The process of writing is not an easy one for me. The reason is that it takes me lengthy time to get my thoughts together and put pen to paper and even at that stage it can still be daunting.
I become very anxious about articulation, spellings, missing words and especially making sense of it all. There is also a chance that I do not follow the topic with enough focus and end up being side-tracked, which can lead to rambling.
I remember writing a piece of reflection on the stigma attached to dyslexia and it took me almost two hours of re-reading and editing it before I had finished. And I am still not satisfied with it!
My MA major project journey started at the end of 2021, and it has been difficult to adopt the right mind-set to start writing. Usually, I am sitting in front of the blank screen thinking about how to start the piece of writing.
Inspiration emerges from the literature one reads, and I have to say after reading books (but not always completing them) it has supported my writing. Yesterday, when undertaking an activity on writing for five minutes, I predicted it was not going to go well with numerous grammars, spelling mistakes, and missing words emerging.
After the exercise, the lecturer introduced us to a new concept on writing called the Pomodoro technique. This is where you write for 20 minutes followed by a break for 10 minutes doing something other than writing. The technique is repeated until you have finished the piece of writing.
Funnily enough I did exactly that on the weekend (but I took longer breaks) and it worked. I managed to write a little over 2,000 words in draft. No doubt I will be re-reading, editing, and tweaking it, hence why it is in draft format.
Strangely enough, reading is another area that does not seem to come easy to me since, my attention span has decreased. I have now started using small post-it page markers, so I can refer to specific extracts relevant to my research. In any case, this is all part of the learning process and will be worth it in the end!