15 - Week 7 Progress Report

Where should you be in your research journey (refer back to the modified plan you provided in week 6)? Are you there?

• As I am wrapping up week 7, I am completing a very rough outline of my draft. I am not happy with this, however, which I will touch on in the next questions to measure my progress. Where I SHOULD be in my research journey is completing my rough draft. According to the standard plan laid out in week 3, this week should mark the completion of my rough draft.

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

• I am struggling to get all my thoughts in order for the paper. The hardest part of this project so far is "getting started." I have the research, I know what I have, and now I need to get it together to create a coherent written piece.

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)

• While struggling to write a rough draft I turned to alternate methods of writing the paper. Inspired by my colleague Joshua Knight, I took to writing an outline as opposed to immediately starting my draft. This has helped me start rather than just spin my wheels and I have begun to piece together my paper before committing to writing.

What do you expect to do next week?

• With my rough draft nearly complete and with plenty of places worth expanding, I will turn my outline into a finished draft that I an comfortable with sharing with the class. I may be behind schedule, but regardless, I aim to have a written piece anywhere between 10 and 15 pages.