Backwards Thinking

ByJoseph Travis

  Or should that be thinking backwards. Recently I have been finding myself rediscovering older thinking and going back to earlier ideas. For a start I decided to go back to my original title for my research and for my thesis, I also found a business card on my desk that showed marks into the clay that I had recently tried and thought was a new idea for my work. The business card was from my final year at university and I stopped making the marks as a tutor told me it made the work “too busy”.

Slow Starting

ByJoseph Travis

Staggered stumbling starts words awkwardly twist not forming cohesively stopping any progress -Red Fox Poet Writing for the lending library I sat each piece on my desk, I measured it, entered the technical data. I had made each one, I knew them intimately by the time I came to the story I didn’t have to think too hard. So within a few hours I had written over ten thousand words, without much pausing to think.

Writing really does matter to me

ByJoseph Travis

I loved my time on the “Writing Matters” workshops that were provided by MIRIAD for researchers. There are some really skilled writers with distinct voices in the group. It has made me want to write more but not in a stiff academic way, but in a more human flowing voice. Talking to other members of the group about my writing and my research revealed to me that what I was actually interested in my work is actually communication. I had never thought about it this way but all my research and thinking seems to point towards looking at different ways…

9 ways to use a sketchbook

ByJoseph Travis

I really believe everyone should have and use a sketchbook, I don’t mean an expensive sketchbook like a Moleskine where you are afraid to crease a page. More like the Seawhite of Brighton starter sketchbook, the paper quality is nice but they aren’t too expensive and can be quicker to fill to give you a sense of accomplishment. This sort of cheaper sketchbook should be a good all rounder with pen, pencils or watercolours. There is no need to be afraid of making a mistake; a sketchbook is a working document. You don’t need to share it with anyone so…