Day 20: Dialogue with a character
Helen Kara, independent researcher, author, teacher, and speaker
Image from Conversation With A Purpose, a free-to-download comic about qualitative interviewing written by Helen Kara and drawn by Sophie Jackson.
Think of a fictional character you know well. This could be a character from a film or a play, a book or a comic, a soap opera or a rock opera, an advertisement or a fairy tale – whatever you like.
Tell that character about your work, or your problem, in your own written words. Then write down their reply, and continue to create a written dialogue between the two of you until it feels complete.
This is purely for your own use, so you can take the dialogue in any direction you like – or let it take you in any direction that may appear.
You cannot do this wrong! It doesn’t matter whether your dialogue is serious or playful, long or short, written in English or another language. The point is for you to unleash your creativity and have some fun with words and ideas. When you have written your dialogue, read it over and consider what you have learned from the process.
This enjoyable technique can help you find new insights into your work in general, or a particular problem you are facing.
Visit my website to find resources for academics who want to write more creatively.
Helen Kara, independent researcher, author, teacher, and speaker
I had a chat with the Little Prince a few years back; he told me that my academic writing was BORING and urged me to find some new planets to dwell on! “Tell stories,” the Prince exhorted. “Write poems. Show us the real people in your research. Bring out the colors of those metaphors, their depth, their energy!” Here's my newsletter post about our conversation: https://helensword.substack.com/p/what-the-little-prince-said
I like asking Ishmael (from Moby-Dick) for guidance on how to express ideas. He was so skillful at using humor to ground his grand epic quest and soaring philosophical flights of fancy in the comic, ordinary indignities of being human. Still have much to learn from his example :)