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  • Bolker 1998

    Diunggah oleh

    Sidney GM
    24 tayangan28 halaman
    dissertation

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    dissertation

    Hak Cipta:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Unduh sebagai PDF atau baca online dari Scribd
    Tandai sebagai konten tidak pantas
    24 tayangan28 halaman

    Bolker 1998

    Diunggah oleh

    Sidney GM
    dissertation

    Hak Cipta:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Unduh sebagai PDF atau baca online dari Scribd
    Tandai sebagai konten tidak pantas
    dari 28
    JOAN BOLKER, Ed.D. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day ZN Hey Hole and Company ~ New York omit Baer ‘tar no Coote tubeiea Dea “endothe race a ee iso snn a Deigaed by Viwe Hien For EDB Prat ae Getting Started Writing ‘rHis CHAPTER aims to hep you get started writing, When 1 worked at Harvard's Writing Center, we joked thatthe singe ott usefl piece of equipment fora writer was a bucket of ge. Fist you spread some on your chair, and then you st dow. Thoughts on the Writing Process Inthe interes of your doing more chan just sting chere, I want to think out loud fora bit about the writing proces, and how it doesn't and does work. I am about to violate an import ‘behavioral principle: “Never tech someone how to do some thing by showing them the wrong way to do it" Let's Took at ‘hat they taught me in school about how eo wits. Fist you hose a topic, peshaps of ist, perhaps at your teacher's sugges ‘ion, pethps out of the se or by looking at which shelf in the brary sil ad books avalable on it, Then you researched the topic (tis sep seemed to involve a lot of index cars). Then ‘you thought about your topic. ('ve always imagined hete a ear ‘toon of someone siting at 2 desk, with an empty word balloon 32 Gating Stored Writing © 33 aitached to her head) Having thought, you made an outline for your paper, then wrote, starting with 1 on your outline, feshng ic out, making sure you had a good topic sentence for cach paragraph. You proceeded through the outline in oxder, and when you finshed, and capped dhe paper off with 2 inal, summaticing paragraph, you Te che paper rest for day (ort of like bread dough}, then came back, checked the grammar, spelling, tensions, and dition, and clemed all of them up. ‘Then you were done T don’t thnk this model worked. Much ofthe time it led to neat, clean, boring papers, offen to emipty ones wits good form, It very rarely produced papers that were deeply houghifl, chat duad'strong and distinctive voices and syle, that ried ae many questions 2 they answered, that made you read, and reread, and then dream about the topic. I want to teach you to write sing a ‘method that does all these things. Ifyou loak ata piece of fnished writing, ll neat and orderly, and know nothing about how it actually came sbout, you might ede that it was created using what Addo Guthrie cals “the good old-fishioned boring model." But this n't how good, fin- ished wating usally occurs, and even when it does, such a method may not have been the best or most stiefying way of producing it In her esay “Bhsive Mastery: The Drafts of Eliaa- beth Bishop’s ‘One Art” Brett Candlish Miler looks 3¢ the seventeen drfis of Bishop's poem in order to discover how ‘exquisite wating relly gees done. The most shocking thing I found out from reading Bishop's dai is that her frst draft Looks neatly as awfil as my ovm fast-draft poems do its what Bishop oes after that—and how many times she does it—that makes all the diference. How does one really begin to write? William G, Perry shat 34+ Writing Your Disteration in Fifeew Minutes 0 Day eserbed the proces: ruccinely: “Bint you make a mest then you cles it up.” If you think about che implications ofthis statement, you goickly realize that how you write i up for gobs o more neat outlines with Roman numerals to fellow, no elegant topic rentences foreach paragraph, maybe not even any clear sense of where you're going. you're noc gong to feel like you'r in ice fal, you're going to need some other state ses, What wail get you theough the beginning sages ofthis new ‘model are a few beh principles, an understanding of good sictons and plan for producing messy writing everyday. ‘When you st down to begin apiece of writing, your fist sim ought tobe to make a mes—to say anything that comes to your rnd, on the mbject oF oft, not to worry a all about whether ‘your suis connected logically, to play with your subject the ‘way you wed to build mud pies, © do no fine detail work, to spell pootly if that’s your natmal inclination, and to generally forge about standards sltogether (even about spit infinitive). 1 suspect many wiring Blocks come about because people aren't ‘sed to playing in the mod when they wate: they think writing is a neat, ean endeavor. I don't ‘You may. think T'm asking you to be an imesponsble, uncaring write. But I'm really stking you co uy something that ‘wil ave just the opposite eect, if you see it ebrough. The ‘writing process 1 have in mind has two parts to it, a first, eoglcng,” making-s-mes pare; and a second, compubive, clean-up-the-mes pur, Ifyou do only the fist pat, you will indeed end up with a metry, sesponsble product you won't ‘want to acknowledge a your own. Ifyou do both pars, though, T believe you'll be able co produce stronger, more imaginative ‘writing that you'l fe proud to own, ‘When I suggest that you make a messin writing, I don’t ening Started Weng © 35 ‘mean that you have to go out of your way to make your writing disorganized, or uncommunicatve, just hat You need to control ‘your worry in the frst part ofthe writing process; i helps to do this if you think of your ain as making mud pies or sndeales, rather than stone buildings. You are makings sketch, not & Gi shed ol pinging ‘What ough: you top worrying about? le would be nice i'you could completely ignore your peling (it only needs ta be good ‘enough so you can fguse out what you wrote, should you decide to reread your writing) It would be even better if you could ignore sentence strcrnre. Concentrate on what you've tying to say, and see how many diffrent ways you ean sy i. ‘You may find tht your meaning, 3¢ well a your style, will be shi a this point, You don't need to worry at all duting this fis stage about overall organization; I certainly hope you won't feel compelled to begin a the beginning and move fom there to the middle and the end of your piece. the writing does’t sound good to you wile you're writing its fine to make a note to yourtel about this. (ind i wef to keep up a running dialogue with myself bout the questions and problems T've having while Pm writing) offen pu that ‘commentary right inthe moist of ay text, using square brackets, ‘or a diferent color ink or pencil so that when I come back t0 revise, I can recognize and engage quickly with the problems I've already noted. I don't stop to hunt for worde when I'm in this messy phase; iT can't get jst the sight word, It the dee for four alematives/choices/words/senses, just like this, 1 can stop and open the dhesaures while Tim wotking on a second dra, when doing that won't threaten to interupe the flow of sy thoughts and feng. ‘The main goa for this frst stage of vritng iso keep i going, 36 + Writing Your Diseaion in Ffeen Minutes Day to keep the interesting and alive associations in your brain sparking, You daw't wane to do anything at ths point tha’ going to get in their way. Waiting fom an outline sometimes shoue-czeuits the imaginative part of writing altogether, Obsess ing sbout technical deals can lew it down or sop it altogether. If you need to think about your writing in terms of perfec tion, pehape i wil help you to know that making a mes is not ‘only functional, but estenial for cresting that perfect final product you have in mind. In chaper 41 elk about leaning sup the mess Using Behavioral Principles ‘There are only a few simple behavioral principles you need to know. Fist, you need to know the diference Between nega tive and positive reinforcement I's possible to train ourselves to do things by punishing ourselves cach time we do something ‘rong, but this method is both inelficien and inhumane, Posi- tive reinforcement, rewarding outselves each step of the way at we accomplish a series of small goals onthe way to achieving the large one (what animal craines call “shaping”), i both ‘more plesane and meh more affective. (IF you've ted, God faxbid, to san + poppy by beating i, youl know that you can nd up with « docile dog, but not one with any spirit or joy. ‘Poppies who are tained with praise and weats prow into lively, obedient dogs) How do you manslate these obervations into a process that rewards witing? You set up goal for yourself that are doable, and then you reward yourself with the legal eat of your choice, ‘whatever that 2 ran with a lend a cup of coflee at your Savorite caf; half howe to read a novel, listen to music, or chat Goring Stated Writing © 37 (on the phone—you'l now what your own pleasures are, You tay to steer clear of sel blame snd critical lectures (from other people, 100), and of bad-mouthing what you've written. And you won't put youre fa circumstances in which you re= peated fil to write. (have acmally had the following conver- sation with 2 dient: “Where do you do your writing?” “At the Kitchen table.” “How does it work?” "I never get anything done thee.") ‘You alo need to practice two kinds of rewards—the simple sont I've described above, and ako a more sophisticated kind known as the Premack Principle, or “Grandma's mashed potatoes law": “No dewert until you've eaten your smashed pota- tos.” This principle says you can reinforce a desired behavior by ping ic with another Behavior chet you vakue highly and will do for its own sake, Transted into a sstegy for writing, it means you will find some behavior you don't want to live ‘without—say you don‘ fel lke a day is complete uss you've read the newspaper—and chen net allow yourself to do it until you've accomplished your writing goal for that day, One of the ‘oddest and most exciting possibilities ofthis sor of reinforce- ‘meat is that once you've established 4 good writing habit, the ‘iting itself may become the reward, the reinforcement. ‘The other strategy I want t emphasize is this: make very, very sure that you set realizable goals for yourelé hati, avoid assigning yourtel's piece of work that is too large to accomplish tis much beter rosa thst you'll wate two sloppy pages a day and actually do chem than fo set your goal at ten pages and not vite anything because the tak is too overwhelming even to begin, Ifyou set youself up to fil, you will soon discaver that you're writing less. And less. And sill leet. Is ako a mistake to push youself to do more chan your dily 38. + Writing Your Dizeraion in Fifeen Minwtes @ Day goal Ifyou try to do thi, you'll often find yourself unable t0 meet your goal dhe nex dy. ‘Wiite even ifyou fel sluggish, even ifyou fel lousy, even if ‘you feel ike you have nothing to say. You can atl begin co get A proces started, and to eam about your writing chythm. Days when you're productive and che writing fects ike it writes self will most likely alternste with others, when it feels ike you've never Written anything worthwhile and never will. When f give talks about writing, the line that consistently draws the most Ihughter of recognition is "Most people would mther wash the bathroom floor than write." The best way to get into a good ‘writing Hythe sco vite very day, except maybe your birthday, fr the queen's, You can define “every day” as you pleaso— seven days a vee, of only weekdays, or atleast fve days out of very seven—so long a you define what you intend to do in sdvance and don't keep changing the rales as you go along. Don't decide, for instance, not to write on a morning when you ot fel lke waiting. In tie rexpect, too, writing is very much, like running: if you wait eo decide whether or not to run ei ‘you wake up in the maming, the odds are you won't gst Your shoes on and yaur body out the door. The only way to rea oF £9 verte regulary is to make a rule for yourself that you allow yourself te break only rarely. About Creating a Writing Addiction Addicions get‘prety bad press, But we often overlook the Inoman propensity for additions: book collectors have thers, ‘opera buf have them, those who garden beautify, or cook ‘well, or do anything with pasion have them. There are bad Goring Stored Writing = 39° suddctions and good ones. I's fine to be addicted to exercise, to being out in the air, to geting in touch with the wold by reading the newspaper or Tstening to the news on the radio every day, to swimming, to gardening. Weiting ean be this kind of an addiction for some fortonate people, and, as with the others, the reason it can become an addiction is because it sts- ‘es an essential need and gives pleasure. {Yes I really did say leasi.) What’ the need? For some of ts, witing gives us 2 place to be with oureelvet in which we can laten to what's on our minds, collect our thoughts and feelings, sete and center ourselves. For others of sit gives ut chance to expres what would otherwise be oves- ‘whelming feelings, co Gnd a afe and bounded place to put them. For some, i's Hike exercise: this isthe way we warm up a muscle that we're going to be caled upon to use. And the pleasure? For anyone who's ever had a sunning habit, i's easy to describe. The satisfction of writing everyday is very much like the satisfcson (of a daily thrve-mile run. One begins, lives through # wanmp, his stride, as the experience of “being ron" rather than "nun= hing.” of fluidity of motion that one no longer has to direct, and then, cooled down, can fel, “Now the rest ofthe day's my fown. I've done what 1 most needed to do.” And for those ‘who've never rap? Writing offs the pleasure ofa deep, ongoing engagement in an activity that i meaning, one where you ‘know more at its end than you knee atts beginning Why do we get addicted? Because when something gives ut intense pleasure, that pleasure works 25a reinforcer; that i, ¢ borings us back tothe activity with greater and greater Kequency, Positive additions ean algo focus us; they have their ovm bullte jn motivation, complete with withdrawal symptoms, A few 40+ Whiing Your Dsttation in Fifteen Minvtes @ Day weeks into our work, one of my writing cients came in looking Ustesed; she said chat she “ele antsy" and was wondering if it twas boease she had’t had the time to waite forthe past few days, We poked stound a bit looking forthe posible use of hae dstess, and we decided the absence of writing was probably ‘The good news, of course, wis that she'd managed to develop a sel pexpettating wring addiction very quickly. ‘So you need to begin to experiment with cultivating @ ‘writing addiction, with evtblishing pattems and changing them. ‘they don’e work. Even if you're tevibly neurotic, and even if ‘you never do become a true "witing adic," behavioral methods can sil help you suite, Fis not necestay to fee joyous about ‘writing inorder to produce a good diseration, or even to enjoy ‘att of is creation. Tey wing while you'te working on your peuroier—and should you choose not to work on them, you ‘vil probably sil els bit bere ifyou get some work done. Preewsiting and Making @ Mess “Here is how you can wse fcewriking to establish your waiting addiction, You sare with a very small tas, earning to weit for ten minutes every diy, come ell or high water. T get a lot of rnised eyebrows fiom new writing cians when T suggest this tnd comments like “Ten minutes? At that rate it will tke me ‘en yeas to finish ery thea!” I generally point out chat 0 far they've been unable to wate anything at all, and that ten min tates 2 day ia great improvement over that (mathematically it’s sn infinite improvernen) e's cezainy cue chat you can’ write 4 thesis if you continue to write for only ten minutes a day, but thie a good way to begin, Despite this book's ttle, I recom- Getting Stated Writing = 44 mend sarting out by writing ten minutes a day because T think it ‘works most quickly and easly to get you on wack. Once you're Going that, you can work up to fen minutes and, gradually, ‘tm much longer stretches of writing. Anyone can write for ten rmintes day, prticulnly if one is Geesiiing it's tak that's prety wll guatanteed to be doable, e's exential to begin your practice with a task you're sure to succeed at. There is nothing uit as effective at killing a disertation as vowing to write eight hours every day and filing t—as anyone must—day after day. ‘Ten minvtes a day is 2 very effective way «0 establish 2 wriking addiction, How do you actully do your ten minutes a day of wting? By following the directions for feewniting lid down by Peter Bow in Writing thou Teachers Don't sop for anything, Go quickly without mashing [Never stop t0 look back, to cross something out, 9 ‘onder how to pel something, to wonder what word or ‘hough co ws, ow dink abour what you ae doing. IF you can't thin ofa word or pling, jut use «squiggle for che wie, ‘Tan’ thnk ofe*,. The easing ie Jano pu down whatever it in your min, Kyou gt toc 10 fine co wre "Tea ek what to any, Tae hike ‘what co say’ as many times as you wank... The only requirement i that you noe sop. [Note the bass note: keep writing, no matter what; even if you hate it you can do it for ten minutes. And then see how much ‘ting you've produced. Most people write, on average, shout ‘one or one and a half handuritten page in ten uinutes. Whats 42+ Whiting Your Disertaton ix Fifteen Minwtes a Day ‘very sorpeing is ehat even in such a short block of seemingly mindless wridag (and here we come back to the power of the tencoascious) you will occasionally, on rereading your words, find something interesting, something you dido't know befor, for, maybe more accurately, something you didn’t know you knew, Frecoiting is one of thote activities in which two and two sometimes add up to five. Obviously, even ten minvtes of| -wonderfl freewriting every day won't quite get you to wirere you want 0 go, 10 you need to Team how to increase your ‘wtting production, But you only need to think about taking further seps once feewriting has become 2 far, comfort- able and self reinfocing process for you, ‘Using the eesriting, mesy model works much better chan ‘conventional methods in ewo different ways: it uses you less pain while you're doing it, and it produces beter writing. Here's whet it ook ik: Ssy you need to write something ikea rough proposi for your thesis, and you're feeling prety uncer tain about both your choice of topic and how you're going to Gevelop i once you know what itis. You sit dowa at your desk and begin ofieewtte, puting down on the paper any thoughts, ides, of flings you may have atound or about your general topic. You keep aking yourself questions in writing, sch as “Do I want to pick this topic, which I know 1 can move through methodically to the end, and #sk boredom and an ordin sty thesis, or da T want to stk my profesional neck by picking the maverick topic that excites mo?" (There # no obvious answer to this questing, bythe way.) Other questions may occur to you, both around aad iiside your project: “Can I really do thie thesis stuf, sisain intevest long enough to write what amounts to 4 book?” “Will anyone want to read this when f'm ering Stated Writing + 43 done?” “How do 1 begin setting limits on 2 these about Anthony Trollope when he wrote so many books? What do I include? What do I leave out?” Or “What do I think the inter- sting questions are about Trollop's portrayal of his female character?” ‘You do Geewsiting inclusive, messy, not necessarily seeming. ‘o progres—every day, coming back to your own thoughts and feelings, seeing what che depthe present you with each day, As ‘you work om these itentions you will dtcover that your ‘thoughts and felings are becoming clearer, and your topic is ‘becoming clearer. I don’t think I've ever worked with a udent ‘who stuck with Geewriting for whom this didn’ happen. [Now iistime to work toward slighly more focused, lest fee wring that nevertheless moves along quickly, taps into the ‘underground steams of your thoughe, and moves by rapid asso ciation to open up new ideas and new directions. The aim of ot-qute-s-free writing ie tp use 2 bit more of your rational ‘mind. You do this by setting yourself somewhat more focused task a the outset, not “write sbout anything for ten minute,” bout “write as fst as 1 can for she next tem minutes about one rovel by Trollope, tying to focus on is politic,” or “What's ‘my best current guess about what shape this chapter is going to take?” of “What bothers me most about this chapter, and can T Unk of any answers to my wony2" In other word, you set ‘yourself 2 sloppy topic, ask yourself 2 question to get you thinking along certs lines, nd try t focus your scope from the whole world down to the iaser of your thes. Some of these questions that you pate, metaphorically, at the top of your page of writing will come out of the fiewriing you've azeady done. But you wil still sometimes want to follow your mind c 44 + Whtng Your Disettion in Fite Minates a Day whecever it lads you sill ute asociation, and sill not worry if {Your thinking is divergent, Divergent thinking i what will Utinately produce some of the most interesting ideas in your dizeration. Some witer: might do better, in fact, to sart with this sighdy-les-fce writing, Sometimes i's easier to write about “samething” than abovt “anything.” Ifyou find yourself srg ing unsucesily to tum out feewritin, try intzad todo the Somewhat more focwed writing that I've desrbed in the pre- iow paragraph. ‘By now you ought to be ale to write prety quickly, and to {cus your writing without strangling the flow. You've leamed, ‘on good days, how to ure freewriing to improve che speed and the fluency of your writing, and to establish the channel between ‘your thoughts and your wating, in onde, 2 B. F, Skinner has ‘at i, "eo discover what you have eo say.” (I particu hike the tense pan in is place: you will discover both what you have fh you to sty and also whit you most need to say.) Where do ‘you go from here, and how do you begin to accumlate writing {rate that will permit you to Ginish your disertation before your hundredth birthday? Setting Your Daily Writing Goal ‘What you need to decide next is how you're going to et your aly wesing goal Thre ae three ways to do this, and all ree ‘work, aithough not equally wel, The fist—He's call tthe “st there method"—is to sy that you will write fora fixed amount ‘of time, ay two hours, every day, There are nota lot of peo- ple who can jst write—not stare off into space, not get up t0 rake five pots of coffee, not tak on the phone, bur write Guting Stared Writing = 45

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