a shorter piece on MV2020. Although it may slightly reduce how comprehensive my project is, it will not affect its overall quality, as it already touches on so many other important parts of the school’s recent history.
After my long days of meetings and interviews, I sat down to write, and I was surprisingly productive. Was it because the material was fresh in my mind, or was it because the impending deadline is adding pressure on me? Not sure.
So, to writing!
Thursday, May 25, 2017
5-25-2017: A State of Productive Unfulfillment
Yesterday was very productive, and I thought that this would carry over into today. It doesn’t feel as much today.
But looking back on what I accomplished, I spent time preparing for the last of my interviews tomorrow, and more importantly added about 700-800 words to two different narratives. Thinking back to other writing days, this was a reasonable amount of work completed. So why did I feel this way? Because I spent a lot of time scrutinizing how I wrote. In other words, my work today was in quality, not quantity.
Today was a little more tiring and difficult to focus, considering all I was doing today was working in small chucks. Was it less interesting? No. Was it less exciting? Not at all. But sitting at home all day on my laptop, just writing and synthesizing information for specific type of paragraph I need to transition between two others? Not easy.
Instead of just sitting down and narrating a story from start to finish in form of a rough draft, I spent a lot of time working on transitions within the stories. These needed to be logical and functional, yet not cause my reader to lose interest.
At any rate, after I finished the first draft of my narrative on the Lower School music program, I went back and began editing and revising, I am pleased with its current status. After much more extensive work on it, the Upper School Winterim/Intensive narrative is closer to being finished. I also began working on the piece about Upper School athletics. I am exciting to get a break from writing tomorrow with my upcoming interviews!
But looking back on what I accomplished, I spent time preparing for the last of my interviews tomorrow, and more importantly added about 700-800 words to two different narratives. Thinking back to other writing days, this was a reasonable amount of work completed. So why did I feel this way? Because I spent a lot of time scrutinizing how I wrote. In other words, my work today was in quality, not quantity.
Today was a little more tiring and difficult to focus, considering all I was doing today was working in small chucks. Was it less interesting? No. Was it less exciting? Not at all. But sitting at home all day on my laptop, just writing and synthesizing information for specific type of paragraph I need to transition between two others? Not easy.
Instead of just sitting down and narrating a story from start to finish in form of a rough draft, I spent a lot of time working on transitions within the stories. These needed to be logical and functional, yet not cause my reader to lose interest.
At any rate, after I finished the first draft of my narrative on the Lower School music program, I went back and began editing and revising, I am pleased with its current status. After much more extensive work on it, the Upper School Winterim/Intensive narrative is closer to being finished. I also began working on the piece about Upper School athletics. I am exciting to get a break from writing tomorrow with my upcoming interviews!
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