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The idea of writing differently is something I have never considered a form of academic writing. I do not think I have ever experienced alternate forms of academic writting. I think that it is a very disruptive way of continuing academic writing. I selected to read Joanne Yoo’s article about the pandemic and her experience with it. As someone who graduated from my Bachelor of Education in April of 2020, I was unsure if I would be able to find employment when all the schools had closed. Yoo also works in academia and expressed many of the same concerns I had when the pandemic was happening. It was empowering to me to read about someone else’s similar experience in an academic setting. I think that personal and biased narratives can be empowering for whomever they represent and reach.

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Reflection on Writing Differently - Liana Bailey

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Reflection on Writing Differently - Liana Bailey

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I love the idea of writing differently. For my doctoral research, I’m planning of doing an ethnography in children’s hospice/palliative care. One ethnographic work that really inspires me is The Private Worlds of Dying Children by Myra Bluebond-Langner, who wrote a book about her ethnography with children with cancer. In her book, she shares her fieldwork by writing a “play.” I know that ethnography has been both criticized and admired for its ability to share ‘findings’ creatively (e.g., as a play). I myself admire it. I find it to be enriching, empowering, and promote deep thinking. For my own work, I’m hoping to write a creative story based on my fieldwork as a part of my thesis. This is still very much in the rough planning phases, but I love that this week’s readings stimulated this creative thought. I had actually read Laurel Richardson before (a different article) about writing stories. So, it was lovely to read this week’s article which shed more light on her own story and motivation to writing differently in academic spaces. I also found it really interesting to read Forrest’s paper which illustrated the value of writing difficult stories. I finished this week’s readings inspired to pick up Clifford & Marcus’ Writing Differently: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. I had started reading (and got maybe a third way through) it last semester, but as I’m sure we can all agree, it’s hard to find time to read ‘outside’ of grad school! I’m looking forward to reading more about this field of work.

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This is my first time learning about the concept of "writing differently." As an disruptive academic writing approach, I believe that by emphasizing personal experiences, emotions, living experience, and multiple identities within different social contexts, "writing differently" can reconstruct individual subjectivities in society through language and narrative. I also resonate with Richardson's (2001) perspective that 'writing is both personal and political'. People who write often draw from their own lives, making writing inherently subjective and never entirely pure or objective. Additionally, writing can serve as a method of self-discovery for the author, prompting critical reflection on the influences of social culture and history, the connections between oneself and society, and how life experiences shape one's identity. My research interest lies in the retention of women in higher chemical education in China, as I was once part of this community myself. I think that "writing differently" would offer new insights for my academic writing. By continuously reflecting on my own experiences while researching the experiences of others, I hope to gain deeper understanding and more meaningful insights.

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Writing differently-I'm on board! - Agnes Erazo

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Writing differently-I'm on board! - Agnes Erazo

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I think embracing alternative academic writing styles can be profoundly empowering and is intriguing to me. With this technique, I can infuse my work with my own lived experiences, emotions, and perspectives, transforming scholarly discourse into a more authentic reflection of me. This process of self-reflection and storytelling can empower me to reclaim my voice within academia, breaking free from the confines of traditional, impersonal writing styles. I often feel challenged in bridging the gap between theory and practice. A great avenue for this is to share my personal narratives. I feel this offers me more connection with the research, fostering a sense of ownership and agency over my finished work. I enjoy this type of writing when I am conducting research, as personal narratives, especially of those who are marginalized, offer me opportunities for self-reflection and knowledge building. (Yoo, 2024; Freeman, 2020).

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My "stream of consciousness" - Aleasha Naggyah

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My "stream of consciousness" - Aleasha Naggyah

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Encountering the term “écriture féminine” caught me off guard. Immediately, I drew parallels to the power struggle between quantitative and qualitative researchers, and I presumed that "écriture féminine" aligns more with the qualitative approach, with its potential for being less rigid and authoritative. Before this course, I had never considered the existence of writing styles different from the ones I am accustomed to. My focus on analyzing scientific literature for the past 20 years has limited my awareness of other possibilities.

I decided to read Joanne Yoo's autoethnography (2022), in which she shared her personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her words resonated with me as I vividly recalled the despair, frustration, and anger I experienced. In Quebec, a 10 p.m. curfew was in place, and only individuals with dogs were permitted to leave their homes. Fortunately, I had the “registered nurse: essential” designation paper and was exempt from the curfew. The toll on my mental health during that time was immense.

As I plunged into Laurel Richardson's (2001) and Joanne Yoo's (2022) articles, I found their writing similar to a personal journal or a captivating blog. Their writing flowed seamlessly, making grasping their insights and experiences easy. I have dabbled in journaling during challenging times and found that it clarified my thoughts and provided a creative outlet for my emotions. Yoo's (2022) statement that "reflexivity is vital for making sense of our isolated existence" echoes deeply with me. It brings to mind C.S. Lewis's quote: “I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.” This quote never fails to send shivers down my spine. In the hustle and bustle of life, it's easy for me to overlook self-care and forget that I, too, deserve nurturing and fulfillment of my needs. Neglecting self-reflection means overlooking a vital aspect of myself that requires healing. Now I appreciate it as "écriture féminine" - the understanding of self (Hélène Cixous).

Richardson, L. (2001). Getting personal: Writing-stories. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(1), 33-38.

Yoo, J. (2022). Disruption and silence: Making sense of troubled times through autoethnographic writing. In M. Heath et al. (Eds). Global Feminist Authoethnographies During Covid 19: Displacements and Disruptions, pp. 54-63.

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Ode to writing differently -Francis Bryn Jones

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Ode to writing differently -Francis Bryn Jones

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Body unneglected, mind no longer blessed,

Text structured differently, a stream of consciousness.

I had lost language: my sword and my shield (Richardson, 2001),

It seems my hand, my fate, my thought process sealed.

Connected through actions, my feelings unleashed,

“Everything was jumbled in my brain” (Richardson, 2001), reminiscent of a desperate caged beast.

Pen on paper, picture in frame,

All this writing difference, bricolage entertained.

Writing was and is how I come to know (Richardson, 2001),

I wrote so I would have a life (Richardson, 2001), battling the ebb and flow.

This perilous journey, creating social meaning, the vibrating hums.

What you write about and how you write it shapes your life, shapes who you become. (Richardson, 2001).

This ritual, discovering myself, teetering on the brink,

How up-front and personal in-your-face become the ethical questions, the most important of all the questions, I think. (Richardson, 2001).

These feelings raw, unhinged, no longer in captivity,

I scan the scene outside to identify physical features and signs of human activity (Watt, 2013).

What have we done to one another, can we explain this anthology,

Readings of the self and the other can never be simple or innocent because every reader is positioned through language, culture, history, education, [and] ideology (Watt, 2013).

Richardson, L. (2001). Getting personal: Writing-stories. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(1), 33-38. PDF Richardson

Watt, D. (2013). Auto/ethno/graphic bricolage as embodied inter/culturalism: Dis/locating stories of becoming in encounters with the other. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing. Special Issue: Cultivating the Multicultural Imagination, 28(2), 1–19. Watt JCT 2013

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Active learning 1-links to real world.JPG

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I really enjoyed the flow of the articles by Laurel Richardson (2001) and Joanne Yoo (2022), and I was able to connect with them a bit differently. For assignment two, I ‘dipped my toe’ in more personal writing and I found the process really engaging. Richardson (2001) made many statements that stood out to me; however, I particularly liked the following: “What postmodernism does is to recognize the situational limitations of the knower. It recognizes that you have partial, local, temporal knowledge – and that is enough” (p. 35). When I was writing about my own experiences in assignment two, I felt a bit more empowered, and this week’s readings validated that experience in a way. I usually struggle a bit as I try to piece together my thoughts when writing. Personally, writing in a different way allowed me to share a complex story and I was really thankful for a process that allowed me to ‘bounce around’ a bit. To that end, Richardson’s (2001) discussion in her second point spoke to this: “writing as a method of inquiry is a way of nurturing our own individuality and giving us authority over our understanding of our own lives” (p. 35).

References:

Richardson, L. (2001). Getting personal: Writing-stories. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(1), 33-38.

J. Yoo (2022). Disruption and silence: Making sense of troubled times through autoethnographic writing. In M. Heath et al. (Eds). Global Feminist Authoethnographies During Covid 19: Displacements and Disruptions, pp. 54-63.

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The concept of writing differently is new to me, but a resistance that I have grown interest in. Upon reading and reflection of the work by Richardson (2001), I was drawn to their idea that “what you write about and how you write it shapes your life” (p. 36). Reading from Richardson’s (2001) position, language (writing) produces meaning, and how we write conveys diverse meaning for others. Writing differently may challenge existing powers, positions, and theories to disrupt dominant thought. From Richardson’s (2001) work, I felt empowered to learn to write differently, to endure self-discovery and write as a method of inquiry. Particularly powerful, Richardson (2001) says “Homogenization occurs through the suppression of individual voices and the acceptance of the omniscient voice of science or scholarship or the social-script as if it were our own” (p. 35). This excerpt resonated with me, as I feel diverse or marginalized voices are often suppressed in writing. Sharing personal narrative and individuality through writing may empower others to share their voices to allow their stories to be heard. I believe that writing differently may transform the ideas of others, broadening the horizon for marginalized voices to be heard.

Richardson, L. (2001). Getting personal: Writing-stories. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(1), 33-38.

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Reading these articles was a very different way of thinking for me. Having recently completed my undergrad in Sciences I spend all my writing following a strict formula that leaves little room for creativity. I still try and write essays following the three paragraph hamburger I was taught in grade 3. Trying to break out these traditional scientific styles is definitely a challenge. I am going to try to complete more of my work from the first person and including personal pronouns... baby steps to creativity:)

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"Writing is a method of discovery" (Richardson, 2001, p. 35). I've always found writing to be a very generative and knowledge enhancing practice...taking the time to write to learn, re-write concepts and ideas has helped me make connections, dig deeper, and enhance my knowledge. Stream of consciousness as a narrative mode is something that I would not associate with academic writing but makes me think of the discussions I have with a particular friend either in person or via text...sharing multitudes of thoughts, making new associations between facts, experiences, and feelings, and learning from each other through dialogue. Writing differently adds an emotional element to writing, it allows us to share experiences and make connections with research and stories.

"People who write are always writing about their lives" (Richardson, 2001, p. 34). Regardless of how objective a piece of writing appears, there is always a personal element to it...I agree with Richardson that no one can write from a purely objective standpoint.... our lives impact our perspectives, what we choose to write about and how we write it. I read Donna Haraway's 2019 article that talked about the different ways we tell stories and why it's important that we consider how we tell them and whose stories they are. These are important questions to consider when we read and write about marginalized peoples in our communities...who is telling the story and who does the story really belong to? Writing someone else's story could lead to further isolation and marginalization for that person/peoples.

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Module 6: Writing Differently - P. Samaha

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Module 6: Writing Differently - P. Samaha

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Why does writing matter (especially for humans from communities at risk of marginalization)?

Writing holds significant importance, particularly for individuals from marginalized communities, because it serves as a powerful tool for self-expression, identity formation, and social change. Laurel Richardson (2001) highlights how writing allowed her to articulate thoughts that she couldn't verbalize, giving her control over her narrative and a way to understand herself and the world around her. For marginalized individuals, writing provides a means to voice their experiences and perspectives, which are often overlooked or suppressed in mainstream discourse. This process of writing not only helps in recording and revisiting their thoughts but also in piecing together their lived experiences, offering them a certain sense of control.

What might "writing differently" challenge and/or open up?

"Writing differently," as discussed by Richardson, can challenge the conventional norms of academic and literary writing that often silence individual voices and enforce “homogenization”. Traditional writing models require writers to suppress their own voices and adopt an omniscient, impersonal tone, which can stifle creativity and authenticity. Alternative forms of writing, such as personal narratives and reflexive pieces, allow writers to understand their individuality and assert authority over their own understanding of their lives. This approach challenges the cultural scripts that dictate how stories should be told.

How might doing academic writing differently (from the linear, impersonal, third person assumed-to-be-unbiased form) be disruptive/expansive/empowering? For whom? Why?

Doing academic writing differently can be disruptive, expansive, and empowering for both writers and readers. For writers, especially those from marginalized communities, it offers a way to reclaim their narratives and resist entrenched cultural stories. Richardson's concept of "writing-stories" allows writers to explore new plot-lines and discover new aspects of themselves and their world, which can lead to the creation of new lives and identities. Richardson's reflections on writing as a feminist practice illustrate how personal writing can have complex, rich, and unexpected effects, both for the writer and the reader. This process of writing can lead to a deeper connection to others. Thus, breaking away from the linear, impersonal, and assumed-to-be-unbiased form, academic writing can become more inclusive, can reflect diverse experiences, and be open to multiple interpretations. As Diane Watt's exploration of auto/ethno/graphic bricolage suggests, incorporating personal stories and subjective experiences into academic writing exposes the inherent biases and limitations of traditional ethnography. For instance, Watt's experiences in Iran and the personal stories she shares provide a richer, more authentic understanding of intercultural relations than a purely objective account could offer.