Understanding Writing Blocks

Hjortshoj, Keith

ISBN 10: 0195141369 / ISBN 13: 9780195141368

Editore: Oxford University Press (edition 1), 2001

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Riassunto:

Why do capable students and scholars fail to complete writing projects? What are "writing blocks," and how can writers overcome them? Why are writing blocks more common for advanced and experienced writers who are not supposed to need help? And why are they more common in the humanities than in the sciences? Keith Hjortshoj answers these and other questions in Understanding Writing Blocks. This book demystifies the causes of writing blocks, which are often ignored, misunderstood, or attributed to obscure psychological disorders. Hjortshoj examines blocks instead as real writing problems arising from specific misconceptions, writing behaviors, and rhetorical factors present at different stages of the writing process. In a lively and informative style, he defines the nature of writing blocks, examines their causes, and offers advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional writers the diagnostic tools and strategies necessary for getting their work done. Although appropriate for any writing course, Understanding Writing Blocks targets advanced composition students and graduate writers who are most likely to encounter immobilizing obstacles, and whose experience supports the author's assertion that a writing block is usually "an affliction of the good writer." Hjortshoj draws his material and evidence from extensive research, interviews, and consultations with blocked writers from his twenty-five years of teaching. Especially helpful to students working on dissertations and other complex projects, Understanding Writing Blocks illuminates the factors that undermine writing ability in a wide range of endeavors.

Contenuti:

• 1. Are Writing Blocks Real?
• I: A Personal Problem?
• II: What Blocks Are Not
• III: Thought and Movement
• IV: Blocks Are Real Writing Problems
• 2. Products and Process
• I: The Value of Privacy
• II: Stage Fright in Rhearsal
• III: What Are You Actually Doing?
• IV: The Phases of the Writing Process
• 3. Lines, Loops, and Delays
• I: Making Lines Out of Loops
• II: Euclidian Myths
• III: Spriral Process
• IV: Notwriting
• 4. Methods, Standards, and Premature Judgments
• I: Many Right Ways
• II: Whose Standards Are You Trying to Meet?
• III: The Challenge of Governing Expectations
• 5. Transitional Blocks in Undergraduate Studies
• I: Diagnostics
• II: Developmental Blocks in the Transition to College
• III: Facing the Necessity of Revision
• IV: Institutional Causes and Unfortunate Solutions
• 6. What Is Your Thesis?
• I: Endless Introduction
• II: What Writers Need
• III: Liminality
• IV: Rhetorical Supports in the Sciences
• 7. PUtting Writing in Its Place
• I: Making Your Next Move
• II: Syntactic Block
• III: Settling for Less
• IV: Gender, Time, and Space
• 8. Scholarly Production
• I: Synopsis
• II: A Hidden Category
• III: Binge Writng vs. Moderation
• IV: Costs and Benefits
• 9. What Can You Do?
• I: The Normality of Writing Blocks
• II: The Reality of a Writing Block
• III: What You Can Do
• A Note to Teachers and Advisors
• What Teachers Can Do
• What Advisors Can Do
• References

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: Understanding Writing Blocks
Casa editrice: Oxford University Press (edition 1)
Data di pubblicazione: 2001
Legatura: Paperback
Condizione: Good
Edizione: 1.