Getting Started

 

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.

The week before we were all asked to stay at home, I was at a writing retreat and words were just pouring out of me….but over these last couple of months at home I have hardly written anything, and my productivity has defiantly taken a knock. This has been hard for me; I am used to working hard and giving 100%, and writing is a huge part of who I am and what I do.

When I have shared these frustrations with colleagues, family, and friends they have told me to be kind to myself, to cut myself some slack, to remember that I can’t expect to continue as normal.

All of this is true, and in fact it is the same advice I have given to others. And yet….

And yet, it is clear that this will be ‘the new normal’ for months to come, and there are still meetings to attend, work to be done, papers to be read and written, and deadlines to be met.

It is clear that for me (and possible for some of you?), the time has come to pull myself together.

And then Pat Thompson’s latest blog post arrived in my inbox this morning and I had to laugh – I swear, the woman is like Google – somehow, she always seems to know just what I need! And what I needed was to hear that I am not the only one grappling with the frustration of being caught in this strange twilight zone between what was, and what will be. And that she, like me, is strongly feeling the need to ‘get it together’.

Certainly, this situation with all of its challenges is not ideal for anyone, but at some point each of us is going to have to accept the specific challenges and limitations we are facing, and find ways to be as productive and successful as possible for the duration of this pandemic. For me, this means going back to basics and reassessing my writing process, and I’m inviting each of you to do the same.

The idea that you have a writing process may be familiar to you (its something I like to talk about in workshops), or it may be something you are considering for the first time. Either way, the better acquainted you can become with your own process, and the more strategic you can be, the more productive your thinking and writing will be. In other words, you need to try to work with, and for yourself, rather than against yourself.

Very few of us probably feel completely satisfied with our current setup, and it may not be possible to achieve our ideal work environment right now, but we can think about what works best for us, and then try to get as close to that as possible. Begin by thinking about the logistics of your process and becoming familiar with your natural rhythms. If you are an early bird or a night owl, it may be possible to find time to write before everyone has woken up or after they have gone to bed. If you are working during the day, figure out whether your thinking and writing flow better in the morning or afternoon. If you prefer things to be quiet while you write, you can use earplugs, cotton wool, or even toilet paper to cut out some of the noise. If, on the other hand, you like having background noise, then try listening to something like these coffee shop sounds. Spend some time experimenting until you find something that feels right for you right now.

Next, think about what motivates you. Motivation can come from within - a favourite song or special verse that encourages you to keep going when times are tough – or from those around us. If you find it helpful to have a coach or a guide, then make an online appointment at the Writing Lab. If you are a postgraduate student longing for a sense of community, then join the FHS Remote Academic Writing Group 2020. Perhaps you respond well to structure? If so, consider following one of the Research Writing Pathways. Alternatively, if you are goal orientated, you could set yourself daily or weekly targets, or use a time-management tool, such as the Pomodoro Technique, to help you stay motivated.

Finally, become familiar with your writing rhythms. I don’t want to give advice about writing rhythms because there really is no one right way, so instead I’ll tell you what works for me, which I hope will spark your thinking about what works for you.

When I write, it always begins with thinking. Whether I have been given a topic or have to come up with something on my own, I will always spend a day or two (sometimes longer), just thinking about the topic, rolling it around in my head, letting it percolate while I’m cooking dinner or going for a walk or lying in bed at night. This gives me a chance to think about the different ways I could approach the topic, and possibly to come up with some creative or interesting ideas to use. I keep a journal next to my bed, because I find that I will often get a good idea just before I fall asleep, but if I don’t write it down, I can’t remember it in the morning! Once I have decided what I want to do, I will start to write a very rough first draft, and I really do mean rough; half paragraphs, random sentences, notes or questions, multiple versions of the same section….a beautiful mess 😊 This is the point at which I usually pause the writing and start reading. While I’m reading and gathering information, I will certainly be making notes, but probably not working on my draft. After a few days or more of reading, I’ll come back to my draft and start to integrate what I have read, so my draft will slowly start to take shape. Depending on the size of the project, I may go through many cycles of reading and writing until I am satisfied. Eventually I’ll start editing and polishing what I have written. While I’m doing this, I will usually read out loud, and I’ll often imagine reading to someone who’s opinion I respect. This usually helps me to spot areas where I have rushed over my argument, or not made my point clearly enough, or perhaps where I have made an assumption I know they would challenge me on. Eventually I will either send my piece to someone I trust for feedback or submit. For me, the goal is never to write as quickly as possible, but as well as possible.

So…when, where, and how you write is a process, and figuring out your own process is a journey. Maybe, like me, you thought you had this all worked out and now you are finding that you have to rethink things, or maybe this is the exciting start of things to come. Either way, I wish you well on this journey! If you have any questions or want to let us know how it’s going, please comment below or drop us an email at fhs.writinglab@gmail.com.

Wishing you a productive week!

Natashia