Belcher, W. L. (2019) Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, Second Edition: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing), Chicago and London: Chicago University Press.

I have just begun reading and thinking about this book. I love a workbook , it has tasks :) 

Task 1.

What feelings come up when you contemplate writing?

Shame, exuberance, brightness, creativity, restriction. Mixed bag really. Shame from failing for so many years at school with writing because of dyslexia. Not really understanding my degree dissertation at Staffordshire Polytechnic, kind of floating through it as if I was in a trance. I think I literally put myself in a trance to avoid the sheer terror of the whole thing, or a perceived terror. Yet the European History module I took during my undergraduate studies I adored. Essays on Fascist Italy and Post-Communist Catholicism in Bella Ruse and Estonia were a dream. 

In my BA dissertation, when I think back, my methods and methodology were strong, collecting original data and interviews from contemporary ceramicists such as Sandy Brown, Michael Flynn and Mo Jupp. What I had trouble with and still have bother with is structure, focus and answering the research question – in fact I didn’t even have a research question. Even if this had been explained to me then would it have sunk in? 

Years later on my Masters course in Ceramics at Cardiff I really started enjoying writing and researching. I was a bit more mature, knew what I wanted a bit more and my passion for Papua New Guinea culture, arts and people brought my imagination and my writing alive. My dissertation called 'The Beast Within' was a whistle stop tour through PNG ceramics and mythology. 

This later took me on a journey to PGCE at University of Leeds and then education short course MA and  RDF at University of Sunderland, than an MPhil and finally onto publishing articles and book chapters during my PhD. I am really slow and it takes a really long time but I can do it. I also discovered free writing and poetry which I really love and can feel very creative about. 

How do I feel about writing, it has opened doors, taken me to far flung libraries and private collections I would never have seen, exposed me to publishing, the painful peer review and the sheer amazement of seeing my name on print inside a book. 

pictures: my research book shelf at home and Mexican Library - Wikki Commons.