7. Beginning to think about it

Thinking is actually hard work.

Now it doesn't look like it is, because you do a lot of it sitting down, and you don't sweat much doing it. You don't get callouses anywhere, and you don't put your back out for the most part.

But it is hard. Done properly, thinking is exhausting. That's why we watch TV - because it is like we are having someone else do out thinking for us.

Why am I telling you this? Because you need to treat your brain well if you are going to get the most out if it for your essay. It is like any other part of your body, and needs to be rested and exercised for it to operate at its best. And sometimes, in order to get our brain going, we use that extra kick of stress that an approaching deadline brings. It focuses our attention on a task and we switch into action mode.

There's a whole theology essay to be written about the way in which we have thought of our 'minds' as somehow separate from our bodies and expected them to work as something machine like, and how we forget that our minds are affected by tiredness, depression, age, lack of sleep, caffeine and boredom just as our bodies are. But I won't give you that here. Suffice it to say: your mind is a part of your body and you need to cultivate it as you cultivate your body to get the most out of it.

Let me plead with you here. If you are addicted to using adrenaline to get your tasks done and your deadlines met, could you consider weaning yourself off it? Trouble is, you may have done perfectly well throughout your academic career till now by getting that buzz and watching your fingers burn up the keyboard. You stoke up the espresso machine, sit down at your desk and go from zero to three thousand in a few hours.

But the results won't be what they could be. And you won't teach yourself to think at depth. You won't allow your thinking to reach a maturity that this subject - the knowledge of God deserves. And - let me be even more guilt-inducing - it isn't what the people of God deserve from you either. You might be good at winging it, but (speaking as a winger of it from way back) it won't be nearly as good as you could produce otherwise.

So the point is this: get your brain whirring on this topic as soon as you possibly can. An hour spent on the essay eight weeks out from the deadline will be worth three hours the week before. My experience is that the subconscious part of your brain will work in the background for you. And you will be alerted to pick up references, thoughts and ideas as you go around doing other things, too. (Which is why I find quantifying time spent on an assignment almost completely meaningless - do I count the ten minutes I spent thinking about it while I was having a shower, or on hold to the help desk in Bangalore?)

In the process of thinking about a project, time off not thinking about it can be as productive as time on. So (and this should be true for you in your whole programme of education) do not neglect holidays or weekends or talking to your spouse. Don't give up exercise, or, talk it up if you haven't already. The best thing for your essay maybe consistent exercise, because it will clear your mind and reduce that flustered feeling stress brings.

So that's why I advise choosing your question as early as possible and then spending an hour brainstorming almost immediately.

And how should you begin to that? Once you have analysed the question and decided what it is that you are being asked to do, there are two vital next steps. The first of these is to ask 'what kind of response to the question might I give here?' The second is 'do I need to clarify or define any part of the question so I don't go wrong?'

The first thing to do is to imagine what possible ways of responding there might be. This is hypothetical exercise because as yet you won't be sure of the answer to the question, naturally. You may have some inklings - fine. Note them down. But the vital thing is to turn the question into a potential thesis statement, or line of argument.

You should do this by doing what our English teachers used to tell us when we were doing 'comprehension' exercises. Now I hated these, but teachers always wanted us to use 'full sentence answers' - by which they meant, turn the question into a statement with an answer in it. Here's an example:

How is it that all human beings may be said to share in the sin of Adam?

You should write something like: 'All human beings may be said to share in the sin of Adam because ... ' and then try to complete the sentence. Does anything come to mind? Can you think of some possibilities? 'All human beings share in the sin of Adam because'... hmm...what about.. 'they are all share his genetic inheritance'? It doesn't matter at this stage if you haven't got much to say, but the exercise forces you to recognise what kind of thing you are looking for.

And your suggested, sketched out answer will perhaps suggest the need for some further thought and clarification of the ideas. How do we know about this? What alternative proposals immediately spring to mind?

And this leads to the second step. And this is where you need to do some preliminary quick reading and compile some possible avenues of inquiry, just to orient yourself. At this stage, theology dictionary articles, wikipedia and even plain old Google are your friend. Remember, this is just getting your head in the right place for now, not detailed research.

Wikipedia, did I hear you say? But we've been told not to use wikipedia! Quite right, too. Don't use wikipedia in your actual reading on a topic. But wikipedia is a remarkable and quick source for the basic facts you will need to orient yourself to a topic and clear up any misunderstandings or bewilderments. I have spoken with professional journalists who use wikipedia to orient themselves in this way without ever making it their definitive source. Who is Jurgen Moltmann? What is 'providence'? What was Arianism?

Right. What you need to do now is find a blank piece of paper or a whiteboard and simply brainstorm.

About which more next time.