Write in manner that makes the reader turn the page

''The writer's object is - or should be - to hold the reader's attention. I want the reader to turn the page and keep on turning to the end. This is accomplished only when the narrative moves steadily ahead, not when it comes to a weary standstill, overloaded with every item uncovered in the research.'' 

- Barbara Tuchman, New York Times, February 2, 1989

Writing as Weaving

There are many metaphors we use to describe the act of writing. Today, I experience writing as weaving. I looked at the different ideas I have collected over two months and sorted over four days, and put like ideas together, and today, I started weaving some of these like ideas together, chaining them logically to other like ideas, and then putting this chunk in a position relative to other chunks.

It feels like weaving, knitting, or sewing, because I am doing intricate work. I look at the words of each idea to find similarities. For example, I see something in common between what Jackson (1995) says that teachers may deliver more than promised when they tell stories and what Benjamin (1968) says about how narrative achieves an amplitude that information lacks. Both ideas tell us that stories can give us more than what we are expecting, that there is potential in stories. So I will allow these two separate threads to intertwine into a thicker and stronger thread that will form an argument in my literature review.

Editing the thesis

Oh bother. I did not expect it to be so difficult. I'm reading parts of my work which are so incoherent, sound so "ugly" that I feel like puking. That is the chapter on the context of Singapore... and next up, I am going meet with a greater challenge... The methodology section has always been exceptionally difficult for me to justify and write... I really need help from above. I'm no full-time student. I have other work responsibilities to deal with as well. (And while I'm easily distracted, I'm not exactly a good multi-tasker.) And I'm human like all people with humanly responsibilities, like celebrating the New Year, gatherings with family, in my heart, I'm still coveting a little getaway for myself... And yes, in my heart, I'm a workaholic, but I have grown wiser than to neglect the other areas of life, which while relatively hold less appeal to me, actually could mean really more when you weigh things on an eternal scale. (I know, I'm weird. Very few people like working more than playing. But I actually prefer working.)

I guess, here I am.

This is really what Grad School is like.

I've had my moments of fun and glory, but most of the time, it's like swimming against a current.

And you know what. I think I should just pack things up in preparation for tomorrow. And pray.

This is a dire straits situation that requires help from above.

Writing as "physical, emotional, and aesthetic labour"

From my heart, I sometimes write snippets about writing on Facebook. But I want a better place to collect them. So I'm gonna add some here. Maybe more to come in the future. This is to remind me that writing is so much more than a technique and a product, it is also a craft and a process.

The difficulty with writing is oftentimes not that I do not have enough ideas but that I have too many, and I have to learn to pick and choose those that I can thread together into a beautiful necklace. This often involves abandoning some of my favorite beads that do not fit the theme of the necklace I'm stringing together. - May 5 2014

Writing is an art. Initially, I approach it with my own bare hands, molding and restructuring it into shape. Towards its completion, I come with a chisel, chipping off bits and pieces to reveal the sculpture. My work has a frame - the word limit. And like an artist, I have put in so much tears, sweat and blood into my work that any criticism is hard to bear. - 7 September 2014

Kamler and Thomson (2014) say that, "Writing is physical, emotional and aesthetic labour... Many scholars carry their scholarship deep in their psyche, bones and muscles. (p. 3)" I think so too. :)

Kamler, B. and Thomson, P. (2014) Helping doctoral students write: Pedagogies for supervision (2nd Edition) Florence, KY: Routledge

What writing a thesis is like...

Putting a book together is interesting and exhilarating. It is sufficiently difficult and complex that it engages all your intelligence. It is life at its most free. Your freedom as a writer is not freedom of expression in the sense of wild blurting; you may not let rip. It is life at its most free, if you are fortunate enough to be able to try it, because you select your materials, invest your task, and pace yourself. In the democracies, you may even write and publish anything you please about any governments or institutions, even if what you write is demonstrably false. The obverse of this freedom, of course, is that your work is so meaningless, so fully for yourself alone, and so worthless to the world, that no one except you cares whether you do it well, or ever. You are free to make several thousand close judgment calls a day. Your freedom is a by-product of your days' triviality. - Annie Dillard, The Writing Life, page 11

 Annie Dillard puts it so well. It is "interesting and exhilarating", "engages all your intelligence" and "life at its most free" yet not that free because we want to produce something for the benefit of not just the writer, but all for his or her audience. :)

Writing the thesis

My supervisor and I recently worked on an article for a journal. It was the first time my writing and thinking was scrutinized. My pride was wounded and it hurt. But on hindsight, I am so grateful and thankful. Because those comments helped me to think clearer. It helped me to make certain decisions. It focused my thoughts. It helped situate me amongst my audience, reminding me that people who read what I write, are going to question it and going to dialogue with it. Therefore I must write with this in mind. My love goes out to the editor of the journal and the two reviewers.

It also made me desire to write one more, rather than work on the thesis. But I think they will all have to go hand in hand, together with my work work. Yes, I have to do this multitasking, at least for the next 4 months.

And I need to resume thesis writing! I am planning to wake up early to use my clearest moments to write. I read this in a book by Max Lucado (He still moves stones) yesterday in the acknowledgement section:

"You are about to entrust me with your most valuable asset - your time. I pledge to be a good steward. Though writing a book can be a like desert journey, reading a book shouldn't be. It should be a pause at the oasis. I hope it is.
Drink deeply."

This will be my manifesto. My goal is to do the difficult work of thinking and writing, such that you, my audience, will have many points of enlightenment, many points of joy with ease, when reading what I have wrote. To this end, I will strive towards. I will edit as many times as required and allowed according to my schedule, such that you have the most value for time when you read my thesis and if I do write another article, that too.

A respectable piece of work

"What does "ownership" of your writing mean? It means that your writing belongs, for better or worse, to you, and you alone. If you screw up your courage to write, it is essential that your ownership of that writing be respected by your audience - of one or a thousand. Not necessarily agreed with, but respected. Your committee members can decide whether your body of writing constitutes an acceptable dissertation; a publisher or journal editor will decide whether it will reach a wider audience; any reader can like your writing or not, agree with it or not, understand it or not. But it is still yours. You get to decide what you're going to say, how you're going to say it, whom you're going to allow to read it. Other people own their responses to it, but you own the writing." (p. 17)

Okay. My goal is to produce a "respectable" piece of work. And it belongs to me fully. :) Something wonderful happened last Friday! I completed a draft of a journal article for my boss and I submited a draft of a conference paper to the conference administrator. What this technically means is that from today, 1st of June 2014 onwards, I can sort of convert the time I have spent writing articles, to writing of my thesis! :D (Of course, I have other tasks to do alongside this, but at least I can devote part of my time to thesis writing now!) I have put thesis-writing on hold for a couple of months because of the writing and editing of those papers. But you know, as a result of doing those papers, I felt clearer about my research questions.

Just to share... It used to be:

a) How do teachers understand patriotism?
b) How do teachers teach patriotism?

But I want to change them to:

a) How do teachers understand patriotism and teach it?
b) How do teachers perceive the relationship between patriotism and citizenship?
c) How do teachers negotiate the tensions between patriotism and critical thinking?

I'm thinking of approaching the thesis in this tripartite format.  Meaning to have three sections to my literature review. And possibly a chapter each for the findings. And then close it up with discussion and conclusion.

I don't care where this thesis takes me, at the very least, I want to produce a piece of work that will be a joy for both my supervisor and my examiners to read. I am promised at least them as my audience. And they are important to me. So I am going to do my best! :)

Bolker, Joan (1998) Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day: A guide to starting, revising, and finishing your doctoral thesis. New York: Holt