Finished

Dear Reader,

My thesis is finished, but I am not finished with it. I hope to expand my thesis work. Learning how to save interesting research tangents for future work, e.g., conference papers or journal articles and how to defend my work were two valuable skills I gained by working on my thesis. My thesis director asked all the right questions and challenged me to be better than I thought myself able. I hope that my future will allow me to work with others of such integrity.

By writing my thesis I learned:

- to ask for help

- realize not all my research can go into one piece of work

- how to keep myself accountable when life throws in challenges

- how to work hard at getting lucky

- how to work hard when I am not getting lucky

Of course, the list of what I learned is much longer and will continue to grow.

Best wishes,

Dale

Gentle Gales

Dear Reader,

After a lovely and lengthily phone chat with a dear friend who is overseas, I found myself recharged and ready to tackle a "problem" spot in my thesis. While I was doing battle with my analysis, I received, via email, several sections of my dear friend's work that I had asked to see, and this is where the magic starts!

In reading her work, I found a structure that helped me untangle my work. So where is the magic you might ask? Sure, we all know that we benefit from reading another's work and from seeing how another works.

The magic was that this gift came at the right time, so that I could see it for what it was: a brilliant way to section off (isolate) complexities of an intricate and complex argument. I had not the words to even explain my current -- make that previous -- dilemma, but in reading my friend's work, I found a structural solution to a problem that I could now name.

Today I set to my work energized and indebted to my generous fried. I had asked to see her work with the hope that I might be of some sort of support for her, but it was she that offered a gentle gale to my sail and now I navigate forward instead of drifting in the dulldrum of small circles.

Dearest Friend, thank you!

Best,

Dale

Thesis Toy Box

Dear Reader,

Today is July 8th and I have been working furiously on a particular chapter. I am finding continued support as I work on this chapter and as I near its completion, I have found a method of working that gives me the structure I need to be most productive.

I have a toy box! In my toy box (a container that I got on sale at Target), the size of a small inflatable raft, I have all my chapter references: articles, books, notes, emails, penciled scrawl from visiting the rare books rooms . . . everything that relates to the chapter on which I am working.

There is not enough room on my desk or work table for my sources, but I wanted them together and not spread out in my house on various book shelves, file cabinets and the such. My toy box lets me have all in one place. My toy box also protects my work from my curious cats and allows my work space to be available to my niece and nephew when they come over to study

Back to work for this one.

Please feel free to offer a strategy that has advanced your work.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Dale

The Magic of Specificity

Dear Reader (and soon-to-be Poster ?),

I worked the word Merism into a title of a chapter in my thesis and in doing so gained a better understanding of what I was trying to accomplish in my chapter. When I allow myself time to be precise with language (part of my writing process), I am the better for it, but this goes without saying.

But what I did not know is that, often times, when I am searching for precise words, I am in a dialogue with myself and am actually engaged in the refinement of my ideas or arguments. Now I know that if I am searching for a specific word or a definition for a concept, I am at the early stages in my thinking and developing an idea. Knowing this about myself (surely it will be different for each of us) will better help me better ask to feedback that is geared to where I am in my writing process.

Thank you for reading.

Best,

Dale

Making Moments Matter

Dear Reader,

Sunday (27 June 2004), my husband and I were chased out of the mountains by a thunder storm and this got me to thinking about my thesis. Our plans for the day changed and we had some extra time. I have come to see moments, extra time, as opportunities. I used to carry around the burden of my entire thesis and all that it entailed (administrative work, research, locating sources -- the list was endless). I would bump into all these worries whenever I ran into a "free moment."

Now, I am always armed with a small part of my thesis and when a moment presents itself, I use it for the very small section of my thesis: to grapple with a particular aspect of my thesis, read a particular section of a secondary source, and the like. I live a life where I am often thrown unexpected time --e.g., waiting in a long line for something I was told would "go quickly." I want to make that time mine!

In the best of all possible worlds, I would be able to complete my work in a quiet space in which I could work long hours without interruption or distraction. But I live in a world filled with life, a thing that will always interrupt and is never perfect. In order to progress in all my scholarly work, I must be tenacious in my creating different ways to do my work.

Moments have become my work space along with the longer stints at my computer or at the library.

I must use all to get my thesis all done.

As always, I am eager to hear of the tools folks use to progress their thesis work.

Best,

Dale

Utilizing Support

Greetings!

This coming week, I will be working on a chapter of my thesis. I have not finalized my introduction and am not working in a linear order. I am, however, working on a section of my thesis that is experiencing great support from my academic community and if they are, at the moment interested in and pointing me to excellent sources regarding this chapter, then this chapter is what I will be working on. I will submit a draft of the chapter to my thesis director by Friday of the coming week.

I have never allowed myself to work where current support resides. In other words, I am receiving such useful answers to my quires about sources and engaged comments about my arguments that for me, at this point, it would be silly to try working on section (A) when the support is coming in fast and furious for section (C). This way of writing is new for me and it is really working.

I am eager to learn how all goes for others!

Best,

Dale

Welcome!

Dear Reader,

As writers, I feel that we often neglect to seek support, whatever we might need at a specific time. I feel that supporting one another to thesis completion will be a rewarding process and a rewarding accomplishment. We may need different things at different times and our blog is a place to bring our differing needs together so that we can address them, collectively.

This blog is public and, as such, please keep in mind that all you post here is open to all. I hope that our open space allows us to best support one another and gives us a place to value our work and those who support it, us.

Best,

Dale