How to Write 750 Words on Blogging

I've been peeping in on my some of students' blogs recently and I found some concerns over the next assignment. They ask how to write 750 words about blogs. On the off-hand chance that any of them actually look at my blog, I thought I'd give some hints.

First, don't set out to write 750 words. If you focus on the word count, you are focusing on the wrong thing. Instead, start by figuring out what you are going to say.

On thing that you might try is re-reading the assignment sheet. There are a list of questions that are designed to get you strarted. You might try freewriting about each question to see what you have to say. Then, you can develop the one that is most promising.

Again, if you are worrying about the word count before you start to write, then you are putting the cart before the horse. The word count is a measurement to help you. Yet, not all 750 words are the same. If you have 750 words that don't say anything, then you will still not receive a good grade. First and foremost, you need to develop your thesis.

Last, if you haven't been doing the blog (or haven't done it very much), you really don't have many experiences from which to draw. If that is the case, I really don't have much advice for you. This is not something that you can do in a weekend. You really needed to be keeping the blog throughout the semester. Keeping up with your blog was a way to develop the material for this assignment. Without that material, I really don't know what you will write about.

True Grit

Whew! I finished my presentation on True Grit last night, and I feel extremely relieved. It's strange, but just yesterday I felt buried. I felt as if I were juggling several things and just hoping that I can keep the balls in the air long enough not to completely drop any of them. Of course, many of us feel this way at this time in the semester...but that's not what I want to talk about. Yesterday, I wondered how I was going to get the hypertext reviewed, papers graded, and my lawn mowed. Today, however, the world looks brighter. Things that seemed impending and ominous, now seem quite do-able. I just never realized how much stress this presentation was creating.

I'm sure my current euphoria will be short-lived.

As for the presentation, I think it went very well. I enjoy getting dressed up in my best cowboy duds, and camping it up a bit. I also like the time that I spend researching for the presentation--I learn so much about a field I really know very little about.

Now, I have to start thinking about next year. The common theme for the college is going to be "transitions." It would be good if I could come up with a movie that fits in with the theme. Any ideas?