What makes this time of year seem especially cruel is the combination of work-a monkish, ascetic, wintry habit-and the long-delayed arrival of spring. The body wants to get outdoors in the sun, to shed clothes, to ripen, glow and frolic. The mind, however, needs discipline, the cold shower of a deadline. Worse, while the sun is busy shining on daffodils, ultimate frisbee players and convertibles passing by, you're stuck in class, or in lab or in front of a blinking cursor.
In the Writing Center, as you may imagine, we hear-and sometimes make-these complaints. Often, we joke that complaining is Amherst's number one intramural sport. But we also hope to offer support and succor for these springtime miseries. We can't make deadlines go away, nor convince the faculty not to assign papers, nor do the writing for you. Still, we have all been there: senior tutors are finishing up their honors theses; the Writing Fellow wrote an honors thesis; even the Writing Counselor can remember typing her honors thesis on a manual typewriter, shortly after the discovery of fire. So our suggestions come from our experiences-successful and unsuccessful-with work, writing and the pressure to perform. The following are some of the most important pieces of advice or information we offer at the Writing Center.
1. Schedule a break into paper writing.
One of our resources in the Writing Center is Peter Elbow's "Writing With Power" (Oxford University Press, 1981). Elbow's thoughtful advice radiates common sense. If you have a deadline in ten hours, Elbow says, you should cut the time in half and spend the first half composing and the next half revising. The result will be a much better paper than a frantic scribbling up to the last minute.
From Elbow and other experts in the field, we've gleaned fruitful advice. Scheduling a break in the middle of a long work session works better than simply staggering up to a break, resentful and fatigued. Try breaking off writing in the middle of a sentence, sketching out the ending, taking some time to have a cup of tea or stretch your legs and then coming back to the work refreshed.
2. Read your work aloud or to a friend.
It always helps your writing to read aloud, if possible with a friend or a writing tutor. As we like to say, "writers always need another pair of eyes and ears," and sometimes a voice as well. Reading aloud helps you detect lumpy writing, or babbling or dumb little mistakes. Should George Bush have read aloud some of his utterances, like "I believe the human and the fish can co-exist," he might have stopped to think. (Then again, maybe not.)
3. Don't suffer in silence.
Suffering is said to be romantic, creative and inspiring. If that is the case, then the Amherst campus should soon be awash in poems, novels, paintings and musical compositions. Yet, there's a difference between the real signals of grief and depression and the mere noise of whining. If you are having a hard time, please seek out a counselor, a dean, a professor or a friend. The College abounds in helpful professionals who can at least push you toward the answers, even if they can't solve your problems for you. But if you simply enjoy playing "Who's the biggest martyr?" then, well, go for it! Gather a group of fellow complainers and have a big gang whine. See who has the worst story to tell about work and give that person a prize-perhaps a copy of "The Chicago Manual of Style," always a thoughtful gift. If you all dissolve into laughter, so much the better.
4. Use your available resources.
Here are a couple of often-overlooked resources. The first you can use in the privacy of your room, wearing your pajamas, at any hour: the Writing Center's Web site. It features a handbook, "Writing Better," offering advice about getting started, fixing woeful prose, identifying grammatical glitches and "words Amherst professors say they never want to read again." If you are still confused about whether to use "affect" or "effect," or whether "lifestyle" is an okay word to apply to, say, Aristotle, our Web site can help you.
The second resource is-wait for it-your professors. Believe it or not, all of your professors were once students who struggled over their papers, felt cramped by deadlines, became stuck in their writing and sought help. Professors appreciate hearing if you're confused by a paper topic, or need some guidance with research or can't get a problem to come out right. They also appreciate having the chance to help you before the day the paper is due. But whatever your predicament is, professors like to know about it rather than worrying, wondering or fuming about a student's absence. In over two decades here, I have rarely heard of a professor who was not sympathetic with a student who asked for help directly and honestly. Admitting, "I have written a rough draft, but I hate everything I've done, and I'd appreciate an extension if it's possible" is a far better strategy than trying to evade an encounter by dodging from tree to tree.
5. Get help from the writing center.
The Writing Center offers 24 hours a week of writing help with peer tutors. We are open now on Sundays from 3-11 p.m., and Monday through Thursday evenings from 7-11 p.m. Our extensions are x8254 in the Writing Center and x2139 for the Writing Counselor. During the day, Rikita Tyson, the Writing Fellow, and I, Dean Snively, have office hours. We try to see everybody who wants to come in, but planning in advance is always smart. You can sign up on our appointment sheets, call or e-mail us (Rikita Tyson and srsnively), and we'll do our best to give you a convenient time. (We don't yet have an on-line sign-up service, but we hope to soon.) If you have a long paper, it's a good idea to drop it off in advance. If you wish to go over a paper returned to you with corrective professorial comments, or you'd like to talk about how to get started-or finished-we can do that. While we are not a proofreading and editing service, we can point out patterns of surface error, unclear patches or repetition. We have to limit visits to two a week during this time, but two visits can help turn a paper around.
6. Do creative things outside of class.
My final piece of advice concerns the resource we all have, whether we use it or not: our creativity. Even in the most crowded, stressful day lurk a few minutes to write a poem. Try a haiku-only 17 syllables-draw a cartoon, take a photograph of some special place on campus, work a puzzle, sing a song, do a dance, or even read a book NOT assigned by a professor. Allowing your brain to recover its balance will help you enormously, whether or not you produce a masterpiece.
My dear late mother used to say, when I got into some childhood snit, "Heck, fifty years from now it's not going to make a dang bit of difference." Like all good advice, this statement can be misused (think of chemical dumping, cheating and lying). But it did remind me that the world is bigger and richer than it often seems to be. In a few weeks, you will be somewhere else, both physically and mentally. Shut your eyes and try to imagine it, before you strap on that humongous backpack.
Susan Snively is the Director of the Writing Center and an Associate Dean of Students.