Consider Your Future Audience When Writing Gets Tough
Grete Howland is a writing instructor who's been with the Walden Writing Center since 2019. Before joining the Writing Center, Grete taught English and creative writing to middle and high school students. When she's not working with words, Grete loves paddle boarding, running, wine tasting, and hanging out at home with her husband and dog..png)
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Are You Hitting the Pandemic Wall Too?
When Kacy shared with me her vision for the blog in 2021, I
was excited to hear about the focus on motivation. As
I mentioned last September, productivity usually isn’t a problem for me. I
wrote that September post earlier in the pandemic, and
when I look back now, I realized I’m in an entirely different headspace now.
As we head into the one-year anniversary of COVID lockdowns, I’ve hit what I’ve
heard others refer to as the
pandemic wall. The
term “the pandemic wall” comes out of a Twitter
thread from NPR host Tanzina Vega (she talks about “pandemic burnout”), and
it refers to “the particular and sudden feeling of spiritual and emotional
exhaustion with life during covid times” (Judkis,
para. 7 ).
In reflecting on my waning motivation, I realized that the
tools that I had relied on in the past to help fuel my motivation just weren’t available to me anymore.
Last fall, I talked about how finding the right environment can help my
motivation. In the past, when I was feeling restless and unproductive, I would
often find a cozy coffee shop where I could get some writing or work done.
Finding a different space to center myself was what got me through my master’s
degree, and it’s been something I’ve relied on during my 10+ years as a remote
worker.
Of course, in this time of COVID, going to a coffee shop
just isn’t an option; it’s not realistic or safe, and so opportunities for
finding a new environment to help with my motivation are limited. I suppose I
could try moving from my home office to my kitchen, but of course I also don’t
leave my house during my down time, so I’m pretty sick of my kitchen right now
too. That strategy that had worked well isn't available to me right now, but
I also realized I’ve unknowingly found a few workarounds.
Recently, I’ve started using an app called Tomato
Timer. The app uses the Pomodoro
technique of alternating between focused work sessions and frequent breaks
(“pomodoro” is Italian for tomato). I find it incredibly helpful and satisfying
to watch the app count down the time until my next break, and I often find
myself trying to work a bit faster to get a project done before the timer ends.
The Pomodoro approach helps me push distractions to the side, since I’ll have a
break soon in which I can easily get more coffee, check Twitter, get more coffee, walk around a
bit, and get more coffee.
The other strategy I’ve started using is a daily meditation
habit using the app Headspace.
I’ve always wanted to be more mindful, and with my inability to focus recently,
I thought now might be the time to start building my meditation practice. I’ve incorporated
Headspace into my nightly routine before I go to bed, and I’ve started using
short 5-minute meditations during my Pomodoro breaks. It’s been a helpful way
to reset my focus, and while I’m still a novice, I’m going to continue to build
my meditation practice.
I in no way want to imply that the Tomato Timer and
Headspace apps are solutions for the impact of the global pandemic we are still
experiencing: we can’t time manage or meditate our way out of a global
pandemic. And, honestly, we should all be clear with ourselves that our
productivity probably won’t be the same as our pre-pandemic levels. It’s
okay to feel unfocused and to struggle with motivation—that struggle is not a
personal failing on your part; it’s a result of the world we live in right now
and is not your fault.
It has been helpful for me, however, to reflect on the ways
I’ve replaced my old strategies for finding motivation with new ones. Maybe
that same reflection can be helpful for you too. If you’ve felt unfocused and
unmotivated recently, consider where you’ve found motivation in the past. Is
there a new way you can replicate that strategy? What resources or tools do you
have at your disposal, however small they might seem? What support system can
you lean into? How might technology be a tool?
Share your thoughts in comments to this post, and good luck
out there, everyone. We will eventually be able to visit our local coffee shop
without worry.
Beth Nastachowski has been with the Writing Center since 2010, and she currently manages the center’s webinars, modules, and videos. She spends her time running after her son, husband, two cats, and dog in St. Paul, MN.
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Forget You Read This: Your APA Bookmark
When new students (either undergraduate or graduate) begin their academic work at Walden, the one thing they I always hear about is APA. Some students are already familiar with APA, while it’s completely new to some. If so compelled to search on Google or within some of Walden’s own websites, APA is revealed to be a “set of rules” one must usually apply to academic papers to ensure they are written “properly” within the guidelines of all of Walden’s coursework. Beyond this brief introduction, there are also tales (horrific tales?) that APA contains hundreds of rules about formatting, headings, citations, and other strange rules that every student – especially you! – must commit to memory if you’re to succeed in your coursework. APA, you may have also heard, is impossible to learn, containing so many rules no one person can ever know it all.
If this is what you’ve heard, you now have my permission to forget all of it. I might even encourage you to forget this blog post.
While a small portion of it is true – Walden students do need to be familiar with APA – the horror stories of having to commit all of it to memory couldn’t be further from the truth. The happy ending to this story - the big reveal before the curtain goes down – is that everything you need to know about APA is located on the Writing Center website.
Now, it is true that APA gets easier the more you apply it to Walden coursework, committing the rules of APA to your memory is a naturally occurring process that occurs gradually over time. There is no APA-Olympics that will ever require you to take a timed “APA test” on which you will write down every APA rule under penalty of being removed from Walden. If this is an academic nightmare you’ve ever had, it is finally time to wake up. Your teachers at Walden absolutely understand how and why APA may be new to many of you, and the inherent challenges associated with applying (and thinking in) this new style of writing.
So, before you forget you ever read this blog post, here’s one final thought. Yes, APA will be a part of your academic writing while at Walden, and it contain rules you’ll need to learn over time. The good news is you never need to worry about learning all the rules or having them crammed in your brain all at once. The Walden Writing Center website is designed to be your “APA brain away from home.” We wrote all the rules down for you so they’re there when you need them.
When applying APA to writing Walden papers there are a few basic rules one needs to remember: the basic template of APA papers, how to use headings, and how to use citations, all of which are clearly revealed on our website. Bookmark our site (https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/home) and commit its URL to memory.
And –if you can’t do that—try a Post-It for your wall!
James A. Horwitz is a writing instructor in the Walden University Writing Center. James received his MA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, having first earned undergraduate degrees in both English and Psychology. James has taught at the college-level for over 13 years and is passionate about student-learning, mentoring, and student writers developing their work.
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Thesis Sentences vs. Blueprint Sentences
“Dear, Kacy. This is a blueprint sentence, not a thesis.”This succinct comment stands out in my memory because it’s one of the first true pieces of constructive criticism I ever received on my writing.
The sentence was written in the margin of the first page of my first real research paper. As an end-of-year project, each student in my sixth-grade class selected a country to write a report on, and then we created poster boards and made traditional food from the country to share at an international day at my school. I picked Bermuda because at the time I was a little obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle. I remember cutting out pictures of business people wearing shorts with their suit jackets, and baking some really good cookies that seemed like sugar cookies to me but were also apparently very Bermudan.
For the first two weeks, I received every possible point for the project. I’d come to school with six (beyond the requirement of five!) books on the day our sources were required. I’d diligently written out the assigned number of index cards with individual facts. After turning in the outline I’d crafted using my index cards, I was fully prepared to collect another perfect score.
“What?? What’s a blueprint sentence?” Probably I should have asked what a thesis sentence was, because I had an example of a blueprint sentence right in front of me: Bermuda is located on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean and this paper is about its history, economy, and culture. Like the blueprint of a building, I’d provided a layout of the contents of my paper, but I hadn’t produced an argument or put forth any idea. My reader would know to expect a paragraph on Bermuda’s history, a paragraph about its economy, and a paragraph about the culture. But what did I want to say about the country?
I think my thesis statement ended up being something about the Bermuda Triangle, but I can’t say for sure. And I had to double-check that Bermuda is indeed in the Atlantic Ocean while drafting this post. So, the actual information I obtained during the project clearly hasn’t stayed with me too well. But I still think about this experience when teaching, tutoring, or writing myself. It’s great to give your reader an idea about the general format of your paper, but the most important part isn’t a list of the different topics you’ll cover.
The advantage of hindsight (and a few additional decades of writing experience) tells me I should have realized this from the beginning. After all, I had picked Bermuda because of its mysterious Triangle, so why shouldn’t I use what peaked my own interest to grab my reader’s? And why is it that I can so vividly remember the picture I copied from a book, of a group of men holding briefcases and wearing shorts under their suit coats, but I can’t remember Bermuda’s capital? Or where I left my phone?
Hmmm. Can someone try calling it?
Kacy Walz is a Minnesota native currently living in St. Louis, MO. She has been a Writing Instructor at Walden since 2016 and spends most of her free time trying to complete her PhD, seeking out adventure, and playing with her puppy dog.
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Grammar for Academic Writers: Essential Clauses
Claire Helakoski is a writing instructor at the Walden Writing Center. Claire also co-hosts WriteCast, the Writing Center's podcast. Through these multi-modal avenues, Claire delivers innovative and inspiring writing instruction to Walden students around the world.
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The Most Satisfying Writing Center Resource? Common Reference List Examples
I get this same thrill of satisfaction from working with APA references. Are you rolling your eyes at me yet? I genuinely enjoy the puzzle of categorizing a text to determine its style of reference, and from there, formatting and building my reference list. In my experience, few people get any enjoyment from this tedious task, but I don’t mind at all.
The Common Reference List Examples page is my favorite Writing Center resource because it makes categorizing and formatting my references a total breeze. The page is laid out with an index of alphabetized reference categories on the left side of the page, while the rest of the page provides examples of references for each category, notes on any formatting or content nuances, and links to our other resources that support the specific type of reference.
To demonstrate how to use the Common Reference List Examples page, I’m going to try categorizing the PDF Taking Part in Cancer Treatment Research Studies. Looking at this text, it’s not clear right away how it should be classified. When I have a mystery text such as this, I first try to identify the following: author, publication year, title, method of publication, and any additional identifying information. The author of this text is the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institute for Health—a government organization. The very last page lists a publication date of October 2016, in addition to a publication number, which seems important. I know the title of the document, and I have determined the publication method is a PDF.
Based on this information, I can rule out most of the categories from the list on the left-hand side of the Common Reference Examples page. The document is not an academic article or book, nor is it a regular web page because of its PDF form. However, the category of “Technical and Research Report” seems promising. The notes for this type of reference state, “Technical and research reports by governmental agencies and other institutions…”— this is the clue I need! The reference example under this category also includes a report number—a second helpful clue! The category of Technical or Research report is a perfect fit—so satisfying!
Now that I have determine the reference category, all that’s left is to format the reference. Using the example provided for me, I pull the reference information and create the following:
Determining which category your research materials fall under will usually be more straightforward. Most peer-reviewed articles can be categorized as an Article with URL or Article with DOI categories. The categories Walden University Course Catalog and Course Materials are very common as well. If the Common Reference Examples List were a cabinet, you can bet there would be a shelf for each reference list category.
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