Patrick's Book Response

          I appreciated both The Courage to Write and Voice and Vision, and I believe that their writers intended to help make the writing process easier, but in different ways. In the former, Ralph Keyes helps the reader through the emotional and psychological process of writing a book, or indeed any work. He acknowledges that writing is difficult, scary, and at times painful, but he also asserts that there is value to it still and outlines various ways to persevere. Stephen Pyne’s book, however, focuses on the details and form of writing, rather than the writing process itself. While I consider myself knowledgeable in at least some good writing techniques, Pyne’s thoroughness in covering mundane topics was helpful.

            When considering my own thesis, I found The Courage to Write to be the most helpful and encouraging, as I have been and still am concerned about working on and finishing my thesis. Part of what made the book helpful and has made Honors College helpful for me was the encouragement to just start working. Keyes noted that we all have habits or rituals that we fall back on while writing, and each individual is unique in how they write. While my writing style may not be the most efficient or the best, particularly on first drafts, it is valuable in that it is the way that I prefer to work.

            With that in mind, I hope to build off of the way that I prefer to work by setting deadlines for myself so that I can work to meet each one individually, rather than just the whole thesis having one deadline. As of now, I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity with Honors College to sit down with my thoughts and to see what other people in the history cohort have been working on, and therefore my first goal is to finalize my topic. I believe that will be easiest if I spend more time looking for primary sources and finding what aspect of the historical record I can add to. I’ve worked primarily with secondary sources the past week, trying to get a grasp on both the First Barbary War and the War of 1812 before I tried to analyze primary sources. That has been helpful, but my topic currently is not focused enough or organized enough to carry me through to May.

            I’m excited to keep researching and writing, and it’s good to know that most everyone who works on as large a project as a thesis faces stress and writers’ block. I hope to refine my topic soon and I plan to set up a work schedule that I find helpful. Honors College has been a huge help with this project, and I look forward to not only working on my own thesis but also to hearing how the rest of the history cohort moves forward.