This is the write-up of a session I ran at King's College London, with the third year dissertation cohort in autumn 2016.
Abstract writing is a highly formulaic genre, but it’s also difficult to get right. You need to be clear and concise, to get your ideas across with no fuss but still entice a reader to continue on! This workshop is designed to get you thinking about clarity, about writing as an art, and about your own narrative voice through the medium of abstract writing.
In this session we did three activities, which are described below. You can do some of these on your own, but others will be better in pairs or groups.
Activity One: Ancient World Pictionary
For this activity we got into pairs. One person was given the Herodotos quote and the other the Cicero quote (below) – without seeing the other quote. Under Pictionary rules (e.g. no words, no hints, no peeking) each person had ten minutes to illustrate their quote and at the end everyone tried to guess what their partner’s illustration was trying to convey.
The point was not trying to guess the exact quote – it was whether or not the illustration made sense after you knew what the quote was! Clarity and brevity are important to learn in both your abstract writing and your wider academic writing. Learning what to leave out is just as important as learning what you need to put in.
Abstract writing is a highly formulaic genre, but it’s also difficult to get right. You need to be clear and concise, to get your ideas across with no fuss but still entice a reader to continue on! This workshop is designed to get you thinking about clarity, about writing as an art, and about your own narrative voice through the medium of abstract writing.
In this session we did three activities, which are described below. You can do some of these on your own, but others will be better in pairs or groups.
Activity One: Ancient World Pictionary
For this activity we got into pairs. One person was given the Herodotos quote and the other the Cicero quote (below) – without seeing the other quote. Under Pictionary rules (e.g. no words, no hints, no peeking) each person had ten minutes to illustrate their quote and at the end everyone tried to guess what their partner’s illustration was trying to convey.
The point was not trying to guess the exact quote – it was whether or not the illustration made sense after you knew what the quote was! Clarity and brevity are important to learn in both your abstract writing and your wider academic writing. Learning what to leave out is just as important as learning what you need to put in.
It would not be fitting for the Athenians to prove traitors to the Greek people, with whom we are united in sharing the same kinship and language, with whom we have established shrines and conduct sacrifices to the gods together, and with whom we also share the same way of life. (Hdt. 8.144.2)
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. (Cicero, Ad Familiares 9.4)
Activity Two: Abstract of a Book
The handout for this activity can be found below.
In this small group activity, each group wrote an abstract of a book they were familiar with (it is encouraged that you do this with a non-academic book, or at least a book not related to your dissertation topic). Using the Anatomy of an Abstract handout, each person wrote a section of the abstract without looking at the other sections, and then compared the entire group-written abstract to the ‘anatomy’.
As you don’t have much room in an abstract it’s very important not to repeat yourself. Sticking to the ‘anatomy’ steps can help, but you need to be very clear that these are short, punchy, clear sections!
Activity Three: Free Writing
So, how do you get to short, punchy, clear writing? When I started writing my undergraduate thesis I was told that the average number of words you need to write to finish a thesis is three times the maximum length. That means there’s a lot of writing that needs to be done before you get to the final, polished version of your thesis. The same goes for your abstract.
In this activity I set some character-narrator[1] profiling free-writing prompts. Free writing can be an effective tool for getting started, getting over writer’s block, figuring out what your position is, and playing around with different kinds of narrative voices. Free writing needs to be done without distraction. It’s best to handwrite while you’re doing a free writing activity, but if you don’t want to or can’t then make sure you turn off things like your email notifications. Set a timer – if you’re not used to free writing start at 3 minutes, you can work your way up if you find it a helpful tool.
Prompts:
Other kinds of prompts that might be helpful:
Remember that this is time for you to do nothing but write. None of this will end up in your dissertation. It is about getting your thoughts in order and being ready to write your research.
Creative Non-Fiction
To finish we talked a bit about creative non-fiction as a way of finding a narrative voice. I’ve included some articles about creative non-fiction (also called narrative non-fiction), which will also point you to some further information.
Further reading on creative non-fiction:
[1] Hint: that’s you.
The handout for this activity can be found below.
In this small group activity, each group wrote an abstract of a book they were familiar with (it is encouraged that you do this with a non-academic book, or at least a book not related to your dissertation topic). Using the Anatomy of an Abstract handout, each person wrote a section of the abstract without looking at the other sections, and then compared the entire group-written abstract to the ‘anatomy’.
As you don’t have much room in an abstract it’s very important not to repeat yourself. Sticking to the ‘anatomy’ steps can help, but you need to be very clear that these are short, punchy, clear sections!
Activity Three: Free Writing
So, how do you get to short, punchy, clear writing? When I started writing my undergraduate thesis I was told that the average number of words you need to write to finish a thesis is three times the maximum length. That means there’s a lot of writing that needs to be done before you get to the final, polished version of your thesis. The same goes for your abstract.
In this activity I set some character-narrator[1] profiling free-writing prompts. Free writing can be an effective tool for getting started, getting over writer’s block, figuring out what your position is, and playing around with different kinds of narrative voices. Free writing needs to be done without distraction. It’s best to handwrite while you’re doing a free writing activity, but if you don’t want to or can’t then make sure you turn off things like your email notifications. Set a timer – if you’re not used to free writing start at 3 minutes, you can work your way up if you find it a helpful tool.
Prompts:
- I am writing a dissertation about…
- I think this is interesting because…
- I want to be a … kind of scholar/writer
Other kinds of prompts that might be helpful:
- What issues do I have writing?
- What do I think of … as a source?
- Do I agree with [scholar’s] opinion? Why/why not?
Remember that this is time for you to do nothing but write. None of this will end up in your dissertation. It is about getting your thoughts in order and being ready to write your research.
Creative Non-Fiction
To finish we talked a bit about creative non-fiction as a way of finding a narrative voice. I’ve included some articles about creative non-fiction (also called narrative non-fiction), which will also point you to some further information.
Further reading on creative non-fiction:
- Clark, R.P. (2002) 'The Lind Between Fact and Fiction', Poynter. http://www.poynter.org/2002/the-line-between-fact-and-fiction/1500/ <last accessed 29/11/2016>
- Robbins, S.P. (2016) 'Finding Your Voice as an Academic Writer (and Writing Clearly)', Journal of Social Work Education 52.2. 133-135. (Online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10437797.2016.1151267)
- Hood, D. (2012) 'Creative Nonfiction: Writing about History', Find Your Creative Muse. https://davehood59.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/creative-nonfiction-writing-about-history/ <last accessed 29/11/2016>
[1] Hint: that’s you.
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