For my degree paper, I researched the impact of BookTok on reading recommendations. In addition to a thorough literature review, I interviewed nine BookTok content creators and conducted a focus group with four BookTok users to get a wide range of opinions. For this research, I had to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. This was a great opportunity for me to put the research practices I’d learned about in ENG 700: Introduction to Research Methods, to good use. I also included tables and interview transcripts to break up large chunks of information and highlight relevant information to support my research. 

This project was the seed of my degree paper, though the degree paper ended up being drastically different. In my undergraduate studies, I researched the editor-author partnership and wanted to do a similar research paper that was more in-depth to a particular niche; that is what this paper accomplished. More specifically, I examined specific aspects of the partnership, such as the impact of technology and the editorial process, to better understand how editors and authors can achieve a successful partnership free from miscommunication. 

          Writing casually has always been a bit of a struggle for me, I tend to want to speak conversationally and use cliches in my writing to explain what I’m talking about, which I think you can see at times in the paper. If I were to rewrite this paper, I’d be stricter about having a professional voice and sticking to the facts only. I think that my research plan is set up for sound research and I don’t think there is anything that I would change about that section. Overall, I enjoyed writing this paper and narrowing my topic from my undergraduate distinction paper. 

While studying technical and professional writing at an undergraduate level, I completed this honors distinction project in which I chose to write about the editor-author partnership. I was in the process of working as a freelance editor for a family friend at the time, and was able to include edits and comments, and an interview transcript with the author I worked alongside. 

          When I wrote this paper in spring 2021, I remember hardly being able to believe how much I had written. It was the longest paper I had written—until now, of course—and I don't think I could have done it on my own. Thankfully, I was under the guidance of Tracy Dalton, who helped me set deadlines, coached me on my content, and helped smooth the rough edges. While writing and refining my paper, I often referred to Strunk and White's Elements of Style.