13 - Week 6 Progress Report

"For a standard literature survey, you may be spending the next 1-2 weeks looking for resources, 1-2 more weeks reading and evaluating, 2 weeks outlining and preparing a rough draft, then the final week editing and developing your presentation and publication formats."

Where should you be in your research journey (refer back to the plan you formulated in week 3; note any adjustments you've had to make to your plan given your research progress and findings)? Are you there?

• Week 6 and 7 are all about preparing and writing my rough draft. I will be honest, it has been a slow start. How do I organize my thoughts? What do I talk about first? As I do with any paper, I start by creating the bones. I have an introduction with placeholder information, a conclusion, and a white canvas of where information should be. But... there's no information, not yet. It's important that I ask myself questions as I move forward and to truly comprehend my thesis statement. What is the 'answer' to my thesis from the research I have done? What direction will my paper take? Is it the same as my initial direction?

What issues did you hit, and what is your plan to overcome them?

• I'm stuck on starting. Simply put, by the end of the first week dedicated to writing my rough draft, I am staring at a blank white screen. While this will impact my pacing, I am not worried, because I know I am a fast writer and when the ideas start flowing it's a waterfall.

What did you do to make progress this week? Is it more, or less, than you expected to do (use last week's items to guide this)

• To fill the time and overcome the aforementioned issue I've taken to doing the only thing I can: read, read, read. I am reading my research sources and trying to find what new thing I can bring to the table is.

What do you expect to do next week?

• Finish my rough draft, finish every single word, and begin editing and preparing it for publication. It is vital that I finish writing next week and begin over the weekend because time is running low. This is my schedule, and I must commit to it.