Adapted from “Twenty Tips for Senior Thesis Writers (and other Writers, too)”
by Sheila M. Reindi, Harvard University
©1989 (revised 1994, 1996)
1. Begin with something about which you are truly curious. In your statement, make clear to yourself and your readers the reason you set out to do this independent body of work. This is your governing reason, the reasoning that directs the structure of your semester. Use reading, talking with people, thinking, etc. to generate and focus your governing reason.
2. Keep your eye on your governing reason. You might want to put that question or statement somewhere where you will see it when you sit down to write. This will help you stay on course. You don’t have to stick to the original form of your question/statement. You may need to revise it as you move along. You may want to keep a record of your thoughts as they evolve.
3. Give examples. In writing your proposal, show what leads you to choose your direction in the first place. What observations led you to wish to work in your chosen direction?
4. Identify and subordinate ideas. Subordinate ideas that are ones that come as a result of your initial idea. Keep a journal or running list to enable you to investigate these ideas. They may deepen your original proposal.
5. Freewrite. Freewriting [writing without thinking about whether it is elegant or grammatical or concise or logical] promotes the generation of ideas and of creative connections between ideas. To get your proposal going, write brief, uncensored pieces to loosen your mind (like stretches before running) and to let yourself following the playful associative, non-linear logic of your mind. Your final proposal, though, needs to be written in a logical form so that others can follow your thinking. Here are some freewriting prompts to consider:
The thing that really interests me about my independent work is…
Of all the stuff I’m doing these days, what really interests me is…
The questions I find myself thinking about these days are questions like…
I want to know…
I want to figure out how…
What stands out to me about all the stuff I’ve been reading to prepare for my independent work is the idea that…
Create a dialogue between yourself land the experts (this exercise comes from writing Teacher Eileen Farrell):
This author/professor/theorist/expert says…
And/but I say…
He or she also says…
And but I say…
What I’ve been reading makes me wonder...
I’m learning that…
What makes my proposal difficult to resolve is that…
One way in which I could attempt to resolve these difficulties is…
If I could say what I really want to say…
6. Work in short stretches. We tend to approach big jobs, like writing a proposal; by thinking we need big amounts of time. We say to ourselves, “I need to write this paper. It’s 1:00 now. I’m free until dinner at 6:00. That’s five hours. I should get a lot done.” But in fact, we barely make a dent. We brush our teeth, do our laundry, water our plants, pay a few bills, make a list of errands, hang out with our friends, chat on the phone. But we spend very little time on the task (the task of writing). That’s because few of us can work for five solid hours on something as difficult and anxiety-provoking as writing.
7. Employ the SOS strategy: specific, observable steps. (The phrase “specific, observable steps” comes from Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen, authors of Procrastination: Why You Do It, what to Do About It). Think in terms of specific, fifteen-minute tasks; for example, write down a list of questions that my proposal will need to address”; and “I am going to write a memo to myself about what makes my proposal a hard one to write.”
8. Use the So/And Even So Exercise: Whenever you find yourself saying “I have only fifteen minutes, so I can’t do anything productive,” try saying, “I have only fifteen minutes, and even so…I could make a phone call/jot a few notes about what questions I might address in this proposal.” The idea is that if you put yourself in a position to work, you often find that you can—and even want to—do some work.
9. Save often. Just as you need to save often when you’re working on a computer, you need to save often (in your brain) when you’re reading and planning. The way to save your thoughts is to jot them down. Otherwise, your ideas may get deleted, especially if you have a power surge (get caught up in another idea) or a crash (fall asleep). Use your thesis journal or folder for free writing and to catch your fleeting thoughts. To do this you can use your thesis journal, large envelope, manila folder, or big piece of paper on the wall to record your thoughts.
10. Some notes are better than no notes. As you read or listen, jot down even brief notes about what is standing out to you, puzzling you, or bothering you. These need not be extensive or grammatically correct or stylistically elegant notes. The will serve as a foundation for your proposal.
11. Make a point. Many senior thesis writers tend to rely on summarizing, describing, narrating, and categorizing and never get around to making a point.
12. Come to terms with the complexity of your ideas and questions. When writing your proposal, you don’t necessarily need to resolve your ideas completely. Sometimes it is enough to talk clearly about how and why things are complex rather than to clear up the complexity.
13. Show the subtleties of your thinking. Make connections between things. An analogy or metaphor can also help you clarify a connection between ideas.
14. Remember what drew you to your work in the first place.
15. Practice being Zen (an approach to everything in life, including one’s art, writing, reading and studying). A Zen approach to life involves mindfulness (vs. mindlessness) and being present (vs. being absent). When writing your proposal or beginning your semester’s work, if your attention wanders, as it inevitably will, just notice that it has, and bring it back to your task. Don’t judge yourself or your behavior. Judgments waste your precious time and energy. When you lose your concentration, just notice what you are doing, and then bring your attention back to your focus.
16. Negotiate with yourself. When you seem to be sabotaging your own efforts to do what you intend, listen for internal voices that express your competing needs, desires, and fears. Part of you might be saying, “Me, I’m going to make sure I get some time to hang out with friends no matter what.” And yet another part might be saying, “Me, I’m afraid I’m really not competent to do this project. I’m afraid that if I work on it now, I’ll just discover that I really don’t know what I’m doing or that I can’t do as good a job as I want to.” It may be hard to decide which activity should have priority. Worktime tends to be comprised by the desire to rest or play, and playtime tends to be contaminated by guilt and anxiety over not working.
17. Work and play with less internal conflict. Form alliances among various parts of yourself, like the part that aspires to do your best, the part that values other things in life besides achievement, and the part that is afraid of failure, compulsive working, or other potential risks of engaging with your work. To form such an alliance requires all of the separate, uncooperative, “me/I” voices joining to create a generative “we/let’s” voice (e.g., “Okay, we have a lot of different things that matter to us. Let’s figure out how can we get going on this project and also help manage our fear about not being good enough and also guarantee that we can have time to play”).
18. Let yourself be surprised in the process of writing your proposal. True learning involves a transformation of sorts.
19. Remember many of these guidelines can apply to your semester’s art work, too. You will need to integrate your Thesis work [art] with your Seminar work [writing/research/publication].
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau from his book “Life Style,” published by Phaidon Press
How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy published by Princeton Architectural Press
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden published by Phaidon Press
MICA’s Learning Resource Center, Bunting 458 or lrc@mica.edu
Photos of 2012 installations online at bit.ly/commencement12photos