“You can’t write what you don’t know”, or can you? That’s my initial thoughts that come to mind, when I think about writing my first Literature Review. For those of you new to this blog, a Literature Review is a “written argument that supports a thesis position by building a case from credible evidence obtained from previous research” (Machi & McEvoy, 2022). Now that this is defined, I know that I would like to address the topic of the Child Welfare system, dealing with neglect and abuse in some form or fashion. This is where I begin to overthink and am in a brain fog. How do I begin to narrow my inquiry and develop a specific area of research questions? How do I make this topic interesting to the intended readers or my peers or my teacher?

Literature reviews require recognizing and defining problems; solving problems; collecting data; discovering evidence; building upon findings; critiquing the literature; drawing conclusions and then writing it all down on paper. Seems exhausting just thinking about it. I know I have excellent written communication skills, and a sharp intact brain built for critical thinking, but putting it all down on paper can be very daunting, especially since this is my first literature review.

There’s so much to do and so little time when you think about the larger picture. I just need to break it down into smaller components and tackle each task one at a time in the order above. I know I can do it, just will take time and concentration to develop a literature review worth reading.