Skip to main content

Writing workshop with Peter Thomas

6pm Writing workshop with guest speaker Peter Thomas


For anyone who was unable to attend this lecture, this blog’s purpose is to record the main outcomes that I took away from the talk.


I haven’t academically written an essay since I did my A-Levels back in 2011 ( a scary 9 years ago! ) So to say I feel slightly apprehensive and find this whole process daunting, is an understatement! However, listening to Peter and understanding his methods of breaking down the writing process, has left me with hope!



A quote Peter shared on the screen was ‘Writing Is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.’ (Moliere)


I found my own quote which is ‘Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing’ - Benjamin Franklin. This resonated with me more, as we are writing about our experiences and reflecting on our practise.


He spoke about ways to break down the process of writing


Step 1- Generate your thoughts

Step 2- Organise your thoughts 

Step 3- Present your thoughts


Writing can be a chaotic process and If your anything like me it can be overwhelming. I always get stressed and think about the end product, instead of breaking it down and figuring out the steps to get there.


Ways to generate and organise thoughts…


-Lists

-Mind mapping

-Free writing

-Dictating and recording your thoughts to then play them back


The next steps would be to…


-Group your ideas

-Find themes

-Map relationships between the thoughts 


Then finally, the last process would be to…


-Start to think about your reader. Who is the text aimed at? Target reader?

-Proof read your work

-Think about grammar and the overall presentation


I found this break down great, because I can now envisage the process I will take when writing my essay. I always need to remind myself that things take time and I will have many drafts before I have achieved my end goal! 


I leave you with this famous quote! Sometimes we need to remember...

‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ - John Heywood



Comments

  1. Alice PettiniOctober 17, 2020 at 5:55 AM

    Hi Emily, you are absolutely right, 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. This quote is so reassuring! I also feel very 'out of practice' when it comes to writing - it feels like a long time since I last wrote an essay. But the workshop was so helpful and has also given me hope. I took so many notes during the workshop, and when I gaze over them, it looks a mess on the page (a creative mess I hope). But you have summarised these notes so well. Thank you for sharing x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emily SmithOctober 17, 2020 at 8:20 AM

    Aww I'm glad they helped! I certainly had to simplify my notes as I think I could have rewritten his whole PowerPoint again!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All Module Skype 17th and Module 2 Skype 18th Feb

Wow two skypes in two days! It’s actually been so nice to chat with everyone, firstly in the all module skype last night and again just now with the module 2 skype. It’s lovely to be reminded that we aren’t alone and that theres a lot of support and amasing ideas to be shared… Something I know I personally need to look into more is ethics and from learning about module 2 already it’s unavoidable to not think about them whilst planning our inquiries. A lovely module 3 student broke down ‘Ethical Considerations’ and ‘Ethical Procedures’ to us in such a simple way that I found so helpful. Ethical Considerations - Things that will be affected / consequences of actions Ethical Procedures - Things that are put into place to avoid a negative impact / or harm Helen said to think about the ethics in our inquiry and what procedures we can put into place to avoid any negative impacts. However that be said, she said, we can only plan so much and that we always have to accept an amount of uncert...
10 comments
Read more

Transferable Skills

Transferable skills As I have been delving into the world of ‘what is my practise’ I thought I would dedicate a blog to ‘Transferable skills’…to what I am doing during the year of 2020… the Covid- 19 pandemic… I should have spent this year cruising around the Caribbean, being a beach bum and performing some dreamy shows! However my world came crashing down on March 23rd, when I had to debark the beautiful Freedom of the seas, fly home from Barbados and wave goodbye to my wonderful cast! With no clue that 6 months later I would still be home… After I’d say, about 2 and a half months of grieving, netflix, home workouts and many wine bottles later, I thought it was time that I came back to reality and got a job… a normal job… This has fortunately been the first normal job I’ve had to get in about 5 years and the thought of it filled me with anxiety and dread. Anyway, cut to point, I am now working in a pub / waitressing / bar work / cleaning / making deserts, you name it! But ‘hey ho’ I d...
12 comments
Read more

#LWkeepitreal

My topic of research is focussed on body image and social media. I found this so interesting and wanted to share it on my blog.... Loose Women Body Stories Campaign  I am posting this blog in module 3, however I wrote this during my hotel quarantine after coming home from red list Brasil on the 17th of May 2021. Since choosing my topic of ‘How does social media effect a professional dancers body image”, with such a relevant, poignant subject in the 21st century with the boom and obsession with social media I am regularly seeing articles and information all the time about social media, editing photos and body image. Which is highlighting how big of an issue in the 21st century this is becoming!   The campaign poster shows all the loose women looking happy and confident in their natural bodies in various swimming costumes and bikinis, showing diversity and inclusion. Its what I would describe a ‘real’ looking photo.   Plymouth Live, 2021. Loose Women Body Stories Campaign ....
6 comments
Read more