Does the literature review section of your project intimidate you?
Is it hard to figure out what to include and why?
Are you unclear about what your readers need to see?
You can get beyond your hesitation to write the review of literature by imagining yourself in an ordinary conversation.
Entering a Conversation
How do you enter a conversation?
- When you are new to a group of people, does it take a long time to find your voice?
- When some of them are better known than you are, do your words get stuck in your mouth?
- When you are interested in the conversation and have something to contribute, is it hard to figure out how to start?
- Do you sometimes feel you blurt out a thought?
I bet your apprehensions about writing your review of the literature are similar! So use the same strategies! In ordinary conversation, how do you speak up?
Conversation Strategies
Here are some strategies you probably use as you make your way in a conversation:
- Listen quietly awhile to the tone of the conversation and then say something: “This dog park controversy you are talking about….where I used to live there was one and an issue there was …”
- Frame your agenda as a question: “Does anyone know a good novel about a dog?”
Read the rest of the article: Enter the Conversation: Find Your Voice in the Scholarly Literature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Warning: Shameless Plug Alert:
Join the Academic Writing Club. It will give you the ongoing encouragement, gentle nudges, and a group of supportive colleagues to help you get clear that You are the experiment, and your behavior is the data. Joining the writing club will help you get real about your work and get on with it.
