Belcher Template 1

Belcher Template:

Week 1:

Day 1: Read through page 10 and fill in the boxes (p. 1-10)
Boxes:
 My feelings about my experience of writing:
 Common elements of my negative feelings about writing:
 Lessons to be learned from my positive experiences of writing:

Thoughts:

Day 2: Select a previously written text to develop for publication (p. 11-19)

Boxes:
 Consider a text you have already written (that falls into the following categories) (p. 11-
12):
o Praise (p. 11):
o Pleasure (p. 11):
o Relevance (p. 12):
o Research (p. 12):
o Findings (p. 12):
o Conference papers (p. 12):
o MA thesis or PhD Dissertation (p. 12):
o Rejected Article (p. 12):
 My chosen title (p. 18):

Thoughts:

Day 3: Chose and improve your writing site (p. 18-19) (07/10/18)
Boxes:
 Writing Site (p. 19)
o Site ideas:
o Monday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
o Tuesday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
o Wednesday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
o Thursday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
o Friday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
o Saturday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
 Belcher Template 2

o Sunday:
 Primary:
 Back-up:
 Site Improvements (p. 19)
 Preparatory Writing Activity (p. 19)

Thoughts:

Day 4: Design a daily and weekly writing schedule for 12 weeks; anticipate obstacles and
interruptions (p. 19-39)
Boxes:
 Writing Interruptions and Obstacles
o Obstacle 1:
 Estimated interference:
 Solutions to my writing interruptions and obstacles
o Obstacle 1:

Thoughts:

Day 5: Start documenting how you spend your time currently (p. 39-40)
Boxes:
 Calendar

Thoughts:

Week 2: July 16-22

Day 1: Read through page 60; discuss your article topic with a writing partner; start
documenting your time (p. 43-60)
Boxes:
 What is my article’s type?
 If my article’s type is not recommended, should I convert it to a research article.
 What is new about my article?
 What revisions do I need to make to my article to link the old to the new?
 Hammering out your topic
o Describe:
 Tell someone about your article. Give them a sense of topic, approach,
findings, and argument
 Ask person if it were clear and if they have any questions
o Summarize:
 Consider comments
 Redo the description in a more succinct form
 Have the person repeat back what you said
o Write (one sentence):
 My article is about…
o What I learned by doing this exercise:
Task:
 Meet with someone to discuss your paper

Thoughts
 Notes on a good humanities abstract (p. 57)
 Belcher Template 3

o Humanities abstract should contain the following features:

 Context
 Subject
 Claim for significance
 “Theoretical framework—often more suggested than stated” (p. 57)
 Argument
 Proofs
 I think the task with the partner is very good, but it’s a lot to ask of someone. Maybe this
is why I have writing dysfunction.

Day 2: Print out and reread your chosen paper, discuss it, then make a list of revision tasks (p.
60-61)
Boxes
 Make a list of revision tasks
 Estimated time

Thoughts

Day 3: Draft an abstract and get a review of it (p. 61-62)

Boxes:
 Write an abstract
 Reviewer’s comments on my abstract

Thoughts:

Day 4: Find and read a model article in your field (p. 62-63)
Boxes:


Thoughts:

Day 5: Revise abstract according to review (p. 64)

Week 3: Advancing your argument

Day 1: Read through page 92 and fill in the boxes on those pages; start documenting your time
(page 97)
Boxes
 Lessons to be learned from Week’s Writing Experience
 Does my article have problems with focus? If so, how am I going to revise it
 Is my article appropriate for the journal I have selected?
 Does my article have problems with scholarliness? If so, how am I going to revise it?
 Does my article have problems with defensiveness? If so, how am I going to revise it? (p.
74)
 Does my article have problems with originality? If so, how am I going to revise it? (p. 76)
 Does my article have problems with structure? If so, how am I going to revise it? (p. 77)

Thoughts:

Day 2: Draft a statement of your argument and discuss it with several others, both in your field
and outside, then revise it (pages 93-94)
 Belcher Template 4

Boxes:
 My argument:
o Shitty draft:
o Better version:
 My evidence:
 Revise: Revisit your abstract. Does it state your argument? If not, rewrite your abstract
with your argument in mind.
 Reviewer’s comments on my abstract:

Thoughts:

Day 3: Review your article and note where your argument is disappearing and should appear
(pages 94-96)
Boxes
 Early and clearly: do I state my argument clearly and early? It should appear within the
firs three to five pages. If not, how am I going to revise my article so that I can state my
argument early and clearly? Will I have to add a paragraph? Will I have to move up my
argument from where it appears later in the article? Use the box below to list these
revision tasks. Revision:
 Introduction: have I organized my introduction around my argument or does my
introduction deal at unnecessary length with the text or the context?

Thoughts:

Day 4: Revise your article around your argument (page 96)

Boxes:

Thoughts:

Day 5: Revise your article around your argument (page 96)

Boxes:

Thoughts:

Week 4
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Week 5
Day 1: Read through page 163 and fill in the boxes on those pages. Start documenting your time
(-163)
Boxes
 Positive Message to myself about writing:
 What is my original or primary literature for this article
 How can I limit my contextual literature for this article?
 Do I need to cite methodological literature in this article?
 Theoretical literature
 Belcher Template 5

 What’s my entry point? Do I state it clearly? Do I show how my argument relates to

previous arguments?

Thoughts:

Day 2: Evaluate your current citations (163-164)

Boxes

Thoughts

Day 3: Identify and read the related literature (pages 164-167)

Boxes

Thoughts

Day 4: Evaluate the related literature (167-168)

Boxes

Thoughts

Day 5: Write or revise your related literature review (page 168)

Boxes

Thoughts