Keeping it fresh in a studious kinda way

Sitting still or doing a repetitive job can sometimes be on the tedious side. I was attracted to reporting because it meant that each day could be a different adventure. You had a list of things that needed to be finished, but inevitably a better story came through and your day changed.

It created a sense of wonder for the unknown and unexplored, I suppose.

In a way, I have tried to be creative about my writing space for the thesis. The project is academic and I want to think creatively and be inspired by my surroundings. And besides sitting and writing 15,000 words is not something that I salivate over. The longer term projects in journalism were always a struggle. There were constant excuses and stories that arose. Inevitably, I'd drag my feet and then crank something out that was halfway decent.

With this particular writing project, I went ahead and asked a handful of doctoral students how they approached their writing and one professor who finished hers sometime ago. Some offered advice of keeping journals. Others offered changing the music selection they are listening to with each chapter. I even talked to my former journalism professor and a former colleague about how they think about writing.

I enjoy writing and I enjoy talking about writing. I love hearing where people found their inspiration or what their low point was. Having written for newspapers, my own screen play and stand up comedy, I enjoy figuring out where writing will take me next.

My take on this project was to change up my writing location every chapter. It sounds odd, I know. But I was fortunate enough to write half my project in California and half in Massachusetts. At first, I was writing in my home office. Then, I moved to a coffee shop for about a week for Chapter 2. Then, I found a quiet place in one department where I work on campus to write Chapters 3 and 4.

I decided to become adventurous about locations because writing for a six-week period was going to need to invigorate me. I had to come home eager to write after an 8-hour shift of working on computers and computer-related issues. I also had to figure out how to force myself to work in a way that still seemed very fun.

There is still a little push until the project is complete, but thus far it has been exciting. At times, I feel I need to physically stop writing or else I could see myself working well into the next morning. Up to now, it has been fun. I hope writing the last chapter and conclusion will continue to be enjoyable.