The Write Idea

Post by Dr Emmanuel Nwosu, a former FHS Writing Lab consultant. I have to raise my hand from my location in Cape Town to say that, during this lockdown, I am one of those who think that the world is turning upside down and we don’t know where this “ship” of coronavirus pandemic will get us to. Initially I was confused, overwhelmed, scared, cautious, avoidant of the new reality, and unmotivated to work. I guess my initial reaction was because I am not your typical adventurous personality (I only take the risk if it is worth it, or there is no other option, whatever that means). It takes a bit of time to come out from the shell and realize that nothing will change anytime soon. Therefore, it is important to ride the wave; wherever it takes us to, we will see. I shared a bit of my response to current realities because I think some of you – our clients – could relate to it. Probably others responded differently because of differences in personalities. This brings me to a point I would li...

  Dear Writing Lab Clients, Sawubona, welkom, wamkelekile, dumela, bonjour, jambo, ndaa, lotjhani, mohoro, avuxeni! I would like to welcome you to the second instalment of our weekly Writing Lab newsletter, ‘The Write Idea’ Last week, Natashia shared her thoughts on finding your writing process, your rhythm and your motivation during this time. We hope that you have managed to find some processes that work for you. Most of you that have been at my writing workshops, know that I always stress and encourage you to:      "Take risks, try new approaches to find out what doesn’t work for you, so that you don’t waste time following the crowd, thinking this must work for me. In this way, there is more time to get things done using approaches that           work for you." I find that my rhythm and process for productivity changes daily depending on how I envision ‘progress’ for that day. It is a tricky concept and one that I have spent...

  Dear Clients and Friends of the Writing Lab, I would like to welcome you to the first instalment of ‘The Write Idea’ , a weekly Writing Lab blog. Sawubona, welkom, wamkelekile, dumela, bonjour, jambo, ndaa, lotjhani, mohoro, avuxeni! Why a blog and why now? Well, to be honest, we miss you – we miss seeing your faces in workshops and hearing your voices, we want to connect with you, we want to hear your concerns, we want to share our thoughts and guidance about academic writing, we want to share useful resources to help you succeed, and we want to tell you our news and hear yours. So, we’re going to take it easy, keep it light, and see how it develops over time. I hope that you will join us on this journey.   While thinking about what to focus on in this first blog, I wondered what you are all going through? What different types of challenges each of you might be facing right now? And, I reflected on my own recent challenges with writing and productivity. T...