Seriously, though, this project should be interesting, despite the rocky start we had trying to find a research question. My teammates and I were supposed to write up 10 possible questions before we got to class on Thursday, but, I'm sorry to say, we didn't do that. In fact, one of us wasn't even in class when we got that seemingly easy assignment. Assignment? Yes. Easy? No.
We got together and came up with a brilliant idea that we were sure couldn't possibly go wrong....but it did. The prof wasn't digging it and that pissed me off a little. Okay, maybe "a little" is an understatement, but research projects and I aren't exactly best friends. In fact, we haven't been on speaking terms in a while. The last few semesters have consisted of creative fiction, aka my specialty, so the research thing in general makes me anxious. Ontop of that, we have to go out and interview people, people of all things on this earth. Strangers make me anxious too, but...I'll see what I can do. After all, I did sign up for a class called writing, RESEARCH, and technology, so I might as well suck it up and be a good sport. This course is part of my Writing Arts major requirements, so I had to take it, but I think....no, I know, that it'll be good to step outside of my tiny little box made of stainless steel and try something new as a writer.
I'm personally calling this project "There and Back Again" because it reminds me of J.R.R. Tokien's story about little Bilbo Baggins's adventures in the wide world of Middle Earth. He, too, was reluctant to leave his little hobbit hole, but when he finally came back, even after getting almost eaten by giants, Bilbo was glad that he'd left. It made him a stronger (little) person and that's how I'd like to view this assignment. That it'll make me stronger as a writer. Fiction really is my safe zone, but it's not enough to hope that I can leave college and immediately make a living off of it. So I figure exploring new writing environments now while I can make mistakes and not get fired for it has to be a good thing. Whenever I enter a new genre, nonfiction, poetry, the essay, the dreaded research paper, I try to calm myself by connecting it to fantasy somehow. I know there's a difference between reality and dreams, but there's also similarities. Hence, "There and Back Again."
I'm still not entirely sure of the exact wording of our research question, but it has something to do with "how college students view their eating habits and whether or not they are healthy."
We got together and came up with a brilliant idea that we were sure couldn't possibly go wrong....but it did. The prof wasn't digging it and that pissed me off a little. Okay, maybe "a little" is an understatement, but research projects and I aren't exactly best friends. In fact, we haven't been on speaking terms in a while. The last few semesters have consisted of creative fiction, aka my specialty, so the research thing in general makes me anxious. Ontop of that, we have to go out and interview people, people of all things on this earth. Strangers make me anxious too, but...I'll see what I can do. After all, I did sign up for a class called writing, RESEARCH, and technology, so I might as well suck it up and be a good sport. This course is part of my Writing Arts major requirements, so I had to take it, but I think....no, I know, that it'll be good to step outside of my tiny little box made of stainless steel and try something new as a writer.
I'm personally calling this project "There and Back Again" because it reminds me of J.R.R. Tokien's story about little Bilbo Baggins's adventures in the wide world of Middle Earth. He, too, was reluctant to leave his little hobbit hole, but when he finally came back, even after getting almost eaten by giants, Bilbo was glad that he'd left. It made him a stronger (little) person and that's how I'd like to view this assignment. That it'll make me stronger as a writer. Fiction really is my safe zone, but it's not enough to hope that I can leave college and immediately make a living off of it. So I figure exploring new writing environments now while I can make mistakes and not get fired for it has to be a good thing. Whenever I enter a new genre, nonfiction, poetry, the essay, the dreaded research paper, I try to calm myself by connecting it to fantasy somehow. I know there's a difference between reality and dreams, but there's also similarities. Hence, "There and Back Again."
I'm still not entirely sure of the exact wording of our research question, but it has something to do with "how college students view their eating habits and whether or not they are healthy."
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