Blog Posts

Nailing the Literature Review!

6/26/2016

When I graduated my master's program, I got an A on my thesis, but they said I would have knocked it out of the park had I included a literature review.

A literature review?

I thought I knew what it was. I thought I had included it. Guess not.

By the time I reached my doctoral program. I still had no idea how to do it. It took doing my comps two times to get it right.

It's the area where I see most people struggling, too.

What the heck is a literature review?

It's when you find the literature relating to your topic, put scholars in conversation with one another, and make a case for your argument/contribution.

Kristin Luker, in a super friendly way, will tell you how to see what kind of literature you need and how to put it together.

I also recommend searching for LITERATURE REVIEWS on YouTube and watching the videos there.

There are many ways to go about it:

For me, the literature reviews required two full boxes of index cards and days at the library sifting and sorting materials. It does become kind of fun after I surrendered.

Two of my colleagues also really enjoyed their literature review process.

One flew off to Mexico City to do hers. Another retreated to the libraries of Tuscon, Arizona.

They liked being able to dive into the scholarship that really interested them. You don't have too many more times in your career where you will go through this process. It's really a privilege to focus in this way.

Please comment below on your experiences with literature reviews so others can benefit.

When you just can't write anymore...

5/17/2016

It's 6:30pm, I've written somewhere around 6 hours, today. The cleaning staff has vacuumed the halls, emptied the trash and every part of me wants to pack it in and say, "I'll just do it tomorrow."

But "Future Me" keeps saying..."No, please stay seated. Things will run far more smoothly if you finish this tonight."

I text a friend, tell her my commitment. Beg her not to let me leave until I make these changes to chapter 6.

Present-Me is fighting Future-Me...

Every day has its own challenge...today it is the final changes to Chapter 6.

Just do it...maybe bring Van Morrison with me.

Good luck when you are at a similar cross-roads. When debating whether to press on or pack it in, remember to let the Future You have as much of a say as the Present You.

WRITING EVERYWHERE & ANYWHERE

5/11/2016

In Hurricane Eye, Paul Simon sings...

"You want to be a writer
But you don’t know how or when
Find a quiet place
Use a humble pen"

I say, if you have a laptop then all the better. And if it isn't too quite don't worry, either. We often don't write because -- well, we don't have the right chair, we feel tired, we need to be in a library or not in a library.

Paul Simon's point -- just skip the pomp and circumstance and write the darn thing. He should know...he's a fine and prolific lyricist, indeed.

American University of Paris kindly invited me to come back this April and speak about my research -- a project I had started there about six years ago. I decided to spend an additional week doing more interviews for the book and grabbing any place I could find to do a little more writing.

Journalists know how to do this...they know how to write on the back of a steam engine or on the back of an elephant.

As a doctoral student accustomed to an office and the Library of Congress -- then a 6-week writers' retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good, I had little experience with on-the-go writing. Paris is a good beginners spot. I figure, if my colleagues can write between bullet shots and while climbing over the rubble caused by flattening earthquakes, I can learn to write in a Parisian café.

Yes, they mock me a bit for being the petite bourgeois as compared to their shooting out 4 articles a day in the midst of mayhem, but I suspect there are others like me. And, I do think there is something to be stepping back and taking time for another level of reflection.

I set up this little writing space in my apartment in Paris to do just that. I was astonished to learn that the little dog that barks all morning in Arlington, VA seems to have a brother in Paris. I turned on the stereo and let Haydn blow him out.

WRITING WHENEVER

Then we have our stories about when we write. My story is that I only write well in the morning. It's not actually true. I just prefer writing in the dark of the morning. At night, I get afraid of ghosts.

Getting RULES that Work

I trained as a coach with Tony Robbins' team and learned something invaluable for writers.

We often have too many rules. My rule of

"I can only write in the morning"

and my alleged fear of ghosts gives me a free pass in the evening to do something else. Which is fine. I can do something else, but better to phrase the statement as,

"I prefer to write in the morning...." rather than

"I can only write in the morning..."

This gives me more flexibility...like this little late afternoon session in Strasbourg, France.

It's good to make your preferences, but be careful about establishing them as rules.

Carey Writing Fellowship: A Gift for Writers & Readers

4/8/2016

This blog went dormant for over six weeks because I had the great privilege of spending that time at the Carey Institute for Global Good in up-state New York.
During the fellowship, I had the chance to see what it is like to write everyday without distraction -- (well, mostly).

I produced what Anne Lamott calls "a shitty first draft" of a book manuscript. After writing this draft, I still had two weeks to sit back and think "Is this really what I want to say?" or do I want to start again.

In many ways, I started and restarted the book. The Carey Institute gave me the space to do this and the other fellows and mentors pushed me to make it better. Readers deserve my best effort. One of the residents had a sign over her computer that said "the world doesn't need another half-assed book!" Well said. Annie Dillard tells us to write as if our readers have a terminal disease...say it all, say it without hesitation.. make it matter. Carey helped me do that without having to do little more than make my bed.

Daily Life of the Residency

On my best days, I would wake up at 5:30 start writing in the dark until these Carey deer came outside my window and munched a little breakfast.

I started feeding them the night before to ensure their am presence. When you're writing in the dark, it's nice to know you'll soon have visitors.

Then at 8:40 break for breakfast. I would bound into our restaurant so excited to talk to everyone. I was starved for human contact and eggs. While John and his team sweetly took our breakfast orders, I gobbled the words of the other fellows. They were magnificent.

Hanging out with the Real Writers

I consider the other residents all "real writers"...these are the folks who have written multiple books & articles. Sometimes dodging bullets, climbing over mass burial grounds, and always listening deeply to the stories of others.

Carey Institute selects folks writing non-fiction they hope will help shine a light on the world's most pressing problems. People wrote about Syria, Chavez, welfare systems that keep the poor impoverished, food production systems, juvenile life without parole and I wrote about corporate accountability for mass atrocity.

I've never had such exciting breakfast conversations. Then would head back for another writing session.

Usually burnt out by 2pm-3pm, I'd sneak out for walk around the lake and visit the waterfall either alone or with another fellow. When walking with someone, I'd often get some good advice or a new idea. When walking alone, I'd generally hear the ridiculous chatter of my mind until it settled down and entrained with the rhythms of nature.

When I began the residency, I could not walk alone without headphones and music. By the end, I found the music invasive and just wanted to hear the sounds of the lake and the forest. A good transformation, indeed.

In the late afternoons, I'd drink mocha lattes from the coffee machine we bowed to...then I would bound in again to the restaurant eager for human contact and dinner. After which, I'd improve our ping pong game, build a fire and make fun of each other, or watch some ridiculous B movie (Thanks Virginia for showing us Sharknado!)

Writing at Home

Now back in Washington DC, I'm still in writing communities. I'm writing this blog from a George Mason Friday am writing group in Arlington VA. Facebook, email and the internet still are my great foes and I need supervision to stay focused. Safety in numbers.

Not everyone can escape for 6-weeks to write a book. But I think it's important not just to get the book done, but to experience yourself away from the buzz and general panic of daily life. We only really had access to this small town and yet it was -- for a time -- enough. I enjoyed just being with people, nature and thoughts. The thoughts improved as did my general level of presence.

The writers there are doing important work -- stepping away from the mania of the digital world to consider what matters and the dynamics that have swept us up without our knowledge. Silence is precious and will be, I believe, is one of the great luxuries in modern life. Writers and social commentators need it to help us see ourselves...to wake up from the dream. I hope these spaces are protected.

Thank you to the Carey Institute, Tim Weiner, and the program funders for helping create that space for us and craft beautiful books. After my dissertation, I needed 6-weeks to consider what I really wanted write about the French National Railways, its role in the transport of deportees during World War II, and the conflict that continues in the United States today over that role. More work ahead...

Back to editing...

Is Your Problem Concentration or Procrastination?

2/22/2016

A brilliant colleague of mine -- who is finishing her dissertation -- made the brilliant observation that there is a difference between procrastination and concentration.

She said that she puts off doing her work, but once she's settled down she can power forward for hours. It's true. I have seen her do it.

Leading a Dissertation Writing Intensive this week at Point of View (the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution's beautiful Lorton, VA center for peace), I observed exactly what she meant.

Some people just have a hard time sitting down. Once seated, however, they can dive in and plow forward.

Other folks tend to procrastinate because they cannot concentrate. They do not know what to do when they sit down. Even if they can get their butt in the chair, the question becomes "What to do?"

If you are in this group -- the one that avoids sitting down because you're scared and do not know how to move forward, here are a few suggestions...

Writers! What To Do When Paralyzed By Fear

1. Find someone you can talk to about your project. Just 15 minutes with your committed member can get you moving. Of course, because I am a writing coach, I believe in having a coach you can work with that is not your committee member. Sometimes it makes the most sense to save your committee member for the intellectual content not overwhelm issues. (For coaching information email me: federman.sarah@gmail.com

2. Break down the day's task into really small pieces. The night before you work, write down in as much detail as you can what you will do tomorrow.

Don't write how long you will work, just what you will do.

Examples of specific tasks:

Review my conclusion
Write the first chapter of Part II
Respond to faculty feedback on Methodology

3. Meet a friend and set very short time goals. This worked for my colleagues and I. The past two weeks we have been working together, setting the timer for 25 minutes and then diving in. The shorter bursts are easier and less overwhelming. Invariably, once the timer is off we want to keep going.

Hurry, Write Everyday...Before it Becomes Feral

2/9/2016

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Writer Annie Dillard warns us...sit up with our writing, lest it become feral..

"I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as a with a dying friend. During visiting hours I enter its room with dread and sympathy for its many disorders. I hold its hand and hope it will get better soon.

This tender relationship can change in a twinkling. If you skip a visit or two, a work in progress will turn on you.

A work in progress quickly becomes feral. It reverts to a wild state overnight. It is barely domesticate, a mustang on which you one day fastened a halter, but which now you cannot catch. It is a lion you cage in your study. As the work grows, it gets harder to control; it is a lion growing in strength.

You must visit it every day and reassert your master over it. If you skip a day, you are, quite rightly afraid to open the door to its room. You enter its room with bravura, holding a chair at the thing and shouting, "Simba!"

Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life. Harper Perennial, 2013.

Writing Advice from Joey the Humorist

2/8/2016

Last week, I somehow found myself in the U.S. Congress buildings lobbying for legislation that helps prevent genocide.

On my way to our group's allotted meeting spot, I ran into Joey at the elevators. He had a suitcase with him and I asked, "Are you moving in?"

He laughed. Turns out a joke was a good way to start with Joey. He's writes books on humor when not trying to end genocide. Macabre combination.

When I heard he was a writer, I immediately wanted to know his secrets. So, I followed him down to the cafeteria to buy tea I didn't need just so I could pick his brain while he picked at his over-cooked industrial eggs.

What's the secret to successfully writing books?

That's the $1,000,000 question or at least $50,000 question for a book with a small circulation. He offered this very simple advice,

"Once you accept that it is a slow process that builds gradually, you can stop being frustrated with the speed. Just keep building a little at a time. If you write one page a day in a year you have 365 pages."

Be satisfied with the slow build...keep going.

When Writing Just Keep Truckin....A Little Bit Every Day...

Put Yourself Near the Extraordinary

1/24/2016

Sometimes you need to get away from the computer, the writing room and the library.

I find that putting myself around the extraordinary enriches me and my writing. This past Monday, I landed in Paris at 7am. I headed to my hotel, dropped off my bags and headed full steam into the Louvre.

Direct flights are amazing. You leave at dinner time and arrive in Paris for breakfast. You're at the Louvre by lunch time.

January is a wonderful time...less tourists. Terrorism also reduces crowds. I spent a few quiet moments with Venus, here photographed. What I love about her is the timelessness of her look.

When I see her face, I always feel as if I know her. Marble can be so ironically warm and close.

The past few days in between meetings, presentations and research, I have rolled around in the extraordinary and feel so enriched and ready to pour it all forth into my writing.

Greatness is elevating. I like art...I like sculpture, the impressionists and the astonishing ballet rehearsal I just saw at the Paris Bastille Opera House. I like well made clothes, fresh baked Madeline served by the Chef.

But of course the extraordinary isn't just in Paris. It's the pure laugh of a child, the unrestrained joy of a puppy on the metro trying to grab the angry lady's pant leg. It's a fuzzy new hat bought on a cold rainy day.

When you're burnt out on writing, get near the extraordinary. That includes the friend who makes you laugh until your stomach is sore.

There is something, though, about great writing, high art, and astonishing performances. They do elevate and inspire. It's as if they vibrate at a higher frequency. If you're feeling uninspired or find yourself too weighted down by the world's problems to stand up, get near greatness.

Great basketball players, great dancers, whatever it is. You will remember...and before you know it you will be back creating more for yourself and the world.

Sometimes moving forward requires walking away

1/14/2016

I've been spending some time (through books) with author Nathalie Goldberg. She wrote something that seemed so counter-intuitive and so true about writing that I just had to share it.

She wrote, "when you see something you want, back up three steps and wait."

Goldberg's statement flies against everything we learn in the American "can-do" culture which tends to be about action and volume.

But sometimes you really just do need to walk away. I have been spinning around about this article. I closed my article and then worked on something else. When I came back to it, I saw it with new eyes.

It's not always about plowing through. Sometimes things move along more easily when we just recognize and acknowledge the pain points and then gently come back to them.

If you have ever given or received a massage you may know this. You cannot just dive in and grind out the knots. (If you have tried rolfing you know how painful that approach can be). The knots will release, however, if you sneak up on them...come at them sideways and work them out slowly and over time.

Writing can be the same way. If you're feeling stuck don't just put grease on your elbow and try to grind it out. Step back, do something else, and then come back to it.

FYI- this also tends to work for conflicts in your life...but for now, let's just stay focused on the writing.

The Whale: The Writer's Spirit Animal

1/5/2016

When I think about and prepare for intensive writing periods, the image of a whale comes to mind. Whales come to the surface -- daily life -- suck in some air and then descend unapologetic away from the human world to do their work beneath.

Intensive writing periods can feel like this. You can come up for air -- meet with friends, have dinner with your family, call your mom, take out the trash -- and then you must bid your goodbyes suck in all the love and human connnection and dive back down.

Writers Can Feel Like They Are Swimming Alone for Long Periods

During our happy holidays phone call, a family friend shared her belief that "a writer's life is a lonely one." I do not experience the work as lonely because it can feel so connected to something greater. When I connect with people between sessions, I have a full self to share.

That said, it can feel uncertain. You're swimming along in the words, wondering "Is this any good?"

As Dory told Nemo's father "Just Keep Swimming." Think of the whale. They trust their inner guidance going great distances without a GPS. True sometimes military testing throws them off just as wars may throw us off.

That said, most of the time, if you are willing to suck down the air you need, descend below and swim around separate from the kerfuffle above, you'll connect with this mystical writers space...one that few people dare to explore.

When you come back up, you'll be so proud of yourself, you might feel inspired to do one of these...

Author

Sarah Federman, PhD
scholar, consultant, writing adviser, freelance writer.

Clients include: University of Pennsylvania, the American University of Paris, the publisher Bedford St. Martins, and a myriad of students.

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