I always used to think that I was a great note-taker. In class, I could get down not only the details, but the overall point of the lecture in an organized outline. But as I’ve progressed through my graduate career, I’ve begun to realize how ‘in my head’ I really am. There are so many things that I think about, think through, and decide in my head without ever writing anything down. You can imagine the result: I have these amazing ideas in my head, but they never make it to paper… and when they do, they somehow don’t have the ‘bite’ or the succinct nature that they had in my head. I’ve found that I am actually not a great writer.
But now as I contemplate the fieldwork experience, I realize that I must make note-taking a practice. In the past, I’ve taken fairly brief and sporadic notes, and I have rarely gone back and summarized my interviews or observations, which I know is good fieldwork practice (SP taught me that so many years ago!). And that means not only getting ‘outside of my head’, but also taking the time to sit and write each night. If I don’t do that, I will come back to the US with gaps that will need to be filled.
And oddly enough, I’ve found it difficult to really ‘find my voice.’ I’ve written in journals since I was in middle school, but always with a very self-aware attitude that almost ruined the ‘authentic’ voice of my writing. This blog has been extremely difficult, because I haven’t figured out if I’m writing as the ‘expert’, the student, or the traveling poet. It would be best if I could write without being aware of my audience, or even of my own perceptions of my writing.
July 9, 2008 at 2:41 pm |
Hurray for resolving ahead of time to take notes methodically. I wish I had done a better job of this! Just last night I was looking at a number in my notes, wondering if that was the year this book was published or the number of manuscripts it described. And what is the name of this anonymous library “director” figure I keep talking about? I have heard it is helpful to do at least weekly write-ups of how your progress that week advances or influences the big picture of your dissertation, alongside daily notes on the minute details.
July 14, 2008 at 2:11 pm |
If you ever resolve the “self-awareness ruining authenticity” cunundrum, do let the world know!
For what it’s worth, I think great writing can be over rated. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I were a great writer and I love to read said members of our species (Adam Gopnik comes to mind), but let’s not forget that the purpose of writing is communication. And, in my humble opinion, the point of communication is dialogue. Thus we write not so much as experts, but as people with interesting experiences, data, and ideas filtered through an idiosyncratic expertise (sp? great writer? I’d settle for being a decent speller…) in the hopes of generating some kind of discussion. Greatness isn’t required for great conversation — just good will and effort.
Of course, sometimes we write on people’s blogs to avoid the actual writing we get paid to do…
Thanks for these thoughts.
July 14, 2008 at 2:13 pm |
Clearly, I use too many smiley faces…
In my defense, they look less obnoxious when not converted to the cartoon faces. And that second one was just supposed to be a closed parenthesis! My elipsis must have confused the program.