“To emotionally or psychologically encourage myself when I have low motivation, or writer’s block, I try to write all of the advice or compliments I get from my senior professors or from my mentors regarding my writing. If they tell me that I need to write for a few hours per day, then that can be productive. So when I do, I write that person’s name and the date they gave me the advice, as specifically as possible, so that I can recall that particular conversation with that person and then that could also be inspiring for me. And [it’s] also the same for compliments: if they compliment really specific parts of my writing, I write that down and then when I have a low confidence or motivation, I go back and that really helps me a lot…with my writing. When I have important interviews, I go back to the document and that really gives me confidence and motivation.”
Sojung Kim is an Assistant Professor of Communication.