{"id":1089,"date":"2022-01-18T11:24:13","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2022-01-18T11:36:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T16:36:40","slug":"ways-to-jumpstart-your-writing-and-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/2022\/01\/18\/ways-to-jumpstart-your-writing-and-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Jumpstart your Writing and Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hi all!\u00a0 A few of you have emailed me feeling a bit \u201cstuck\u201d in your work over break.\u00a0 It can be hard to work by yourself!\u00a0 I empathize.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve put together a short list of \u201cprompts.\u201d\u00a0 These can be done in any order.\u00a0 And there is no pressure to complete all (or any!) of them.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, if you are doing some pre-writing, don\u2019t forget to safely collect all your pieces of writing in one place (virtual or analog).\u00a0 Just don\u2019t lose them!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reread your proposal and my comments. After that, set a time an do a 15-20 min free write about what you think your next steps should be.<\/li>\n<li>Pick one text you think you would like to work with (doesn\u2019t matter if you are revisiting it or coming to it for the first time). Spend some time with it and then set a timer for 15-20 mins and do a free write.\u00a0 Work on answering the questions: What (specifically) about this text is interesting to me?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Possibly spend some time close reading a scene or a moment.<\/li>\n<li>Gather 2 or 3 of your texts and set a time for 15-20 mins. This time, free write about similarity in difference or difference in similarity.\u00a0 If the texts are mostly similar, state why you think that, then look for an interesting difference and explore it.\u00a0 If the texts are mostly different, state why and how, then look for a compelling similarity and explore it.<\/li>\n<li>Spend 10 or so minutes brainstorming themes, motifs, questions, or repetitions you have seen in your texts so far. When you have a list of 25 or most things, go back and denote which ones feel most interesting to you.\u00a0 Then, set a time and do a free write about one or two.\u00a0 Really try to site specific moments from some of your texts.<\/li>\n<li>Go back to our\u00a0blog post prompts\u00a0from the term (find them on the syllabus). Read over the various prompts and pick one.\u00a0 If the prompt requires outside research, then spend a set amount of time on that (1-2 hours, perhaps).\u00a0 Then, do a low-stakes freewrite for 20 mins answering the prompt with what you know.<\/li>\n<li>Anxious? Make a list of all the things about which you are anxious when it comes to this project or the term itself. Only do this for a set amount of time (10 mins, perhaps).\u00a0 Once you have a list, go back and start to write next to each anxiety a specific person or place or action that might help you if this anxiety becomes real.\u00a0 (For example: anxiety\u2014I don\u2019t know enough about WWI. Possible solutions\u2014make an appointment with Prof X or Prof Y; read that book about WWI history I have been procrastinating; watch a documentary about the time period to bolster my knowledge, etc.\u00a0 OR anxiety\u2014I cannot access all\u00a0 the texts I need.\u00a0 Possible solutions\u2014make a list of all the texts I think I need, then star the ones I have access too now.\u00a0 Begin reading though and note how I might be able to get the other texts when the term starts (ask a librarian, see a prof with a specialty in that area, etc)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I could go on and on.\u00a0 Do these offer a good starting place for you?\u00a0 Let me know what you think and feel free to email or leave a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi all!\u00a0 A few of you have emailed me feeling a bit \u201cstuck\u201d in your work over break.\u00a0 It can be hard to work by yourself!\u00a0 I empathize.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve put together a short list of \u201cprompts.\u201d\u00a0 These can be done in any order.\u00a0 And there is no pressure to complete all (or any!) of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/2022\/01\/18\/ways-to-jumpstart-your-writing-and-research\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ways to Jumpstart your Writing and Research<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145909],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}