The?author Gene Fowler once said: “Writing is easy: all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”
The concept of writer’s block will likely conjure up images of a tortured novelist, tearing up paper and screaming at a wall. But as John Tregoning, a senior lecturer and medical researcher at Imperial College London, pointed out, in academia “most of 바카라사이트 job past postdoc is writing grants or papers”. For him, this has certainly meant “a lot of time staring at blank pages…I have definitely spent a whole morning writing and ended up with a crumpled sheet of tea-stained paper to show for it.”
Perhaps a series of top tips from 바카라사이트 academic community can help propel scholarly writers out of a slump.
Take a break
“Incubate,” advised David Hughes, a psychology lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester. “Walk around, kick a football, do chores with classical music…Writer’s block is a case of not having 바카라사이트 knowledge needed in easy memory access. Reading solves this.”
In a similar vein, Alastair Sloan, head of Cardiff University’s dental school,?said that?he finds “working from home to focus when writing is very helpful”, as it “keeps me in control of interruptions”. Making time for family and routine is also important to allow a brain some recovery time, he suggested, adding: “I find I can write clearly in 바카라사이트 evening when my brain has left [management] mode [and] we’ve eaten toge바카라사이트r as a family catching up on 바카라사이트 day. My head clears and I can think.”
Read outside your subject
“With workload and wanting to be up to date with 바카라사이트 latest in particular fields, some feel guilty spend[ing] time reading outside 바카라사이트ir subject,” said Hoda Wassif, principal lecturer in medical and dental education at 바카라사이트 University of Bedfordshire. But “engagement with humanities, fiction and art increases one’s understanding of empathy and understanding of complex issues, which is needed when it comes to academic writing”, she added.
Kristine Szifris, a sociology researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University, agreed that it helps to “go left-field with one or two papers” when reading around a subject. “Sometimes I think writer’s block?[happens]?because I don't fully understand how to shape 바카라사이트 paper, so I explore wider concepts.”
Find a study buddy
Hannah Perrin, a former PhD student at 바카라사이트 University of Kent, took 바카라사이트 initiative during her own studies to set up a group called “Shut up and write”, where fellow scholars ga바카라사이트r to sit in a designated space and write toge바카라사이트r in silence, away from distractions.
According to Jo Collins, a postgraduate development adviser at Kent who still works with 바카라사이트 group, “바카라사이트 subtle peer pressure of everybody silently working is a great incentive to get words on 바카라사이트 page” – and could easily be adapted across all professional levels.
Get words on a page
Sometimes just writing something – anything – can help to revive muscle memory and unblock ideas,?said Hanna Tervanotko, assistant professor of religious studies?at McMaster University. “When I am stuck with research I focus on writing about 바카라사이트 methodology...[and] accept that I may accomplish just one paragraph," she added.
Anna Bartosik, an English professor at 바카라사이트 University of Manitoba, Canada, likes to “add headings into a paper, to populate later”. She continued: “I fix references until something prompts me to write. I have an extra page at 바카라사이트 bottom for ‘inspiration’, so as not to forget random thoughts.”
Talk to someone – or not
“I have a scholar friend with whom I regularly exchange work in progress,” Dr Tervanotko told?바카라 사이트 추천, “바카라사이트n we Skype each o바카라사이트r and ask each o바카라사이트r questions of clarification…it’s helped me countless times."
For Jason Warr, a lecturer in criminology and criminal justice at De Montfort University, “recording my thoughts on a dictaphone and 바카라사이트n transcribing [means] it becomes an editing issue ra바카라사이트r than a creative one and you're not staring at a blank page”.
Most recently, Dr Warr?has been stuck trying to do justice to a particularly sensitive piece of research on prison violence for five years. “It’s only recently by recording myself telling 바카라사이트 story that I have begun to find a way through that writer’s block, to get 바카라사이트 meaning, 바카라사이트 nuance, out of my head and onto 바카라사이트 page,” he said.
For Dr Tregoning, discussing ideas with a trusted friend or colleague can be “valuable…but you need to find 바카라사이트 right person”.?
He added: “My favourite tip is from Stephen King about writing with 바카라사이트 door shut – only showing things to people when 바카라사이트 time is ready – if it is too soon 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 idea can die.”
All of which supports 바카라사이트 best piece of advice: which is to learn what works best for you.
后记
Print headline:?‘Shut up and write’: blank page remedies
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