Mental health/Self development

Planning

Determine primary sources/bibliography.

Determine secondary sources/bibliography. 

Find title.

Brainstorm a table of contents with as much detail as possible (with chapters, sections and even paragraphs and sub-paragraphs - see How to Write a Thesis’ own table of contents as an example at the end of this document) (if the first drafted table of contents is good enough, it will not be necessary to start the writing from the beginning).

Do a first draft of the introduction.

Note-taking and research

Use Google Scholar to make sure you do not miss important sources.

Keep the table of contents in mind when researching and take notes of which sources could go where.

While note-taking, differentiate which parts could be used as quotations from the ones that are simply important for the argument.

Eco underlines the importance of what he calls reading sheets, which can be understood as your notes on your readings. According to him, these should contain:

information about the author if he is not a well-known figure;

a brief (or long) summary;

they should mostly consist of quotations (accompanied by all the corresponding page numbers)

any commentaries you might want to add;

an indication of which part (or parts) of your table of contents the information mentioned belongs to.

Keep reading sheets on primary sources (which should be the longest) separate from those on secondary sources (which should only be 1-2 pages long).

In the end, re-read the notes and color-code all the different parts according to where they would fit in your table of contents.

Writing and editing

A good place to start would be by redrafting the introduction.

Define every key/technical term used/mentioned unless indisputably obvious.

General writing tips:

keep sentences short;

do not be afraid to repeat the subject twice (ex: Roberta went to the shop (…) Roberta bought carrots and tomatoes);

avoid excessive details;

avoid subordinate clauses (orações subordinadas);

avoid vague language;

avoid unnecessary adjectives;

avoid the passive voice.

While drafting, write everything that comes to mind. Leave the editing for the end.

Use your tutor as a Guinea pig. Make them read your first chapters (and, progressively, all the rest) well before delivery is due. 

Ask for as much feedback as possible. Ask colleagues, friends and/or family to read your work. They will provide you with more diversified feedback, as well as allowing you to know if your writing is clear to anyone.

Stop playing ‘solitary genius’.

Don’t insist on starting with the first chapter. Start with what you know best and feel more comfortable writing about, then fill in the gaps.

Leave time for editing and try to take at least a one or two days long break in between writing and editing. 

Do not forget to fill in the gaps. When you revisit your writing, go through it with all these writing tips in mind as well as a conscience of what your most common mistakes are.

Use Hemingway in the final editing phase.

Quotations and footnotes

Since there are two kinds of sources (primary and secondary), there are also two kinds of quotations: either we quote a text which we will interpret, or we quote a text which supports your interpretation.

Some quotation rules to know:

“Quote the object of your interpretive analysis with reasonable abundance.”

 “Quote the critical literature only when its authority corroborates or confirms your statements. (…)  when quoting or citing critical [aka secondary] literature, be sure that it says something new, or that it confirms authoritatively what you have said.”

“If you don’t want readers to presume that you share the opinion of the quoted author, you must include your own critical remarks before or after the passage.”

“Make sure that the author and the source of your quote are clearly identifiable.”

“When a quote does not exceed two or three lines, you can insert it into the body of the text enclosed in quotation marks. (…) When the quote is longer, it is better to set it off as a block quotation. In this case the quotation marks are not necessary, because it is clear that all set-off passages are quotes, and we must commit to a different system for our observations. (Any secondary developments [like the quote’s reference] should appear in a note.) (…) This method is quite convenient because it immediately reveals the quoted texts; it allows the reader to skip them if he is skimming, to linger if he is more interested in the quoted texts than in our commentary, and finally, to find them immediately when need be.”

Some footnote rules to know:

“Use notes to add additional supporting bibliographical references on a topic you discuss in the text. For example, ‘on this topic see also so-and-so.’”

“Use notes to introduce a supporting quote that would have interrupted the text. If you make a statement in the text and then continue directly to the next statement for fluidity, a superscript note reference after the first statement can refer the reader to a note in which a well-known authority backs up your assertion.”

“Use notes to expand on statements you have made in the text. Use notes to free your text from observations that, however important, are peripheral to your argument or do nothing more than repeat from a different point of view what you have essentially already said.”

“Use notes to correct statements in the text. You may be sure of your statements, but you should also be conscious that someone may disagree, or you may believe that, from a certain point of view, it would be possible to object to your statement. Inserting a partially restrictive note will then prove not only your academic honesty but also your critical spirit.”

My father always told me that children who starve in their childhood learn to shove their faces as soon as they see food. Because they don't know when they'll find some again, because they learn to save themselves and all of life becomes a quest for survival. He told me how my grandmother never had enough food, because growing up with 7 siblings in a poor home warranted days without it. The first time she saw a buffet, she couldn't believe it was real and ate so much that she collapsed and was sick for a week. A lack of things makes an abundance just as dangerous. He told me how she was a starving child, then she became an adult who knew what it meant to be truly hungry.

I think that's what we are- adults who grew up with a lack of love, adults who had starved in their childhood.

It feels tokenizing? In a way? Like you need a visual indicator to prove that this is a Muslim PoC. And the only way to do that is to give them a hijab, I guess.

1) It makes it seem like Muslims are overwhelmingly women or NB hijabis, completely excluding Muslim men.

2) It often excludes black Muslims by assuming all Muslims are some shade of brown but distinctly Not Black.

3) If non hijabi Muslims exist they are often portrayed as non religious. And the "religious hijabi" VS "the non religious non hijabi" is a harmful stereotype for non hijabis like myself who are actually religious.

4) Brown is not a race; it could be any number of different ethnicities. It is weird that often the race of the Muslim character is never specified beyond giving them brown skin and a vaguely Arab name. Not all Muslims are Arab and cultural differences between different Arab ethnicities are VAST. Muslims can be from all around the world; in addition to Arabs (a very diverse group, spanning across SW Asia and North Africa that can look like anything) many African countries have Islam as a primary or secondary religion, same with South, SE, and Central Asian countries. Also ... Muslims can be white, too, actually.

This whole post is a rambly mess but, the conclusion is that if you're gonna make a Muslim character you still need to put in the effort of determining their race and culture bc there is no homogeneous Muslim culture. You can and should make non hijabi Muslims and Muslim men, too. You shouldn't need a visual indicator to prove that a character is Muslim. It's weird as hell.

That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with hijabis or that you should stop making them; I'm glad to see more of those characters in media and as people's OCs. "Ambiguously brown hijabis" are far from bad characters and do represent quite a few irl people, but should be handled with care. Don't make them if you're gonna slap on the skin tone and hijab and call it a day.

If you do have a character that is an ambiguously brown hijabi, this isn't a direct criticism or call out. Just a kind reminder for self reflection. Have you taken the time to understand why this character wears the hijab? How this character wears the hijab? Where they are from? What their culture is and how their culture informs the way they practice Islam?