So today is the language test. I have to prove my chops in Twi, otherwise no registration, no PhD! But I’m sure I’ll do fine.
Wish me luck anyway :)
Comment [1]
![[divider]](http://www.ecogrrl.org/images/1.gif){kind=small}
Eeep!
20 August 2009, 08:32
A little boost
14 August 2009, 11:38
Yesterday I went to visit my advisor, and she was really positive about my draft and where I’m at. She likes the direction I’m going and has set me the task of writing 5 concise single-spaced pages on what my central themes are and a chapter-by-chapter summary. A little daunting, given that I still feel like I don’t know nearly enough about what I can write (both in terms of what my research supports and in terms of the literature that goes with it), but on the other hand, probably a good exercise given where I’m at and my goal of having a competitive book proposal by October 1st. Plus, I get the impression from talking to people who’ve written books and thesises that you never really feel like you have a full handle on everything that you can and/or should do. You just have to get started with it and figure it out along the way.
So, now the plan really focuses on getting ready for the book proposal. This week’s* goals are to hammer out these five pages, develop a good “hook” for the book, and do a little market/proposal research. Plus, of course, ongoing transcribing and note reading/organizing.
*(that is, the seven following days. I don’t really bother with starting weeks on Mondays)
Today I have:
- read two book proposals to get an idea of what they should look like
- made brainstormy notes on my “hook”
- done a short freewrite on the thesis summary based on the “hook”
I will:
- do another brainstorm/freewrite on the overarching themes and description of my thesis.
- reread notes I’ve written about previous thesis drafts
Tomorrow:
- 2 freewrites/brainstorms
- note reviewing
- market research
If I had a hammer, I'd hammer all the time
6 August 2009, 15:14
My office is in a converted attic loft. My roof is being reshingled. Mmmmmm.
But, no excuses not to write, right? I’m sorta working up to some kind of early morning routine, because between parasites and medicine, and not being a particularly early morning person anyway, I haven’t been that keen about leaping out of bed every morning for an hour of writing first thing. But I’m going to start working on it as of next week (because Saturday I’m heading off to a cottage for four days, so of course I should wait until I get back).
So the work schedule for August is going to go something like this: get up and write from 8-9:30. Exercise, eat, and get dinner started from 9:30 to 12ish. Work from 12:30 to 5:30.
I’ve been reviewing the “mindful waiting” and the “starting early” that Boice advocates (I’ve skimmed the book, now I’m starting back at the beginning of the writing section with more detail). One of the things that I think is not well discussed in his book is the relationship between research/data accumulation, prewriting, and writing. I am not sure how much note reviewing, for instance, should happen in “writing sessions” and whether writing a lot of notes during other types of work is likely to count as a brief daily session (BDS) in terms of one’s own relationship with one’s process.
I think I’m going to have to do more writing than he seems to advocate in order to get my research in order. So, I’m going to interpret BDS and one of his other important points (stopping in time) as being a useful way of dividing up extended work periods. That is, my morning session will be focused on prewriting and conceptual outlining, whereas I will break up my afternoon work into different sections where the focus is more on note-reviewing (but of course allowing note writing and editing), and on specific analysis tasks related to my field data (again, potentially with writing, but where the focus is on the data, not on producing prose or even necessarily outlining how the analysis fits into the bigger projects). Probably there will also be some reading at some point.
I’m hoping that by breaking these tasks up, and by focusing on writing for only part of the day, I will avoid burn out and what I am now calling the multiple personality thesis sock puppets (more on those later. Can’t wait, can you?).
Harder than it sounds
4 August 2009, 12:41
You know, for someone who supposedly hates routine, I sure have a hard time with variation sometimes.
This weekend I tossed my writing plans (for Sunday and the holiday Monday) for a major reorganization of where I want my writing space to be. Lets just say that it had gotten so bad that a pile of stuff actually fell over and moved my monitor, and that just isn’t a feasible way to do work.
So, clevermonkey and I re-hauled the whole loft, including going through all the abandoned filing systems of my previous (um let’s see….8? yes, 8 sounds right) 8 years of anthropology study. I’ve put everything into 4 piles: academic papers that I want to file, other stuff I need to file, things related to this thesis work that I need to file, and things that I need to do something about. The do something about pile is tiny! Oh, joy!!! So now I just need to figure out a coherent, single filing system and I’m golden.
As legitimate as that was (Boice certainly emphasizes the importance of a comfortable work space), I feel curiously resistant to working today. Because I have to go to the doctor and then travel in the late afternoon! Yeesh.
I guess there’s a lot of ways to talk yourself out of doing something. Its even easier when the alternatives are useful ways to spend your time. I still have a ways to go to make my whole work-flow situation into one which is easy. But at the same time, the small goals I’ve been setting for myself are workable with the situation I have. So I’m going to go ahead and make some goals, and not let myself off the hook for them yet.
For today and again tomorrow:
Writing:
- mindful waiting
- 15 minutes of Freewriting
Non-writing
- transcribe an interview (I have one particular one in mind, but I might not be able to do it all today, so if not, the same one tomorrow.)
Goals postponed then mostly met
1 August 2009, 17:22
Well, the title pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?
I was not up to working yesterday. Thursday night I stayed up late trying to pickle my Giardia, but it didn’t work.
Anyway, I decided to do Friday’s goals today instead of having my usual Saturday off. I didn’t quite make it: my sister came for a visit, and I only managed 2 of my 3 40/20 sessions. But I did meet my writing goals, and I wrote a little over 700 words. Not bad for 15 minutes! Of course, they’re not, you know, manuscript words. A little scattered. But definitely something I can work with. The funny thing is that I wasn’t really feeling it, so I started off my talking out-loud part by just talking about what was bothering me about doing this. I realized that even though I do usually “start early” as Boice puts it, this has been a little bit earlier than I’m used to, and I guess I’d expected the chapter to start having some more focus by now. But then I started talking about what kinds of focus it might have, and how it connected to the bigger manuscript, and boom! I got an idea, and 700 words later, I have about two or three things waiting to be a little more flushed out. I also have a sense of how this narrative can flow from an analytical place rather than a strictly descriptive place. I like that, because overly descriptive writing makes me bored (both reading it and writing it).
So, my goals for the rest of the long weekend are going to be a little more relaxed, given the other stuff that needs doing. So tomorrow and Monday each, 1 freewrite (with mindful waiting). Tomorrow, 1 40 minute session of note combing. Perhaps some more detailed note reading.
