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fiona
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« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2010, 02:09:43 AM » |
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Tell us what you mean by "Write Like a Snowflake."
I think that'll be entertaining.
The Fiona, who kinda knows
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The Fiona or perhaps La Fiona
Professor of Thread Killing, Fiork University
The Right Reverend Fiona, PhD, Bishop of the Fora
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tuxedo_cat
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« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2010, 02:18:43 AM » |
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Surely nobody could possibly invent a more ingenious technique for breaking out of a writing block than freewriting -- whose genius lies in its deliberate shapelessness.
But who knows. I've never tried taking writing advice from someone with a PhD in Physics, so perhaps I have something to learn.
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The only protection from zombies is a good friend who runs slightly more slowly than you do.
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,444
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2010, 07:37:03 AM » |
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Surely nobody could possibly invent a more ingenious technique for breaking out of a writing block than freewriting -- whose genius lies in its deliberate shapelessness.
But who knows. I've never tried taking writing advice from someone with a PhD in Physics, so perhaps I have something to learn.
This column is just one more reason why I hate all things ProfHacker, and I am so disappointed in the CHE for picking them up. (Then again, based on other CHE-sponsored columns and features, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.) VP |
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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oldfullprof
Not really retired...
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,755
Representation is not reproduction!
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« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2010, 07:04:40 PM » |
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Webster's Unabriged Dictionary defines "child abuse" as what happened in the book A Child Called 'It.' I read it over the summer, and, I can tell you some importand things about it (ha ha.) We start with a real horribel story about a kid thats not even human. It all goes downhill from there which you'll know when you start reading it. Well, I can telll you...
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Someone please tell me to start entering data, rather than screwing off here.
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lotsoquestions
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« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2010, 08:01:22 PM » |
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I assumed that writing like a snowflake involved drafting an e-mail explained why one was special and why none of the various requirements on the syllabus actually applied to oneself. Ungrammatically.
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bookishone
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« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2010, 08:43:02 PM » |
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I don't know how good, or necessary, the software is, but the basic principle seems sound. It's related to what I tell my grad students over and over: you need to be able to scale your argument up and down, from the airplane view/1-minute version (e.g. the six-pointed star) to the closely argued/book chapter version (one intricate arm of the fully fractal snowflake). In a job talk, it's useful to be able to give the simplified overall argument (the simple star) to contextualize your subtopic before you launch into the close argument of the talk itself.
I've read way too many dissertation chapters that begin with a detail, continue with more details, and end with details, digging themselves into a pit of contradictory and meandering argument without any sense of trajectory, of the underlying structure of the chapter's argument and how it relates to the big picture argument of the diss. The snowflake method -- despite its name's unfortunate resemblance to our least interesting students -- could be very useful in improving such writing.
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My tag line is false.
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tee_bee
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« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2010, 09:12:21 PM » |
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Surely nobody could possibly invent a more ingenious technique for breaking out of a writing block than freewriting -- whose genius lies in its deliberate shapelessness.
But who knows. I've never tried taking writing advice from someone with a PhD in Physics, so perhaps I have something to learn.
This column is just one more reason why I hate all things ProfHacker, and I am so disappointed in the CHE for picking them up. (Then again, based on other CHE-sponsored columns and features, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.) VP I rather like Profhacker. Not all their ideas are brilliant. Much like the articles in the CHE. One of the blogs I read has a great hashtag: #youdidnthavetoreadit |
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voxprincipalis
Foxaliciously Cinnamon-Scented (and Most Poetic)
Member-Moderator
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,444
Has potentially infinite removable wallets
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« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2010, 06:28:14 AM » |
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Surely nobody could possibly invent a more ingenious technique for breaking out of a writing block than freewriting -- whose genius lies in its deliberate shapelessness.
But who knows. I've never tried taking writing advice from someone with a PhD in Physics, so perhaps I have something to learn.
This column is just one more reason why I hate all things ProfHacker, and I am so disappointed in the CHE for picking them up. (Then again, based on other CHE-sponsored columns and features, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.) VP I rather like Profhacker. Not all their ideas are brilliant. Much like the articles in the CHE. One of the blogs I read has a great hashtag: #youdidnthavetoreadit Quite true, and had I read the OP's link more thoroughly, I would have realized it was ProfHacker and would have chosen not to read it. The fault is mine -- however, reading a current ProfHacker piece after having dismissed the blog many months ago merely reconfirmed my opinion of it as a whole. "Not all their ideas are brilliant," indeed. VP |
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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