Why is it so difficult to start to write?
I recently read a book called "Writing the Successful Thesis and Dissertation" by Irene L. Clark. Good read. Who doesn't want their thesis to be successful?
There are a couple of good tips in this book about being more aware of how you write.
How do you usually write papers?
Do you plan ahead? If so, how much?
Is your revision process ongoing, at the end, or non-existent?
What do you find difficult about writing?
The book suggests you start your papers with the aspect of writing you like best. I found this to be useful to think about. Also, I really hadn't been terribly cognizant of my writing process until my very last courses within the MCS program.
My favorite part of writing is the 'handing-it-in' phase, however...can't really start with that!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
First Meltdown: Monday - 4 AM
It's started.
The "I-can't-do-this-how-am-I-going-to-do-this-I'm-so-bloody-tired-oh-my-god-it's-4-AM-and-I-have-to-be-up-in-two-hours." You know what I'm talking about.
Oh yes, it's started. I've had my first stress meltdown. And so much earlier than I thought. Well, better now than in bloody September, I guess.
For my thesis, I want to look at post-secondary education and how students transition from not being in post-secondary school to being in post-secondary school. Don't ask me to be more specific now - that's my all for the moment.
I have been reading material for about 3 weeks now. Reading, reading, reading...stuff on college and university and students and drop-out and why they drop out and why they don't drop out and then....ahhh....facebook (to keep me sane and up on my ex-boyfriends).
And I've realized...MY GOD THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF OUT THERE.
At least 3 billion people have done graduate work. No - what is the world's population? 6.8 billion? OK, more people have done bloody graduate work. And it is starting to feel many of them studied students and post-secondary stuff. Cripes.
But I am learning one of the most important lessons in doing your MCS - how to fish.
I am a fisherman, says my advisor. Catch some, let some of the others go. You can't catch all the fish in the sea.
Good advice - she is right. It is impossible to read it all. After 5 years and 7 courses, you'd think that I would have learned this already, right?
No. Even after all those papers and courses, I still approach each paper like a total virgin. I think that I will have the time to read so much and get such a deep and well-informed understanding of the issue I'm looking at and all the many issues around it. And how they all connect - yes - I'll include that in the paper, too.
Seven times I have been shocked at how I've had to buckle down, cut the crap, and focus on one tiny, miniscule, microscopic area and the specific papers that deal with that area and nothing else. Nothing else! Well-rounded well-informed learning? Ha. Just get the damn paper done!
Well, I hate to say it but the literature review is not terribly different. Sure, you get a bit more time to review a bit more stuff (and are expected to review a bit more stuff) but ultimately it is a cut-the-crap-and-get-'er-done deal, too.
So when it's your turn to do your lit review, remember - fish.
Thus far I have caught three guppies and many, many, old boots.
The "I-can't-do-this-how-am-I-going-to-do-this-I'm-so-bloody-tired-oh-my-god-it's-4-AM-and-I-have-to-be-up-in-two-hours." You know what I'm talking about.
Oh yes, it's started. I've had my first stress meltdown. And so much earlier than I thought. Well, better now than in bloody September, I guess.
For my thesis, I want to look at post-secondary education and how students transition from not being in post-secondary school to being in post-secondary school. Don't ask me to be more specific now - that's my all for the moment.
I have been reading material for about 3 weeks now. Reading, reading, reading...stuff on college and university and students and drop-out and why they drop out and why they don't drop out and then....ahhh....facebook (to keep me sane and up on my ex-boyfriends).
And I've realized...MY GOD THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF OUT THERE.
At least 3 billion people have done graduate work. No - what is the world's population? 6.8 billion? OK, more people have done bloody graduate work. And it is starting to feel many of them studied students and post-secondary stuff. Cripes.
But I am learning one of the most important lessons in doing your MCS - how to fish.
I am a fisherman, says my advisor. Catch some, let some of the others go. You can't catch all the fish in the sea.
Good advice - she is right. It is impossible to read it all. After 5 years and 7 courses, you'd think that I would have learned this already, right?
No. Even after all those papers and courses, I still approach each paper like a total virgin. I think that I will have the time to read so much and get such a deep and well-informed understanding of the issue I'm looking at and all the many issues around it. And how they all connect - yes - I'll include that in the paper, too.
Seven times I have been shocked at how I've had to buckle down, cut the crap, and focus on one tiny, miniscule, microscopic area and the specific papers that deal with that area and nothing else. Nothing else! Well-rounded well-informed learning? Ha. Just get the damn paper done!
Well, I hate to say it but the literature review is not terribly different. Sure, you get a bit more time to review a bit more stuff (and are expected to review a bit more stuff) but ultimately it is a cut-the-crap-and-get-'er-done deal, too.
So when it's your turn to do your lit review, remember - fish.
Thus far I have caught three guppies and many, many, old boots.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The early bird gets the worm...
I received some great advice early in the MCS program from a particular prof. She suggested that for my eighth (and final) course to set up a directed studies course rather than registering for a 'regular' course (as offered by the Faculty).
This is good advice because the first part of COMS 790 (your 'thesis'...or, sorry, 'project' year - whatever!) is quite tricky. You've got to pull off a literature review in a relatively short and scary period of time.
"So why do this to yourself?" advised this prof. Rather, set up a directed studies during your final semester of coursework so that you can get a jump on this literature review and have a more reasonable amount of time to do it.
One could argue that this is unnecessary because after all, you do have the entire summer before your COMS 790 begins in September to work on your lit review.
I've been in this program for what feels like a million years and I assure you that each April I am committed to keepin' on keepin' on with my school work through the summer...yes - I'll go to the library every Thursday just like I did during the semester - sure - I'll read scholarly articles while I'm vacationing in B.C. Well, I assure you, it ain't long before the only reading I can handle in the balmy month of July is the Archie comic on the magazine rack at Safeway. And not the double digest, either.
It goes like this: figure out what you want to look at as a topic, approach a prof who has some experience in this area (I am doing this one-on-one with a prof, but I have heard of groups of students setting up directed studies), and ask if he/she is open to the idea.
If all is a 'go,' there is a form you and the prof must fill out indicating what types of assignments you'll be doing (how many papers, how much each is worth, due dates, etc.)
Then you are off....and although you may feel a bit lost, at least you know that you are stumbling somewhat in the relative direction of your thesis.
This is what I'm doing right now - a directed studies. And stumbling. But they say it is 'normal.' Hmmm.
This is good advice because the first part of COMS 790 (your 'thesis'...or, sorry, 'project' year - whatever!) is quite tricky. You've got to pull off a literature review in a relatively short and scary period of time.
"So why do this to yourself?" advised this prof. Rather, set up a directed studies during your final semester of coursework so that you can get a jump on this literature review and have a more reasonable amount of time to do it.
One could argue that this is unnecessary because after all, you do have the entire summer before your COMS 790 begins in September to work on your lit review.
I've been in this program for what feels like a million years and I assure you that each April I am committed to keepin' on keepin' on with my school work through the summer...yes - I'll go to the library every Thursday just like I did during the semester - sure - I'll read scholarly articles while I'm vacationing in B.C. Well, I assure you, it ain't long before the only reading I can handle in the balmy month of July is the Archie comic on the magazine rack at Safeway. And not the double digest, either.
It goes like this: figure out what you want to look at as a topic, approach a prof who has some experience in this area (I am doing this one-on-one with a prof, but I have heard of groups of students setting up directed studies), and ask if he/she is open to the idea.
If all is a 'go,' there is a form you and the prof must fill out indicating what types of assignments you'll be doing (how many papers, how much each is worth, due dates, etc.)
Then you are off....and although you may feel a bit lost, at least you know that you are stumbling somewhat in the relative direction of your thesis.
This is what I'm doing right now - a directed studies. And stumbling. But they say it is 'normal.' Hmmm.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Why blog, why?
Of all the courses I've taken in University of Calgary's Master of Communication Studies (MCS) program I have to say that very few explicitly outlined (or explicitly encouraged me to practice) skills that I would need to confidently approach my thesis year.
Ok, ok - I know what you are thinking. And let me stop you and set you straight.
This is not an MCS bash fest. I am not a disgruntled student setting up camp in the blogosphere to smash and crash the program. I am nice, small, and happy. I don't plan to make sneaky, crass remarks about certain professors and admininstrators on this blog...what jack ass so and so is and did you hear about such and such? If I did, what would be left to discuss at great lenght at the Grad Lounge?
My point in all of this is to give future 'MCS-ers' a leg up on this thesis stuff.
I found particlarly helpful those handful of courses that explicitly taught me and had me practice 'thesis-y' skills. Like learning to read academic work better and more efficiently. Or learning about what a thesis actually looks like and is composed of.
So I wanted to pitch in to this type of teaching and give future students a slice of what the thesis year is like from someone going through it.
I hope it will be helpful. I hope it will ease the minds of future MCS-er and maybe offer a few tips and tricks. I also hope one day to be widely known for my incredible intelligence, wit, and wisdom. Sigh. Let's just begin with the blog.
Ok, ok - I know what you are thinking. And let me stop you and set you straight.
This is not an MCS bash fest. I am not a disgruntled student setting up camp in the blogosphere to smash and crash the program. I am nice, small, and happy. I don't plan to make sneaky, crass remarks about certain professors and admininstrators on this blog...what jack ass so and so is and did you hear about such and such? If I did, what would be left to discuss at great lenght at the Grad Lounge?
My point in all of this is to give future 'MCS-ers' a leg up on this thesis stuff.
I found particlarly helpful those handful of courses that explicitly taught me and had me practice 'thesis-y' skills. Like learning to read academic work better and more efficiently. Or learning about what a thesis actually looks like and is composed of.
So I wanted to pitch in to this type of teaching and give future students a slice of what the thesis year is like from someone going through it.
I hope it will be helpful. I hope it will ease the minds of future MCS-er and maybe offer a few tips and tricks. I also hope one day to be widely known for my incredible intelligence, wit, and wisdom. Sigh. Let's just begin with the blog.
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