Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and research

Who will educate the educators [Writing Class Ideas]?

eytanb — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:22:18 -0800

I have 2 hours to lecture to a bunch of 18 year-olds how to write well. The bulk of their work-load will be somewhere along the lines of position papers, research papers and summaries of conferences. How do I keep them glued to their chairs? More info in explanation. I have a pretty senior research and writing position where I work, with my work ranging from position papers to industry updates and as far as speech-writing. Due to my experience and the fact that I, unlike many of the other researchers in the company, am not reduced to a quivering blob of terror when exposed to larger social settings, I have been asked to give a two hour intro lecture on writing to the fresh-blood - a bunch of post-high school kids joining our ranks.

I would like to focus less on how to throw together a bibliography or how to research a topic and more on the conceptual idea of structuring a paper and other techniques which could prove valuable. I don't want to be boring though. The hive mind clearly has experience in writing and so I turn to you educated folk - what is the most important thing you know about writing non-fiction? What could I throw into a class on writing in order to save me from the fate of being relegated to the boring, monotonic teacher (Bueler? Bueler?)?

What is an extended abstract?

JoshSmith — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:04:39 -0800

What should an extended abstract (in the humanities) look like? This is for philosophy in particular, though I assume it might be a similar style for other disciplines. I'm responding to a CFP which asks for both an abstract and an "extended abstract." I'm unfamiliar with extended abstracts in the humanities, and most resources online are directed towards science writers.

To be clear, the CFP requests that applicants submit both an abstract (< 100 words) and an extended abstract (1,000-1,500 words). The papers themselves are expected to be under 7,000 words.

What all should be included within an extended abstract? References? What level of detail is usually expected? 1,200 words comes to about 2-1/2 typed single-spaced pages, and I'm well aware this is not a lot of space to go into extensive argumentation.

Any direction anyone can provide would be fantastic. Thanks in advance!

What does a fiction writer owe his nonfiction sources?

Bookhouse — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:21:14 -0800

Has anyone ever formalized the proper conduct for the fiction writer regarding his/her nonfiction sources? As a fiction writer I enjoy doing research about my subjects, and I also enjoy reading deeply researched fiction. However, it recently occurred to me that I'm not clear what precisely a writer owes his sources (in fact I find the word "owes" problematic from the get-go). Has a fiction writer or researcher ever formally explored this issue?

Aside from the obvious problem of plagiarism (direct copying), is there a line to be crossed, an overusing of sources, a failure to attribute properly? There are times when putting the words of a real person into the mouth of a fictional one is acceptable, but are there times when it isn't?

I'm less interested in legal ramifications than ethical systems of conduct.

Many papers, or just one?

Sutekh — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:36:42 -0800

[Academic Filter] Should I work on one research paper at once, or several? I really enjoy the researching / paper writing process.

If I work on many papers at once, I find that I have many papers that are about 80% complete. But if I focus on just one, I get bored, I miss out on co-authorships and feel like I'm missing opportunities.

What methods work for you?

Writer needs to spend time with an Asperger's. In Belgium.

Baud — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:19:37 -0800

Writing an Asperger character : how can I get to know enough about Asperger's syndrom ? Please bear in mind that I live in Belgium. I'm in the research phase of a writing project. One of the characters must be an Asperger's. Now...

Research so far : I've read "I was born on a blue day" and "The curious incident of the dog". But words on a page are one thing, meeting a breathing person, getting to ask questions, discovering what kind of non-verbal language they is much more interesting to me.

Now, bearing in mind that I live in *Belgium* and that most of yo are living in US/Canada i.e. an ocean away from where I live, does the hive have generic advice on how to spend some social time with an Asperger ?

I don't want to betray the Asperger and I'm not centering the text around that characteristic. it's a narrative obligation that my character is an Asperger.

Oh, and if Barry - Rain Man - is lurking here, can he please direct-message me ? (I tried to contact him through Gersher agency's email address.
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Standard MeFi caveat : english is not my mother tongue.

Nix the degree, get the education

puckish — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:30:27 -0800

Free school options in New York? After a series of interesting but often frustrating conversations with friends and recent grads saddled with student loans, I'm curious to know more about what options, if any, exist in New York City for those who want to keep on with higher education but can't afford it. I know most universities (including mine) often do active community outreach (free lectures, public forums and so forth), but I'm curious as to whether similar programs exist, if any, among community and advocacy organizations in the city. Analogous to something like Free Geek in Portland, but with a literary or humanistic bent, or the Columbia free school movement (which, as far as I can tell, doesn't exist anymore?). Stuff like that.

The kinds of groups I'm thinking of would probably do things like: free research workspace, seminar series, DIY workshops and reading groups, paired with some type of community-based literacy activism. Basically the model for the free school movement, but targeted toward adults.

Do these programs exist? I'm thinking mostly of literature / humanities groups, but it need not be field-specific.

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'?

0bvious — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:51:54 -0800

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'? I have found little online regarding Poetheory, but it seems to be interchangable with the title 'Theorypo'. How separate a distinction is it from merely 'postmodern theory and poetry'? What sources of info should I be seeking?

Marjorie Perloff and Peter Jaeger are names that crop up regarding poetheory. Anyone else you know of or any related disciplines/schools/concepts?

Thanks

Looking for detractors of Literary Darwinism

0bvious — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:45:07 -0800

Literary Darwinism: A relatively new field of evolutionary psychology / literary theory. What has recently been written in argument against it? I have read through some of the works of:

Joseph Carroll
Ellen Dissanayake
Jonathan Gottschall
Robert Storey
Michelle Scalise Sugiyama

...and a few others, yet I am having a hard time finding critical work designed to bring down the arguments of Darwinian Literary Studies. It appears that the field of Poststructuralism is one of the main targets of Literary Darwinism's (Lit-Dar) proponents.

Has anyone attempted to re-address the balance?

I have found little in Lit-Dar writings about specifically text and textuality, something the Postmodernists very much conern themselves with. Surely there is some work on the subject that addresses its absence from Lit-Dar writings?

(I am not interested in the critique of Evolutionary Psychology - of which there is plenty - unless it specifically addresses the Literary and Textual concerns of Darwinian Literary Studies.)

Thanks a lot

I don't understand Hungarian but I need to do research for my novel!

lolalivia — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:46:00 -0800

(Posting for a Friend) "I am doing research for a novel I'm writing. But since I'm no longer affiliated with a university I'm having a difficult time in getting responses from professors and specialists that I have contacted with questions. How can I increase my chances of having them take me seriously and answer my questions? Also, does anyone have advice for a non-Hungarian speaker to do research with the Hungarian Archives?" Thank you!

where can i talk to a few thieves?

dflemingdotorg — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:56:23 -0800

i'm writing a book and in it are a series of thefts from expensive homes and galleries; thefts of items, money, etc. where can i research realistic (as in, not ocean's twelve laser dancing) schemes that people have used to pull off extremely large heists? these would be, ideally, first hand accounts, books, etc. of people who have lived to tell of their abilities as thieves. also, helpful would be police accounts of catching thieves and/or strategies they use for compiling evidence in cases like these. i want the book to have as much factual evidence as entertainment value on this matter. thanks in advance.

What sites might you visit, books might you read, etc., to research writing a western?

kittens for breakfast — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 07:33:51 -0800

What sites might you visit, books might you read, etc., to research writing a western? I'm less interested in the broad strokes of history -- though that's appreciated, too! (if relatively easy to track down without assistance) -- than in the particulars of how people lived their day-to-day lives a century and a half or so ago. Thanks.

Looking for tools to help me get out of the endless reading trap

vizsla — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:04:04 -0800

Can anyone recommend some good research/study/outlining software that assists your writing? Either freeware or paid. Basically I mean software that alows you to collate ideas and notes as you read, as well as lets you do outlining - all this in preparation for writing a report or paper or essay. I find it really hard to write coherently for long periods of time but I love to research and learn and I just don't know when to stop reading. It always feels like there is more to learn. If I could find something that allows me to build an essay incrementally as I read, that would be ideal. If you have any other tips for improving your motivation to write, feel free to add them.

I read it for the articles. No, really. Just help me find them again.

marylynn — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:53:27 -0800

Please help me find a way to electronically organize my magazine article collection. I read a crazy number of magazines and have a habit of pulling articles out to save them for later. So far, they're just filed away on paper but I'd like to organize them electronically and I'd like to store them online if possible (and if I could do it without making them searchable so as to avoid any copyright problems).

I've looked at various academic bibliographic reference managers but none seem quite ... friendly?... enough or have exactly the features I need (or are prohibitively expensive), particularly the one below about uploading the document itself.

Features I'd like:
- ease of citation entry (I would probably have to enter these manually as the cites aren't coming from dbs)
- web-based, though I will consider local software I'd like to be able to access this info from anywhere if I can
- ability to create both URL links to articles (some of what I read it on the web) and to stored PDFs (which I'd upload and preferably not make searchable outside of my domain) - sometimes both
- tags or keywords
- ability to customize the interface display. Since most of what I'm saving are magazine or literary journal pieces some of the citation fields for scientific literature aren't useful to me
- ability to enter in some kind of abstract

So far the closest one I can find to fit my needs is RefBase and while I'm not keen on installing and maintaing the software I have a hosting package that might let me do it. If anyone has any experience using this, I'd be glad to hear of it. I've read the other threads on this I can find but they seem geared more towards the "scientific literature" needs of academics than my own "now what did I do with that article from Vanity Fair...?" more writerly needs.

I guess I just hope that someone has made a super simple, clean interface "writer's" version of the Endnote for less than $100. Well, have they? Or is there some other solution I'm not thinking of?

Writing Nonfiction and Children's Literature: Do you know of any good literature ABOUT these subjects?

0bvious — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:11:50 -0800

I am looking for well regarded books/scholarly papers about writing. Most specifically in the areas of Nonfiction (the essay style of article writing) and Children's Fiction (for a young adult audience). Any tips? Go as far and broad as you can. I'll be off to the British library tomorrow, so the sky is the limit. I am currently undertaking a Masters Degree in Creative and Professional Writing.

Having written an essay on 'The Problem of Dogma and the Power of Myth', I would now like to assess my article/essay style against writing theory.

As part of my course, I have also written an excerpt from a Young Adult Novel, and would dearly like to read up on some of the literature surrounding the genre.

Thanks in advance...

How do I write quickly and intelligently?

schroedinger — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:07:57 -0800

How do you learn to write quickly? I have a good number of 5-15 page papers due in the next couple of days and they're killing me. I have no lack of ideas, I have no lack of outlines and notes I can create. But somewhere between holding the notes and writing the sentences down my brain sticks and I spend an hour writing and re-writing the first paragraph. What to do? Part of it is my too-high standards. Given the immediacy of my deadlines and the amount of work to be done I know I need to just put something down, but the perfectionist in me makes this hard. When I'm turning in less than my best, I don't know whether "less than" means B or F and I feel so disappointed in my work I'd rather turn in nothing.

The other aspect is blanking. I blank on introductions, I blank on transitions, I blank on how to elegantly construct my argument. I can verbalize the topic with ease but when it comes to writing down more than a couple sentences on it and providing full elaboration I freeze. It's not an inability to construct an argument or talk about topics--I have had more than my fair share of long Internet arguments to attest to that. Something about the combination of writing for a class and not writing on a whim messes me up.

What tips do you have for writing quickly and getting papers done? I'm pretty good on the organizing front--I just need help getting it on paper.

Avoiding plagiarism - specific questions on attribution...

soulbarn — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 10:51:18 -0800

I am writing a book - a non-academic, non-fiction book. I am using lots of academic materials as sources, and generally I simply mention the source in the text when I am quoting directly - or summarizing an original idea contained in the source (I use footnotes when the attribution requires more info and interrupts the flow of the story I am telling.) I am, of course, especially concerned with the issue of plagiarism - I am keeping my notes tidy, attributing as above, and otherwise following the various rules I've read in the different handbooks for academic writing I've studied. But here are two questions.... 1) In my book, I've come to certain "big picture" conclusions. In my research, I've found a couple of authors who precede me who come to similar - though not exactly the same - conclusions (all our conclusions are somewhat novel, though I also think they'd be fairly obvious to anybody who spent a lot of time thinking through the topic.) I have mentioned both of these authors as above, when I've directly quoted their material or ideas, but what's the best way to present my conclusion, while showing that I sort of stand on their shoulders, but also that this represents my original thinking. All this, keeping in mind that this is very much a book for popular consumption, so whatever I do needs to be readable for a general audience.

2) One thing I haven't been able to figure out definitevely is the issue of quoting quotes from well-known sources. For example, some of the literature I've studied might use a specific quote from the New York Times. The quote is useful for me, as well. Do I have to attribute it to just NYT, to the author of the paper that originally quoted it, or both? I get wildly different answers on this depending on whether I ask journalists and academics...

thanks!

Help me be a better law clerk!

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2006 14:58:05 -0800

Help me be a better law clerk! I got my dream law clerk job at a well-known and respected smallish firm doing the type of work I want to do when I graduate. It’s everything I could have wanted - lots of interesting research and writing.

Here’s my problem - I’m not very good at it. This is tough for me because I’ve never NOT been good at a job before. My law school grades are great so I know I’m not stupid, but I just can’t seem to perform the assigned research and writing tasks to the standard of the firm. I’m not worried about getting fired, but I want to do well for personal reasons (see unfamiliarity with not being good at things) and because I’d like a stellar recommendation from the firm when I graduate and move on (they don’t hire their law clerks).

My biggest problems are turnaround time and research skills (Westlaw). They go hand in hand - I am slow because I’m afraid I am not finding what I need to find. Then I zip through the memo-writing and make a lot of mistakes in my attempt to complete tasks on time. The end result is that I don’t find what I need to find and turn in crappy memos that poorly detail my research failures.

How can I do better? Tips, tricks, tutorials, anecdotes, sympathy, criticism, all are welcome. Thanks!

Research Paper Automation Programs

psususe — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:32:19 -0800

Anyone know of any good programs for research paper/thesis writing? One that automates your end/footnote and in-text notation after loading in your bibliography/references? I will be writing a long and involved research paper and any program that helps me to format and note my references in the body of the paper would help so much!

I'm looking for software that will help me write my undergraduate thesis.

anjamu — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:14:07 -0800

I'm looking for software that will help me write my undergraduate thesis. I'm writing an undergraduate thesis consisting of a translation of a number of short stories. I'm currently in the preliminary stages, wherein I'm reading books of stories in order to determine which ones I'll eventually translate.

What I'm looking for is a piece of software that will allow me to jot down citations and tag fragments (for example, note the title of a story and then tag it with some themes) so that when I'm going back through to find possible themes, I can easily see which stories fit what.

TiddlyWiki doesn't quite suit my needs, and I've got a PC. Most of the software that I've found that fits this description is for Macs, so I'm out of luck so far.

Also, any other types of software useful for writing a thesis (citing, documenting, et cetera) would be welcome.

Are there deeper meanings to the names of Tolkien's characters?

blueshammer — Fri, 19 Dec 2003 08:05:34 -0800

I've got a friend wondering if there's an underlying logic to how Tolkien came up with his character names. Specifically, he's wondering about any meanings or allusions to the name "Boromir." Any leads on this kind of scholarship?