Winding down
November 17, 2008 by jmlewi
Literally, every project I had to do for my other classes was due today, plus the regular homework and a Latin quiz, plus my mom visited…so, needless to say, I did not get anything done on my thesis this weekend. I did, however, begin writing a little bit on Thursday; I organized my ideas a little more and wrote about a page. But the upside is that now it’s all finished, and the thesis should be the only thing I have to worry about for the rest of the semester. My goal is to average two pages a day for the next few weeks, and more if I can, which makes it totally manageable and non-stressful. I am a bit concerned, though, about having enough material to fill 25 pages. I have quite a bit of primary material, and stuff to say about it and to make connections and all that, but I don’t really have any other secondary studies to go along with it. I’m not really sure if it’s necessary yet, but I may need to try to find some just in case.
3 Responses to “Winding down”
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Hey Jaimie, you’re definitely not alone with the worries about having enough primary material. I’m really worried I’m going to fly through my outline by like page 12 or 13 or something. I think once we start writing and realize how we all know so much about our topics, writing pages will go by quickly and we’ll be struggling to fit it all under the page limit! At least, that’s what I’m telling myself anyways.
My adviser suggested making a really detailed outline of the chapter before writing. I dunno what your writing process is like, but it’s helped me a lot and might be something wroth considering.
How come Latin takes so much time? At least for me it does…I am not looking forward to taking it next semester. It’s quite dull and it takes time away from writing. Anyway, your schedule of two pages a day sounds very manageable. I was worried about filling pages, and once I got a rhythm (which actually did take a while) I did not have trouble. I was pleasantly surprised, and I bet you will be too.
To comment on Matt’s comment, my advisor suggested not making a really detailed outline because it could create rigidity and decrease writing style and flow. I’m trying the non-outline approach this chapter, but we shall see how it turns out. I’m guessing the strict outline forces organization first, whereas the non-outline forces organization later.
To comment on worries of “not enough material”: you might have little in the way of actual primary data, but your interpretations should be detailed and intimate. I think you’ll (all) find that once you start writing, and therefore questioning what it is you’re saying, you’ll (all) discover you end up with much more written than you thought you could squeak out. Use the force - or, for non-Star Wars-watchers, trust yourself. You’ve done this all before (if on a smaller scale).