Welcome back! Fall 2013 Edition

jjpacres / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Welcome back students (or just welcome, if you're a new MALS or ASGC student)! Now that you've survived your first week of classes, perhaps you've had time to look through those course syllabi and start getting an idea of all the different types of writing you'll be doing this semester. Once your head has stopped spinning at the thought of all that reading and writing (you can do it!!), check out the following links to help you get your semester of academic writing off to a great start.

MALS Online Writing Assistance
The MALS Writing Center has lots of online assistance available to help you with the writing process. Besides calling on your trusty writing consultant, don't forget to check out www.malswritingcenter.info for information on specific types of graduate-level writing, to Turabian style tips, to what to make of your professor's comments on your papers.

Writing Strategies
These posts from the blog Explorations of Style feature the author's "five key strategies for improving academic writing," which I think are a great to place to start, or just review, your academic writing habits: Reverse Outlines, Paragraphs, Transitions, Verbs, and Subjects.

Make Yourself Clear
Clear writing can be difficult to achieve, especially if you're new to graduate-level writing and all the concepts and ideas you'll need to communicate in your papers. Learn how to be concise in this handout from UNC's Writing Center, and read my thoughts on the topic in this previous blog post on sentence clarity.

Ready, set, WRITE!

Image from http://office.microsoft.com/

Whether you’re a natural procrastinator or someone who likes to get the work finished a week ahead of time, there are always those times when you just can’t get started. If you’re like me (a terrible procrastinator, or, as I prefer to say, one who works best on a deadline), you’re always thinking, “I’ll start...later!” No matter your stage in your graduate writing career, getting started on your writing assignment—from an article summary to a thesis—can be the hardest part of the process.

You’re watching the clock tick, beginning to panic, thinking, “Time is running out!” And yet, you cannot seem to put the proverbial pen to paper. Maybe you don’t know where to start because you’re confused by the assignment, or you haven’t written an academic paper in a while, or the task at hand just seems too big and daunting.

My approach to the can’t-get-started conundrum is to just do SOMETHING. Anything. I always liked to start my papers by putting together my works cited page first. (Of course, this requires having already done your research, but that is a topic for another post!) You have to have a works cited page, so you’re doing important work, but it doesn’t require you to analyze and create complex sentences. It does, however, require you to sit at the computer and start typing, which is a great place to be—especially if you were previously banging your head against the wall and, well, doing nothing. 

Once I drag myself to the computer, I find that I’m literally in a position to keep going. I also like to do an outline (in pencil) to sketch out my thoughts and see how they link together. There are all kinds of “getting started” exercises out there (several good ones are here on the Writing Center Web site, and more about the writing process here)—just find the one that works for you and BEGIN!

Of course, MALS students can always contact me for help getting started on an assignment, or finishing up, or any point in between!

Happy writing!
~Lahla

Writing and the disorganized mind: a confessional

Quote by John Green; poster by DFTBA.

I used to love writing. I did it without thinking, did it as thinking: I organized all of my thoughts on paper, all of them. I journaled, I wrote poetry and fragments of stories, I reveled in research papers. I narrated my whole world, the real and the imaginary, on paper. Somewhere along the line, I lost that, and I have been fighting for years to get it back. For the most part, I have failed. Sometimes I find bursts of inspiration and begin scribbling again in one of the dozen or so notebooks I keep scattered around my house. Most of the time, though, I struggle to write anything at all. I stare at a blank page, a blank screen, for ages, and the words don't come. I get distracted, look away, have a hard time finding my way back. Working on my masters' degrees, I would often spend 20 hours or more on a few pages of writing that would previously have taken me maybe two or three hours.

The critical question is, what happened? Why the drastic change? I believe the issue is twofold: a combination of falling out of practice, and the wildly distracting effects of technology upon my magpie mind.*

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I moved across the country and took a job managing art house movie theatres. There was really no call for writing there, and although I did a bit in my spare time, I largely fell out of the habit. I regret that now, but it wasn't ultimately a tremendous drawback. After moving back to Tennessee, I returned to school for two semesters to earn a second bachelor's degree. It took some readjustment, but I fell back into the writing habit quickly enough. During a summer course on children's literature, I cracked out 20 pages in four days for a 10-page assignment, and would have happily kept writing had I not run up against the deadline. That paper led me, a few years later, to the MALS program, where I planned to continue following that thread which had so inspired me not long before.

In the meantime, however, something had changed. When the time came to write again, I ran straight into a wall. For everything I have tried to write since, I have to climb that wall -- sometimes once, sometimes repeatedly, three or four times for every page of writing I produce. It's frustrating. It's infuriating. For someone who has always dreamt of making a living as a writer, it's devastating.

Allie Brosh, of the brilliant and highly relatable (to me) blog Hyperbole and a Half, says of her writing that "I've been known to sit in my toll-cave of a workspace for 18 hours in a row, for days on end, and work until I hate myself and whatever I'm working on. As you can imagine, this practice is not psychologically advisable, so I've been trying my best to avoid doing it too very often." She is entirely right about that, and I try too -- and yet somehow I continue to fail at avoiding to fall into the very same trap. More often, however, the magpie mind takes over, and I spend those 18 hours, days on end, thinking about the work I have to do -- while studiously avoiding it.

This is more or less exactly how I function when left to my own devices:

by Allie Brosh, via her blog Hyperbole and a Half

I know, of course I know, that through avoidance I only hurt myself. You know it, too. The knowledge doesn't make it any easier to change, does it?

I was extremely fortunate in that 85% of my best was usually enough to earn me excellent marks on my assignments. That isn't particularly satisfying, though, when I know that I have done less than my best; and, moreover, I have made myself miserable in the process. 

Although I don't have a great deal of advice to offer, here are a few strategies which served me well in my struggles to combat the magpie mind:

Huckleberry's implied label is 'To Pet.'

1. Go offline. Personally, I find the Internet to be my single greatest distraction, and the easiest one to fall prey to. I am a social creature, and will regularly fall into the trap of "quickly" checking social media -- only to get ensnared online for hours, abandoning my work. When you have to be on the computer, you may install a lockdown browser or productivity software to prevent your going online, or spending more than a limited amount of time there. Better yet, when possible,

2. Go old-school. Get away from the computer. Write first drafts by hand, on paper. Print out those articles and read them on paper, with a highlighter. Make marginal notes -- write down anything that comes to mind, whether you expect it to be useful or not. Print out your typed drafts to proofread them (I recommend doing this no matter how productive you are -- you'll spot things that are easily missed on the computer screen).

3. Change your setting. It can be hard to work in familiar environments, particularly at home, where there are always other things (or people, or, in my case, cats -- see photo evidence) demanding your attention. You might work better at the library -- there are private study rooms on most floors -- or at Starbucks. For me, I did my best work by combining these strategies: I printed out articles for my thesis and took them outside to  read in my hammock. 

Calliope is the priority here. Because she says so.

4. Establish a goal-and-reward system. Finish this article, then allow yourself a few minutes online. Write a certain number of pages, then call a friend. Just be careful to limit the time you spend on the rewards.

5. Make lists. Write down absolutely everything you need to get done, and the relevant deadlines. I kept lists of assignments on a dry-erase board as well as a computer file, and took great satisfaction in marking them off and deleting finished items. If you have a calendar on your computer or phone, add major deadlines to it. Use alerts to remind you to get things done when they need to be done. Without reminders such as these, my everyday life looks very much like this:

In which Distraction prevails, via Wondermark.

I imagine that, to some, this seems an impossible way to live, and particularly to work. And, in fact, it can be -- if you're trying to work in a field incompatible with the magpie mind. There are fields, however, that mesh beautifully with this mindset. Certain jobs require it. As a movie theatre manager, and in my recent other life, as a substitute teacher and school librarian, my need for active, ever-changing, multi-tasking work serves me exceptionally well. 

Unfortunately, for me, online work is particularly incompatible with the way I function. I require activity, variety, and face-to-face human interaction. While I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you, reading your papers, and posting here for you these past few months, I quickly realized that this job and I are not very well-suited to each other. For that reason, you will have yet another new writing consultant in January. This post is my farewell missive. I will still be present (as myself, not as the MALS Writing Consultant) on the group Facebook page, but after today I will no longer have official access to that page, nor will I be the one replying to the Gmail account. I will miss getting to know your minds, your goals, and your words. I wish you all the very best of luck in your academic, personal, professional, and creative pursuits. 

Cheers and best wishes,

Emily.

*"magpie mind" is my term for the way my brain functions: 

all-too-easily distracted by shiny things. By anything, really. 

via Keep-Calm-o-Matic

In the home stretch

As the end of the semester fast approaches and deadlines loom, stress and the sense of being overwhelmed by work can send your focus and motivation out the window.

via Cyanide and Happiness. 

All joking aside, you are in the home stretch now, and in less than three weeks, the semester will be behind you. Hopefully you are all looking forward to a warm and restful winter break, and will finish out the semester feeling satisfied with the work you have done.

A reminder

I'm sure none of you are in such dire straits as Patrick here.

Your friendly neighborhood writing consultant remains available to help you with end-of-semester assignments, including both MALS and elective coursework. Even if you have never worked with me before, I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions, could use a second pair of eyes on a paper or other writing in progress, or if you simply need to vent about the stress and challenges of graduate school. Email any time at malswritingconsultant@gmail.com, and feel free to open a chat if you see me online. 

I know how difficult it is to complete work far enough in advance to allow time for feedback, but keep in mind that you do not have to have a finished draft in hand in order to seek consultation! If you have a couple of pages roughed out, or even a couple of paragraphs, feel free to send them my way. Be sure to indicate the goals of the assignment  (it doesn't hurt to send the original guidelines along with your work), specify any particular concerns you may have, and let me know the due date so that I can prioritize appropriately.

DON'T BE THIS GUY.

via ETSU Memes.

Thinking ahead

Although this is a very busy time of year, this is an ideal time to start thinking about steps you can take to make your life and your schoolwork easier next spring. Specifically, consider the power of teamwork, and think about joining a peer writing group. I'll talk more about this later, but for now, check out some FAQ's about writing groups on the MALS Writing Center website, as well as the information under "content" on the Writing Center D2L page. If you are at all interested in working with a writing group, please email me and/or post on the D2L page so we can get the ball rolling!

In a different approach to teamwork and community support, MALS is preparing to launch a new peer mentorship program. Details are coming to you via email. This spring semester, everyone enrolled in the MALS program will be eligible to participate, either as a mentor (students in their third semester and beyond) or a mentee (newly enrolled MALS students and those entering their second semester). Please look over the email and think very hard about getting involved in this program.

Take five

Don't be this guy, either. via Shoebox Blog.

In the midst of all this hustle and bustle, try to make a little time in your busy schedule to unwind. You can often focus better and work more productively after stepping away from work and schoolwork for a few minutes or a few hours. This is particularly helpful if, like me, you tend to get stuck in a cycle of non-productive time wasting instead of getting your work done.

Here are a few local and on-campus happenings over the next few weeks (click the links for more information):

• ART 

If you are on campus this Wednesday or Thursday, November 28-29, swing by the Culp Center's ballroom for ETSU's Student Ceramic Association sale. Students will be selling one-of-a-kind, handmade pottery and ceramic items.

Walk through Slocumb Galleries in Ball Hall this week to see graduating students' BFA and MFA shows.

Beginning December 3rd, visit the same space for the annual postcard art show and silent auction fundraiser. The first weekend of December also brings First Friday and the annual Christmas Parade to downtown Johnson City.

• MUSIC

At 7:30pm this Thursday, November 29th, ETSU's Ending Fall Bands Concert will play in the Culp Center. The concert is free and open to the public.

ETSU Chorale's annual Christmas Concert takes place this Friday and Saturday in downtown Johnson City. Appalachian Studies professor Jane MacMorran, whom some of you may know, is featured on the violin.

Check out the Down Home and the Acoustic Coffeehouse for additional live music close to campus, including several upcoming performances by ETSU affiliates.

• THEATRE

Glasgow Theatre Company's production of David Sedaris' hilarious "Santaland Diaries" plays this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, November 29-December 1, at Nelson Fine Art in downtown Johnson City.

Johnson City Community Theatre's holiday comedy, "Nuncrackers," opens this Friday, November 30th, and runs for three weekends.*

For non-holiday-themed fare, Theatre Bristol presents "Peter Pan the Avenger" the first two weekends in December.

• DANCE 

ETSU's Student Dance Workshop performs on Thursday, December 6th, at 7:30pm in the Mini-Dome Dance Studio (room 104). Free admission.

• GET MOVING

As ETSU students, you all have full access at no additional charge to the campus Center for Physical Activity. The CPA is a fully equipped gym with a pool and fitness classes. Drop by to blow off steam, work up a sweat, or even study while using a treadmill or stationary bike. The CPA is open through December 7th, and operates on a limited schedule over winter break.


*Disclaimer: despite appearances, I am not generally a Christmas shill; the holiday tends to take over the area completely in December. If you are looking for a Christmas-free break, you can still see Halloween-themed movies or even "Brave" for $3 at the Real to Reel cinema. 

An actor's guide to writing; or, Don't flub your lines when there's an audience in the house

I love to perform in local community theatre productions. It can be a lot of work -- one director referred to community theatre as "a part-time job that costs you money," and that sums it up rather well -- but I find it to be energizing as well as an outlet. Theatre is good for giving my brain something fun and non-scholarly to do, a nice break from school and work.

But recently, of course, I managed to make a connection between acting and interdisciplinary writing. Isn't the interdisciplinary mind a wondrous thing? It so often finds the overlap, the interplay, the synchronicity between seemingly disparate fields -- whether you want it to or not.

Don't flub your lines!

The striking commonality between acting and writing lies in the importance of getting your lines right -- that is, of saying exactly what you mean, at exactly the right time. The tricky part is noticing when you have failed to do this and taking steps to correct the error. Your job, and mine, is to say exactly what we mean to say, clearly and unambiguously, so that everyone in the audience can understand it.

If I skip lines in performance, I may be leaving out information critical to understanding the play. This is a Very Bad Thing to do, since I cannot assume that everyone (or even anyone) in my audience is already familiar with the story. The same applies to academic writing: you cannot assume that all of your readers will be familiar with the background information that feeds into your paper.

via the wonderful Wondermark 

This holds true even for disciplinary writing, although to a lesser extent. The strongest academic writing in all fields is that which can stand alone, and remains comprehensible to readers from outside the discipline.

Words, words, words

In a similar vein, use of the wrong word may change the entire meaning of a sentence, a scene, the whole play. This past October, during a performance of an Agatha Christie murder mystery, I asked another character, "Is it so wrong to kill the person who has taken everything you had in the world from you?" The other character, a canon (or English clergyman), is meant to reply "Yes!" In one particular performance, he instead bellowed "NO!" In other words, with one tiny slip of the tongue, a priest gave me permission to commit murder. While that defense may not hold up in court, it put an interesting spin on the story. He didn't even realize he had gotten it backward until I teased him about it later. After all, he knew what he intended to say.


This is a common problem for writers in the age of spellcheckers and autocorrection. If you make a typo, your computer's autocorrect function may correct it for you -- but it may not "correct" it to the word you intended to use. If you make a typo that is still a word, but not the word you intended, or if you make an incorrect word choice, your computer will not catch it for you. In all likelihood, when you read back over what you've written, you will read not what is actually on the page, but what you meant to put on the page.

This is where writing benefits from either a second set of eyes, or from resting for a while before you proofread. If your deadline is looming and you can't manage either of these techniques, be sure to proofread as slowly and carefully as you possibly can, and to look up any and all words you're not absolutely certain you are using correctly. This will go a very long way toward ensuring that you have, in fact, said what you meant to say, and not given someone the thumbs up on murder. . . or adultery, as in one famous Biblical misprint. (Click through the link for some excellent advice on avoiding similarly embarrassing typos.)

Also check for spelling.
via Mandatory.

Keep an eye out for missing words, too.
Assuming you still have eyes,.

It's all in the delivery: punctuation and logical stops

Always consider the impact of punctuation on meaning as well as on style and flow. Punctuation was, in fact, initially invented as a means of indicating when orators (and, later, actors) should pause for breath. When actors ignore the supplied punctuation, it makes a mess of meaning. This is a common problem among students and new actors first encountering William Shakespeare's iambic pentameter verse: many people inherently feel that they should pause at the end of each line, regardless of punctation, or lack thereof.

via Motifake

My current play, a comedy called "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)," contains a joke about that very issue. One of the actors, reading biographical notes on the author, pauses between pages at an amusingly awkward point, describing Shakespeare's mother as "Mary Arden, daughter of a Roman. (next card) Catholic member of the landed gentry."

Thankfully, this particular comma fail was a hoax.
via Museum of Hoaxes.

Punctuation is even more powerful in writing. A missing or misplaced comma can change the meaning of an entire sentence.

The best way to check your own work for appropriate punctuation is to read it aloud. Where you naturally pause, there should be appropriate punctuation (usually a comma or period) to indicate the pause. If you don't naturally pause while reading the sentence aloud, you don't need a comma.

Don't skip the rehearsal process

No theatrical production goes public without an extensive rehearsal process, which generally includes a good bit of revision and adjustment. The final rehearsal, when we have everything just about right, is a preview performance. The audience for this show is comprised of family and friends, who serve as a sounding board of sorts -- the actors' version of proofreaders. They can offer feedback on the performance, pointing out any serious problems we may have overlooked. I strongly recommend that writers seek out a preview audience for their work before submitting it as well. For MALS students, please do consider making use of your friendly neighborhood writing consultant. I also strongly encourage the formation of writing groups, which can be a great resource for peer review.

And if writing groups fail you, look into acting groups. What was that I said about "energizing"? 

I hope these reminders serve you well as you head into the home stretch of the semester. Did I commit the very sins of which I speak in this post? If so, do point them out to me, and mock at will. And if you need a break and a good, hearty laugh this weekend, come on out to the theatre!

Cheers,
Emily

Milk Duds, Anticipation, and a Bleeding Thesis

The next installment in the MALS student guest blogger project comes from Kari Roueche. Kari, whose concentration is in Archival Studies, is finishing up her program this semester and is currently working hard on her culminating project, which features a Web site built around a family archive. Kari has become quite a prolific writer above and beyond her coursework, presenting a paper at the 2012 Regional Graduate Liberal Studies Conference, held here at ETSU last April, and documenting her archives practicum experience at the LDS Church History Library and Archives in Salt Lake City through her own blog Archiventures. Kari has been gracious enough to share some of the advice she’s received that has had the greatest impact on her as a writer:

The first good piece of writing advice I remember receiving was when I was still in high school, but it wasn’t from a teacher. My friend Kathy’s Mom had gone back to school to finish her bachelor’s degree in public relations. I had her read several of my essays and stories. When she returned one of them, I remember her saying that just when she was wondering about something in my story, the next paragraph answered her musing. She told me that the key to writing is anticipating your reader’s questions and answering them at the right time.

During my freshman year in college I had a graduate student for an English teacher. Her name was Ruth Ann Porter and I have never forgotten her. One of the things I learned from Ruth Ann about non-fiction writing was never to edit a quotation or passage in a way that supports your argument if it changes the original meaning. You want to gain your reader’s trust early on; not lose it. For fiction, she stressed writing for all of the senses so that your reader can imagine themselves in the character’s situation. How does something feel? How does it smell? If a situation was hard, what made it hard? Don’t just write that it was hard. Ruth Ann gave our class tools that we could use and that made writing enjoyable. Also, she loved Milk Duds.

The next piece of advice is advice I have given, rather than received. I noticed during my first semester of grad school, that every essay with a good grade had a margin note on it that said, “good intro” below the first or second paragraph. I learned from this that it is important to put your best writing upfront. If your introduction is interesting, your reader will stay interested. I used to tell myself that a day in which I wrote my title page, my reference list, and my introduction was a good writing day and I shared this tip whenever a classmate asked me for help.

The last piece of advice came to me through a talented writing consultant name Kit Hayes. When she was assisting me with my 5400 seminar paper she told me that I was bleeding little bits of thesis for pages into my essay. Having courage to state a thesis for a 7-8 page paper is hard enough, but boldly stating a thesis for a 20-plus page paper seriously takes guts. The real advice here is that it is worth having an impartial reader edit your paper to help you rustle up those wandering bits of thesis statement so that your argument can be clear and concise.

There you go! Advice from three experts and one well-meaning student. I hope some if it will be useful.

Oh, Kari, you flatter me so, but I think the moral of the story here is that we spend our whole lives becoming better writers, and we don’t do it alone. When we’re caught up in the thick of that 20-page seminar paper, it‘s important to remember our past moments of triumph. Recalling the words of those mentors who have contributed to our success as writers encourages us to keep pushing through. While perfection is impossible, progress is inevitable so long as we remember our achievements even as we learn from our mistakes.

Your Paper Trail

So it's summer, meaning that many of us have temporarily abandoned the academic writing chunk of our brains. In light of this fact, while I've truly wanted to write a blog post during the merry month of June, I confess I haven't had much to talk about except Season 9 of "So You Think You Can Dance" (I wish I could dance), my cat's recent tooth surgery (he's fine and eating like a termite), or my upcoming trip to Dollywood Splash Country (I am irrationally excited about this). And I fear that a rambling post about any of these would reveal just how little I get out of the house; never mind the fact that none of the above have a single thing to do with writing, interdisciplinary scholarship, or graduate school.

Lucky for you, when I was reading today's edition of MALS student Kari Roueche's blog Archiventures, I received some much-needed inspiration. (Thanks, Kari!) One point she made struck me as worth repeating. Reflecting on how the authors of some letters she is processing for her practicum used such kind and polite language, even when corresponding informally with close family members, Kari notes:

"What you leave behind in the way of writing sets an example for the next generation" 

Wow. Kind of adds value, and perhaps some pressure, to our writing. Even if much of our written work doesn't make it to the next generation, it certainly lingers on at least a short while, outlasting spoken words, which are gone as soon as they are uttered. After all, there's a reason we create (and tax evaders try to demolish) the all-important "paper trail." Whether typing a quick email or writing a dissertation, our writing indeed provides a tidbit of our lives, an example of how and why we did our job, talked to a friend, or learned a new subject. In short, what we put in writing documents who we are. 

Knowing that your writing serves as an example of yourself, I'll end my post with the following request:  take a moment to think about what you want your paper trail to say about you. What do you want the "next generation" of scholars, family, or community members to learn from and about you? Whatever your answer, try and let this knowledge guide and motivate your writing throughout your life.

The EnTITLEment Process

I've found that writers vary in their attitudes toward titles. Some, like me, find the title to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the paper to write. I savor the process of coming up with that attractive, two or three line statement that encapsulates the essence of a paper over which I have toiled for weeks or months. Others are rather ambivalent toward titles. They see them as a necessary part of a paper, but treat it as little more than an afterthought to be slapped on the cover page just before the final printing.

Regardless of your feelings about titles, you need one. Moreover, you need a title that really works for your paper and offers the reader an accurate and concise first impression of your argument. In this respect, I urge you to get in the habit of treating the title as an integral part of the paper instead of as a piece of metadata. By this, I mean that your title should both introduce and reinforce the crux of your argument and not simply provide a few simple terms that you might put into a search engine. Lets look at an example:

Title 1: Bicycle Commuting and Gas Prices

Title 2: A Push to Pedal: Rethinking the Bicycle as a Commuter Vehicle in an Era of Rising Gasoline Prices

While the first title gives us a general idea of what the paper will cover, it's really too vague. There's not even a hint of what direction the author's argument will take. We only know that the paper will probably explore some relationship between bicycle commuting and gas prices. Title #2 gives us much more vivid insight into this paper's thesis. We know that we are going to read about a movement to increase the use of bicycles for transportation, within the context of a current economic environment of rising fuel costs.

In your Turabian manual, Booth, et al. state that your title should be the "last thing you write" for your paper (108). Why? Because it's only after your paper is finished (or getting pretty close) when you will have a complete picture of your argument and know how to best shape your title. And, when you complete this last element of your paper, think about the key and phrases and concepts throughout your paper that best state the essence of your argument. Most likely, you'll find such phrases in your introduction (particularly in your thesis statement) and/or in your conclusion, two sections that are dedicated to packaging your overall argument.

While I agree that finalizing your title is best left as the last act of paper-writing, there's no reason why you shouldn't start jotting down title ideas earlier in the writing process. I believe that the process of articulating a title helps you think more critically about your paper as  a whole. If you have a hard time coming up with a title that is any more specific than one or two nouns (like Title #1 in the above example), you might want to ask yourself why? Could it be that you yourself are unsure of how to articulate your thesis statement? Early in the writing process, this is probably fine. But, by keeping a "working title" alongside your "working thesis," you can use these two critical elements of your paper to help you shape (and reshape) your content. By letting the working title and working thesis really work, you have a built-in mechanism to monitor your clarity, organization, and depth of analysis.

While at the end of a long, arduous research and writing process, you may be tempted to throw down a couple of words that serve as a catch-all for your paper, please don't. Your hard work deserves an interesting title, so spend a little extra time on the first part of a paper anyone reads. The last thing you want is for the title to become the only part anyone reads.

PS> I didn't come up for a title for this post until after I finished writing (and rewriting) all of the above.

Seedy Thoughts

It's April, and most of you are in the early stages of drafting this semester's biggie paper. It's time to take all of that research, reading, and planning and transform your efforts into a masterpiece of interdisciplinary scholarship. Okay, maybe not a masterpiece, but certainly you  intend to write an organized, fully-developed analysis and/or argument.

If writer's block is ever going to rear its ugly head, it's probably now. You know you're ready to start writing cohesive paragraphs that will eventually come together into a whole paper. Except that you're not. The ideas are in your head, but you just can't seem to get them on paper.

But, if you wait until you have a great sentence in your head before you start writing, you'll be waiting a long time. Why? Because complete, compelling, and cohesive thoughts almost never go straight from your brain to your fingertips. Instead, even the best ideas first get to paper in an immature form, much like a prize-winning tomato plant first hits the soil as a tiny seed. You have to plant this "seedy thought" before you can fully develop on paper the idea that you know is floating around in your head.

As Michael C. Munger states in his essay 10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly, "Don't worry that what you write is not very good and isn't immediately usable. You get ideas when you write; you don't just write down ideas." Your first few rounds of writing might be ugly, but they are essential phases in the learning process. In short, you have to write first to articulate your thoughts to yourself and only after that can you effectively write to communicate your ideas to others.

So, if you're struggling to write anything because you can't even seem to form an intelligible sentence, perhaps the problem is that you're waiting until you have a complete thought before putting anything on the page. No matter how incomplete, grammatically incorrect, or unintelligible that thought may currently be, jot down whatever you can get out at the time - that seed of thought will be there, ready to cultivate into a strong point to communicate to your reader, once you've had a chance to fully articulate your idea to yourself.

Hanging the Picture, Part II

I finished Hanging the Picture, Part I by stating that you, as an interdisciplinary writer, need to choose a topic narrow enough to analyze and discuss thoroughly without digging yourself into a disciplinary hole. In other words, it's important to balance focus with interdisciplinarity in your writing. If this sounds difficult, don't worry - even the most specific topic can benefit from an interdisciplinary approach. It just takes some strategic planning. Fortunately, there are two elements of the writing process that will help you out here: the working thesis and the research prospectus.


As stated in the accessible and handy MALS Writing Center, a working thesis "is a proposed answer to a focused research question" and "the main point of your argument that you develop throughout your paper." A working thesis is like the captain of your paper: you should refer to it frequently to make sure you're on the right track for your mission. It guides your decisions for choosing evidence from the appropriate disciplines and articulating your stance on an issue, which makes it helpful (if not vital) for developing an outline and identifying holes in your argument. A good working thesis not only answers the "So What ?" question but also provides you with direction and focus. 


The other essential tool for keeping you in an interdisciplinary frame of mind is the research prospectus. A prospectus is something like a business plan for your paper, and should include the following: 

• A brief description and introduction of your topic
• A paragraph or two stating what you already know about your topic
• Your primary research question; that is, what question are you answering with your....
• Working thesis - a tentative answer to your research question
• An outline of the evidence and types of evidence you plan to use to develop your thesis, including:
• A description of specific preselected sources containing the evidence including the disciplinary (or interdisciplinary) approach these sources represent
• A statement of other types of sources you plan to consult to develop your thesis
• A description of sources that present a dissenting or anomalous argument to your working thesis
• Acknowledgment of any known or foreseen counter-arguments or anomalies to your argument
• Justification of your proposed argument's significance (a.k.a. the "So What?" test)- explain why your working thesis is interesting and helpful to your scholarly community.

As you can see from this list, a prospectus forces you to think critically about your stance on a topic and the research necessary to provide a solid argument. It also sets your working thesis in action by linking your claim to some evidence. While your working thesis provides the focus for your paper, the prospectus helps you thoughtfully implement an interdisciplinary approach. After you've written a prospectus, you should have a pretty good idea about what you need to do to find evidence in the appropriate, strategically-chosen disciplines for your paper. 


If the thought of writing a paper about your paper - especially when you have three seminar papers, a job, a house to clean, etc. - makes you want to reach through the screen and give me a noogie, I can understand.  But TRUST me - forcing yourself to think about these things listed above early in the writing process will prevent you from wasting time and energy later! 


With a solid working thesis and a thoughtful research prospectus, you'll be well on your way to an insightful, interdisciplinary discussion of even the most complex topic. That's what makes MALS so fun - you get to examine (or reexamine) topics in a whole new way. The trick is to always remain aware of the direction you are taking in your writing and research.