In this course and our time together, I ask you to keep a project journal or log to track what works for you or doesn't feel so helpful. For most students, the honors thesis is the first big, independent project they are building and figuring out what works best specifically for you can be a challenge. Lots of kind people can give you advice but your needs and preferences might be different, and a project journal can help you identify that.
This journal is designed to give you space to pay attention to patterns in your research and writing process – what works, what feels good, what might seem like a good idea, what is awful, etc. By writing a little about your project each time you work on it, you can reduce the mental load you're carrying, and figure out patterns that might otherwise be invisible or sublimated.
Make a decision about the format you'd like to create your journal in. Options include: longhand on paper; prose typed on a computer; spreadsheet on a computer; some other format.
For each entry please, before the session begins, please write:
1) Your goal for the session (time, word count, and / or specific topic).
After the session is over, please write:
2) What you ended up doing during the session (for example, I planned to write 300 words but I wrote 200, etc.)
3) What worked in the session for you (for example, you found it helpful to work with friends, or you put your phone away, etc.)
3) What didn't work for you in the session (for example, the space was too loud, or you had trouble getting into a groove, etc.).
You are welcome to add anything else that is helpful, important, or interesting to you! Please include all the different types of work you do on your project, such as: searching for literature, reading, talking with your advisor, crafting surveys, thinking, structuring interviews, watching media, drafting paragraphs, editing, revising, etc. There are many types of work included in your broader thesis project, so please pick what should be included for yours.
A few important notes:
By no means am I suggesting you need to work on your project every day or even every week! You have the timeline you created in August, so use that to decide what you want to work on and when. If you don't work on your thesis for any given day or week, just say that in your journal and turn it in for full credit. This assignment is not about suggesting that you need to do a specific quantity of work – but instead is a way for you to check in with the timeline you already created.
It is very normal to not meet a specific goal and to need to change your timeline. Please try not to feel bad when this happens! If your goal is to write 300 words and you write 200, one option is to consider that your original goal wasn't so reasonable. I am constantly a slower writer than I wish I were and it's a bummer. If you realize you need to revise your goals, don't feel bad because that's a big thing to figure out! Unrealistic and unrealizable goals aren't helping anyone. Part of this project will likely be you learning more about what is a reasonable goal for you. If you don't meet a goal, another option is to notice what caused that. Was it too early? Was it too late? Were you sleepy? Were you hungry? Was the location too loud or uncomfortable? Or too comfortable? The journal project is designed to help you notice the patterns of what you want and need to be able to work on your project.
I find it very helpful (to the point of fully necessary for me to write) to leave myself very concrete notes about "What do to next." This is the final category in my own writing journal. At the end of every writing session, I write myself a note with a task or (friendly) assignment for next time. I found that if I don't do this, I feel lost and get flustered. This little note helps me stay on track, but obviously, you should do whatever works best for you.
This journal is designed to give you space to pay attention to patterns in your research and writing process – what works, what feels good, what might seem like a good idea, what is awful, etc. By writing a little about your project each time you work on it, you can reduce the mental load you're carrying, and figure out patterns that might otherwise be invisible or sublimated.
Make a decision about the format you'd like to create your journal in. Options include: longhand on paper; prose typed on a computer; spreadsheet on a computer; some other format.
For each entry please, before the session begins, please write:
1) Your goal for the session (time, word count, and / or specific topic).
After the session is over, please write:
2) What you ended up doing during the session (for example, I planned to write 300 words but I wrote 200, etc.)
3) What worked in the session for you (for example, you found it helpful to work with friends, or you put your phone away, etc.)
3) What didn't work for you in the session (for example, the space was too loud, or you had trouble getting into a groove, etc.).
You are welcome to add anything else that is helpful, important, or interesting to you! Please include all the different types of work you do on your project, such as: searching for literature, reading, talking with your advisor, crafting surveys, thinking, structuring interviews, watching media, drafting paragraphs, editing, revising, etc. There are many types of work included in your broader thesis project, so please pick what should be included for yours.
A few important notes:
By no means am I suggesting you need to work on your project every day or even every week! You have the timeline you created in August, so use that to decide what you want to work on and when. If you don't work on your thesis for any given day or week, just say that in your journal and turn it in for full credit. This assignment is not about suggesting that you need to do a specific quantity of work – but instead is a way for you to check in with the timeline you already created.
It is very normal to not meet a specific goal and to need to change your timeline. Please try not to feel bad when this happens! If your goal is to write 300 words and you write 200, one option is to consider that your original goal wasn't so reasonable. I am constantly a slower writer than I wish I were and it's a bummer. If you realize you need to revise your goals, don't feel bad because that's a big thing to figure out! Unrealistic and unrealizable goals aren't helping anyone. Part of this project will likely be you learning more about what is a reasonable goal for you. If you don't meet a goal, another option is to notice what caused that. Was it too early? Was it too late? Were you sleepy? Were you hungry? Was the location too loud or uncomfortable? Or too comfortable? The journal project is designed to help you notice the patterns of what you want and need to be able to work on your project.
I find it very helpful (to the point of fully necessary for me to write) to leave myself very concrete notes about "What do to next." This is the final category in my own writing journal. At the end of every writing session, I write myself a note with a task or (friendly) assignment for next time. I found that if I don't do this, I feel lost and get flustered. This little note helps me stay on track, but obviously, you should do whatever works best for you.