Mock Thesis Defense: Justifying Blogging When I Could Be Revising Essays

I have a serious need to repent.  I intended to write this post over a week ago, but here we are.  Let's be honest-I just collapsed after finals and fell off the radar.  But now it is time to get back in the game, and without further delay because my honors thesis is due January 16th.

I want to take a minute and comment on what I have learned from my mock thesis defense and from my latest post that goes over a draft of my final essay in my collection, "Snot and Untold Stories."  The mock thesis defense was done as a final presentation in my Thesis Writing class.  Another student who acted as my representative contacted Professor Burton and received some good questions to ask me, one of which was this: how do I justify spending valuable time blogging and focusing on the digital component of my thesis when I could spend that time doing much-needed revising?

It is a good question, and after my latest post highlighting concerns with my essay I am more equipped to answer it.

Since posting my latest draft, I have received a few great comments with invaluable feedback.  While I admit I have not had as many people comment as I would have liked, the comments I did receive were incredible.  Shara, who I connected with while in India, took a good chunk of time to give me some much-needed suggestions.  Had I not blogged about this draft, I would not have received that feedback.  In this case, blogging has actually aided me in the traditional revision process.

A second, less obvious benefit to blogging that I have discovered within the last few weeks, has been that I am held accountable to a "real" audience.  Within a day after posting my essay, the German friend I met on the bus mentioned in my essay, who I renamed Charley, contacted me and mentioned he read it.  My initial reaction was concern.  Had I really represented him accurately?  For all of my talk of authenticity, was I holding to it?  The truth is I fused a little bit of a later conversation I had with a history major friend to include a few of the Vietnam details.  By having this post I am acknowledging the fragile nature of storytelling while also being held accountable to an immediate audience.  This is not available in mainstream publishing.

In conclusion, while blogging and adding this digital component of my thesis can be time consuming and daunting, I am glad to have done it.  At the end of the day I would rather have my ideas shared and available to read than have them be perfect.

(Photo credit goes to cs.cmu.edu)

Discovering Twitter

Talking with Dr. Burton last week helped me understand how Twitter is a great social media resource to help me get connected with a potential audience for my eBook.  It is also a great way to find out what kinds of discussions are out there so that I can stay in the loop.  Here is a link to my profile.

Until last week I have always been a little resistant to get a Twitter account.  Isn't it just a great big Facebook status update rave?  I’m no Pynchon, but I do appreciate a little anonymity.  No one needs to hear what I ate for breakfast this morning…

But that was the same argument that I originally had against blogging, only to find that academic blogging offers a whole range of possibilities that I had not considered.  So it is with Twitter.

While being real on Twitter and having a personality is important when Tweeting, Dr. Burton helped me realize that there are ways to ensure that I am posting valuable material that others would be interested in.  I just have to think of it from their perspective and try to Tweet valuable information.  There needs to be a healthy blend between personality and focus.  Reposting blog entries, links, videos, and retweets are a great way to start.   It is also nice to attend events and comment on them while you are there.  Photos, which are something which is pretty applicable to my interests, are also easily shared on Twitter.  This means I’m probably going to visit the gravesite of my old Flickr account and update, update, update.

Self Publishing Thoughts

As Professor Burton has pointed out to me, I need to be working on the digital component of my personal essay project while I am drafting.  This way, I can promote my eBook and connect with a perspective audience before they are even finished.

I'm trying to get more connected with the writing networks available online.  I attended an online chat session a few weeks ago and found some of their blogs which have been a fantastic starting point.  I came across the blog Literary Lab, kept by writers Domey Malasarn, Scott G.F. Bailey, and Michelle Davidson Argyle.  In this blog, I found a great post on self publishing that is frank and honest about some of the ins and outs of self-publishing.  Here are some points I learned that I need to focus on as I think about my eBook.

Price- The author of this post argues that you need to put just as much time and funding into the professional look and editing of your book.  She really emphasized making the cover captivating.  I've got some photographs, but I wonder if I should start looking at this more seriously, and sooner than i thought.

And off of that point, I was not planning on charging anything for this eBook.  To me it was more important to just get the information out there and promoting my first publication than to make any money.  This blog post also talked more specifically about how much it cost to make her first book and how much she made in the end.

If self publishing book is what I want to do in the future for a career, then this would be really important to learn sooner than later.

Back to Connecting

I've spent the last few weeks in the drafting process of my personal essays for my honors thesis and eBook.  However, as Dr. Burton as advised me, I need to continue working on connecting.  The cool thing about my eBook is that I can promote it before it is even finished.

So I've done a lot of general connecting, exploring the ins and outs in India, but it is time to start targeting people who might be interested in my essays.

What I have done so far:

• Commented on others blogs
• Made friends
• Joined Twitter (here is my profile link)
• Started sharing my writing with my family
• Created a writing group with 8 awesome writing friends to workshop and hold discussions
• Joined nanowrimo.  This is a site that gets you to challenge your writing goals to celebrate national writing month in November.  There is no way I will hit 50,000 words, but I am hoping to connect with other writers and get to know the students in my novel writing class better.
• Participated in an online chat with some legit writers.  I'm going to join in again this coming Thursday.

What I Want to Do Next:

• Comment more on other peoples blogs and find new blogs
• Start looking into the author section of goodreads.com and try to connect with people who have similar interests.
• Look at other writers blogs and follow forums on self publishing
• Keep it coming! Both drafts and blog updates.
• Review the eBook Writing about Literature in the Digital Age and start to think about how to format my own eBook

An Online Discussion on the Querying Process: And some new friends!

In addition to writing personal essays for my honors thesis, I am also enrolled in a Beginning Novel class where I am working on my first ever novel!  Last week, one of the girls in my class sent out an invite to join a live, online chat session on October 11th with a few published authors discussing the querying process at Annie Laurie Cechini's website.  It started with Michelle Davidson Argyle, talking about where to start the querying process, then Lydia Sharp, who discussed the fundamentals of a query letter, and then was wrapped up with Sierra Gardner, who discussed ways to stay organized and keep tabs on queries.  Ashley, the girl in my class, ensured us that they were friendly people and would be thrilled to share their information to those who are new to this scene, so I decided to check it out.

The archived version of the chat session I participated in is not yet posted, but I will link to it once it is.  Here are a few main things I learned:

Shara: Connecting and Sharing

One of the greatest aspects of my academic blog while doing my field work in India was learning how to better connect with people online.  I have come across some great people, including Shara, who is mentioned a few times on this blog.  Shara was an awesome find!  She has a great idea for a new project she is starting, a lot of the ideas coming from my own avatar framework from my Ghana project, and she could use some support! 

I just got this facebook message from her last week and thought I would include it on this blog:

Hi Rachel. How are you doing back in school? Adjusted from the awesome life of a traveler? :-) Just wanted you to know that I am launching a kickstarter project for a book I want to publish of writing and photography. It was thinking about your avatar concept about how we see the world differently with different parts of our personality and careers that gave me kind of an epiphany about how I document the world. When I write, I write about all the sadness and suffering and that's what I "see" in words. When I photograph, I shoot postcard-type images, the beautiful things whether it's architecture or nature and I see beauty in image. My book idea is to balance this duality. So anyway, know that your project really had an impact on me and mine. I'll be launching it next week, but I have a FAQ online if you're interested in checking it out. Once it's live (hopefully next week), if you feel inspired to share it with your friends, I wouldn't complain. :-)

• Project FAQ

  www.skjtravel.net
  

  SKJ Travel
  Share 

Matt's Documentary!

My friend Matt, a fellow student who went with me to Dharmasala, India this last summer, is in the process of making an awesome documentary.  Here is a two minute preview of one aspect of the film.  Watch and enjoy, and make comments directly on the youtube page so that he can try to win a video contest!

Glimpse.org and Other Places to Publish Stories

My friend, Maggie, sent me a link to Glimpse.org awhile ago when I was trying to discover places to find other travel writers and ways to publish my stories.  Unfortunately I did not discover it and apply in time to apply and get accepted and funded for it (and really too bad, it is right up my ally), but it is still a great place to read about other travel stories and view their photography.  I'm still going to read others posts and comment in order to hopefully do some more connecting.

Also, remember Matador.com?  It is a similar site I have commented on and joined already.  Well, I found that they have a pretty awesome blog that I am now following.  I like it because it has a lot of other links for places where I can submit stories, etc. to try and get my writing out there.  I just read one post called "30 Skills for Writers" that I particularly enjoyed, especially as I am trying to do some drafting of my initial travel essays. Some of my favorite points were to be an active observer, be aware of how you look at a place, constructing scenes, and creating multi-level dialogues and descriptions. 


If you are also interested in travel writing, you should check it out. 

Connecting: In the Field!

The internet is a great way to find people to connect with that you otherwise would not have, but I have also been able to connect with a few other people that I otherwise would not have had I not been in India!  Sometimes that immediate human interaction is just what the doctor ordered.

So here are a few of my new writer friends:

David is an emerging Bollywood actor from Singapore.  He is a former Black Hawk flier and is currently traveling around India with our mutual friend.  I was delighted to find that he is a photographer as well as a writer, and his blog can be found here.  He is looking for critical feedback if anyone is interested in reading some of his writing.  I enjoy his imagery and just the fact that he is able to write about places like Mumbai (Bombay) in a way that I can see and smell it since I unfortunately will not be able to get there in this trip.

Emily is a former student of Megan's host family who happened to stumble back into McLeod, and she was sort of absorbed into our group immediately.  We enjoyed hanging out and getting to know her on our mid-semester retreat and learning more about her experiences here.  She just left yesterday for some more traveling around India.  Emily is recently graduated and from Atlanta, and she has really interesting blog documenting her travels.  Talking to her a few days ago about publishing drafts/final copies of my essays made me realize that it is something I might want to think about in terms of publishing.  If I am going for my own eBook though, maybe I don't have to worry about it.  Either way I have decided to hold of posting my latest essay draft until I decide. 

Lobsang Wangyal was a random find (upstairs from the yoga studio, helping him edit a recent article).  He is Tibetan but he was born in India.  He is a journalist and editor for the news website, Tibet Sun, as well as the founder of the controversial,  annual Miss Tibet show.  He is quite a celebrity around McLeod Ganj in his vivid colored suits, and he can even be found on Wikipedia!  His reports are slanted towards the Tibetan cause, but it is still informative to read about recent issues in the Tibetan situation for those in exile.  There also writes about current world events.  While he has some colorful views on America (particularly on our visa system), he is always an interesting person to talk to. 

Anyways, just a few writers I've stumbled across that I thought were worth mentioning.  I really enjoy finding people out here who share some of my same interests, especially when I can read about their similar experiences through their unique perspectives. 

Connect: Featured on SKJ Traveler's Website!

As part of the connecting aim of this blog, I have been able to interact with another writer, Shara, founder of SKJ Travler.  I've written about how we met and commented on some of her writing here. 

Well, now on her website she has now featured me as one of the other writers!  Check it out!

Geshe Yonten Coming to BYU?

About two weeks ago I mentioned a documentary film I watched by Geshe Yonten and his experiences trying to educate children in Zanskar.  Well, based on my blog post, his personal secretary just sent me this facebook message.  Anyone know who we would need to talk to in order to get Geshe to BYU during his tour of the states this fall!? I would like to get back to her soon.

• 
  

  July 17

  Laura Strohminger Roth

  • Geshe Yonten
    Hi Rachel -
    
    I am coordinating Geshe la's U.S. tour and would love to help you get him to BYU! My e-mail is lsroth1@gmail.com. He will be in Colorado and Montana so it is definitely possible! Probably the best timeframe would be mid-September or early November. Let me know what you think.
    
    Thanks!!
    Laura Roth
    
    
    

If you have not watched the trailer, click here!

Connecting: An Email from Melissa

 I'm posting a copy of an email that Melissa, the previous filed facilitator, sent me.  Melissa has been a huge help to me from everything to talking travel logistics, answering my frantic phone calls from Walmart hours before I left, to emailing me now with some great insights.  I found them particularly helpful- especially what she says about being an "outsider," and maybe you might too. 

Rachel,

How are you?? From what I read on your blog you have been having quite the time in Dharamsala! I have really enjoyed reading your blog. It makes me miss McLeod a lot... but it makes me so happy to hear about the experiences you guys are having there!

So I have been meaning to write for a while because your blog a few weeks back made me think about my own experience so much... and I thought I'd share some thoughts with you. Now please keep in mind, this is not advice, but merely just a chance for me to share what my experience was because I had so many of the same thoughts you did. So I hope you don't mind me sharing a few thoughts. It was about your blog on french fries. Man, I totally knew that same feeling the first time I was there. My family was much the same- changing the channel when I was around, never letting me help with anything... It was frustrating and made me feel like not only a guest, but an outsider. Like a temporary visitor. And I remember feeling so much the same way. I felt like an outsider, despite my trying so hard to be a part of everything I could. So I left India the first time, still feeling like a frustrated outsider.

Connecting: Writers Network

In an effort to do more social discovery and connecting based on Dr. Burton's last email, I did a bit of research and found an awesome free network for creative writers online!  It is called Writers-Network, and my profile is here if you are interested. 

Since I just signed up I cannot give a full report, but what I really like is that there are many members and you are able to post writing based on how much you comment on others writing- ensuring that there are discussions going on instead of just writing out in space.  You can create your own profiles, categorize your work so that they can be easily searched, join other writers fan page and follow their stream, etc.

For an experiment I posted a pretty rough draft of a poem I wrote while I was in Ghana last year.  I cleaned it up a bit, renamed it "Roads,"  and posted it on Writers-Network, just to get a general response and test to see what this site can offer.

It seems like it is going to be a great opportunity to connect with other creative writers and to receive some quality feedback on my writing.  If you are interested in creative writing (and I know there are a few of you out there that would enjoy this site), you should join!  Really!

Email from Professor Burton: Checking in July 3, 2011

This is part of an email response from my field study faculty mentor, Dr Burton, on connecting and the importance of social discovery.

Rachel:

When will you all be headed to Amritsar?

Are you finding other creative writers abroad? Not just in India? And I do want to encourage you to diversify your means of social discovery, particularly by thinking in terms of "marketing" your experience. If you haven't already, review my post on Social Discovery (http://digitalcivilization.blogspot.com/2010/11/social-discovery.html). And as you can, browse my recent students' blog posts relating to that from Spring (especially the ones where they commented on finding people to invite to our webinar or to read our eBook). I know this seems like I'm beating a dead horse, but if there is anything I would change in my teaching it would be accelerating this and expanding it. Social discovery is both finding and telling, so keep it up and keep me posted. Tried reaching out to various educators?

Check in again soon.

Dr. Burton

(From a church parking lot in Culpeper, Virginia)

Sent from my iPad

Connecting: SKJ Traveler Follow Up

Connecting with other travel writers is a very important part of my project and this blog, so I thought I’d share a follow up I had from SKJ Traveler, Shara, since the last blog post I wrote reviewing her website:

Hi Rachel. I really appreciate the write-up on my websites. This whole networking thing is a bit beyond me, to be honest. I'm a bit of an old fart and have no affiliations... I'm basically a hermit with no social or professional connections! I designated 2011 the year of trying to contact the outside world. I suppose I should just do a sort of Blitzkrieg sending out friend requests on Facebook, but it's just so not my style, and to be honest, even with the careful selection of strangers whom I contact (seeing people with similar intents on travel-related sites) it still makes me nervous. Ha. So not a child of the social media age! Anyway, it's a delight when I meet someone who is friendly and enthusiast and a kindred spirit. As it happens, I very recently decided to add a page to my travel website with external links and various "armchair" musings. I have the button up and intend to start adding content in the next week when I get some time. I will be sure to add a link to your blog at this time. Thanks again. Best – Shara

I just read through your Conclusions from Adventures in Ghana. Very thoughtful and thought-provoking, and I relate to a lot of it. I'm actually inspired now to perhaps vent some of my frustrations on my next Writing Life blog entry. I wrote an entire book, generally filed under "ethnographic memoir" about a village in China I spent time living in. A most horrible and depressing experience trying to get it published and I finally gave up. A number of your points in your Conclusions ring relevant to my experience. Anyway, I very much enjoyed reading your piece.

From there I got a post on my facebook wall linking me to her latest blog post (June 27, 2011) inspired by my Ghana conclusions, reflecting on her struggles with publishing a book.  

Pretty neat, eh?  It is nice to see that everything I did in Ghana can still be a leaving, breathing entity out there that others can benefit from outside of myself and the one person who might read my final written paper.  I am convinced that by having my conclusions in a blog format makes it so more people can benefit from it.    It makes me so happy that other writers are thinking, and caring, about the issue of authenticity and writing. 

Consume and Connect: Geshe Yonten and "Journey from Zanskar"

This post is part of the consume aim of my blog, but I’m also hoping that it will promote connecting not just for me, but for a good man and friend, Geshe Lobsang Yonten, in his mission to educate Zanksar.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to watch a documentary put together by Geshe called “Journey from Zanskar.”  When India was divided up into Pakistan, there was also a portion of Tibet that was considered Indian, though the region, Zanksar, was religiously, culturally, and linguistically Tibetan.  Because of this the education system in some of these rural villages are missing out on a proper education and their culture is slowly being forgotten.

Geshe’s goal is to help combat that by educating the children in Zanskar.  His documentary was about a very moving experience he had getting 14 children to Manali and Dharamsala for their education and the trials and difficulties he encountered.  His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama told Geshe once that it was his responsibility as a monk to help reliving suffering.  Geshe comments that he took Bodhisattva vows, and even though he is not a Bodhisattva, he is determined to do his part to make the world a better place.

The documentary is fantastic, and Geshe Yonten is going to be touring the United States at various universities to show it.  I am hoping that we will be able to promote his mission enough so that we might also be able to get a viewing for him at Brigham Young University.

If you are interested in what Geshe Yonten is doing you can watch a youtube video, check out his website, be his facebook friend, like his facebook page, or contact his secretary putting together his schedule for when he comes to the United States.

Skj Traveler: Connecting

Since connecting is a large part of the project that I am doing here in India and with this blog, imagine how excited I was to find a surprise friend invite on facebook.  Instead of desperately hunting down interesting travel writers and photographers, Skj Traveler spotted me first!

After browsing this facebook page I soon discovered that it is Shara Johnson/Simon's facebook page is for sharing some of her travel writing and photography.  On her website she has several publications listed (most of which are available to read full text, or at least an excerpt), and several great citations as well.

What I most enjoyed about Shara's website was what she wrote in her bio.  She says that she "does not wish to confuse the reader into wondering what really did or didn't happen" because she comes "from a rigorous nonfiction school of thought that if it didn't happen [she does] not write that it did.  She also notes that "a common problem in nonfiction writing is knowing how much to trust the author," and that when she does not have enough to write a full story she drops it instead of fudging her way through it.

I guess I really relate to this, and it is refreshing to see that someone right off the back is coming out and saying, hey, this is a limited medium.  It reminds me a lot of what I was doing in Ghana with the authenticity of travel documentation and some of my conclusions I drew.

In addition to photography and a Trazzler site, she also has a blog embedded into her website with current writings.  While she does not have a place for others to post comments, she does post very frequently and has a very fun, unique writing style.  You should check it out when you get a chance.

Connecting: For REALS

Connecting is one of the main aims that I am supposed to work on with this blog.  Of course I saw value in it, for professional networking, meeting others with similar interests, and just tapping into sources that I otherwise wouldn't have discovered without making the effort, but here is one thing I did not anticipate.

Real connecting on a personal level.

Last week I got this message from my grandma, who I am starting to realize might be my number one fan:

I had to give a talk in Relief Society on Sunday on Grandmothering.  I talked a lot about my wonderful grandchildren, and, and I bragged a lot about you being in India, and having all those wonderful encounters.  I JUST HAD to read them your "Snot and Stories" blog.  They're still laughing.  Hope you don't mind.  One lady came up to me afterward and said that you really have a talent for expressing yourself. I agreed completely with her.  We are loving reading your blog, and hope that the rest of the time you spend in India will be wonderful and fruitful for you.  We love you very much.  Hang in there -- the time left will just zoom by.

That wasn't the only comment I received either since sending links in my weekly emails home.  My Okasan (stepmom) told me that she has shared some of my posts with people at her work, and one of her employees, an aspiring writer, after reading my blog was all inspired to change her work schedule around so that she can use the morning for writing.

It is hard to imagine having that kind of an impact on anyone or anything really, especially when my official blog followers are slim and my comments, though increasing in frequency, are not where I probably need to be for my project.  But from the sounds of it I have a lot more blog followers than I realize. 

I guess this was just an important lesson for me.  I can use to writing to connect not just with people with similar interests, but with those who already know me- people I always hoped would understood me a little bit better.  I tend to be pretty shy and socially awkward, background noise in big groups and family parties, but for the first time in my life I feel like my writing can really help me to bridge those gaps and show that I really do care.  Really do have thoughts.  Really do feel.

This lesson really hit home.  Literally.

(Photo/Drawing credit goes to Perspective Press Inc.)

Goodreads.com

If you have not noticed, I love to do all of my book reviews on Goodreads.com.  The best way I have to describe it is that it is like a facebook for book lovers.  It is fabulous for making recommendations, keeping tabs on those books you always wanted to read, writing comments, reading reviews from real people, finding books by authors you like, and for connecting!  It is the online book club. 

I've decided to look more into the benefits of Goodreads.com, mainly in the benefits of connecting for my project.  This is a great way to network and to improve my reading experience.  For example, I was debating if I wanted to read The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama or The Art of Happiness, also written by him.  Thanks to Jenny's review, I decided to stick with the autobiography.  It was just the advice I needed- something from a real person who has read both instead of just relying on the little blurb on the back covers to help me make my decision.  Hopefully some of my reviews will be just as helpful for someone else. 

If you like to read or would like to be a bit more organized in your reading, I recommend it.  Add me as a friend if you do!

Connecting: Matador Travel

In addition to my new attempts at connecting that Derrick recommended I have also done a bit of my own research.  I came across a website called Matador Travel.  It is an online network for passionate travelers with different career and volunteer opportunities frequently posted.  It also offers plenty of opportunities for connecting.  The reason the site caught my eye is because there are places to post pictures, video, travel writing, and also blog posts.

Sounds great right?  I made a profile!  I'm still new and figuring things out, but I think there is a lot I can do with this site.  

The matador blog was a little disappointing to me because it won't let me just copy the link to this blog.  The website has its own place for people to write blog posts.  I think this is still a good idea though.  In the future I can just copy and past some of my better posts to my matador profile and then copy the URL to this India blog at the end of each posts.  That way I can network with people on this site but also get more traffic to this blog.

We'll see how it goes!  If you are interested in traveling, you should check it out and consider making your own profile.