Academics are all trained to be critical, to ask hard questions: is this true? Can I reproduce these results? Is this an adequate sample size? Is this argument convincing? Have I said this the right way? We need to ask these questions, but that means that we live with an Inner Critic and an Inner Editor that sometimes feel like they're picking on us rather than being allies who help us produce our best work.
There's a place for both quality and quantity. Delaying the writing stage in favor of more thinking and outlining can lead to writing quicker and better once we start writing. Lots of pages of free-writing at the beginning of a project can lead to better questions and a clearer argument. Reading carefully and taking notes gives us a way to search for that perfect quotation. Reading a lot quickly gives a sense of the field and where we might enter the conversation.
The balance varies by person, by project, and by stage of project. It also varies by time vs. word or page count. Do you put in the time, or do you try to write a certain number of words or read so many pages? What works the best?
If this prompt speaks to you, tell us where you are with quality and quantity now, this summer, on your current projects, or perhaps about past struggles with this issue. And, as usual, let us know how you're doing with your goals and what the new ones are.
Roll Call:
Dame Eleanor Hull
1, gym/walk/swim x6, stretch x6, usual low-FODMAP cooking.
2, some gardening and other House Stuff.
3, keep writing/editing R&R.
4, read one scholarly book or the equivalent in articles.
5, continue planning courses, ~ 2-4 hours.
6, read at least 1/2 hr x 3 in a strong language, drill grammar or vocabulary x 5 in a weaker one.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Pack for conference.
Declutter work office two hours x 3.
One hour x 3 on faculty review document.
Email associate dean to schedule meeting.
Block and install lace curtains.
Good Enough Woman
1) Meditate 2x
2) Start knitting a hat (I've never done a hat)
3) Walk 3x (probably with Dad)
4) Write 500 words 2x
5) Journaling 2x
6) Have fun with the family and my dad
heu mihi
1. Language x2, write x2, sit x4 (I can keep hoping), exercise x1 (I'm still feeling a little crummy, but maybe Saturday?)
2. Reread readers' report and essay draft
3. Schedule lunch with new friend
4. Read part of a book
Humming42
1 Draft Time abstract
2 Write and submit a review
3 Finish next review book
4 Blog post
5 Write for Tiny Project every day
JaneB
1a: water, if the cold allows do 5-10 minute exercise routines, sleep schedule
1b: pick up the spaces that have been decluttered, make another appointment.
1c: pick up the square I was working on and make some progress
2a: Spend half an hour each on Fragment and FlatProject, review an article, make comments on the second draft from LikesMaths
2b: start making some lists, send more emails about the recce visit
2c: Find samples for FavouriteIslands analysis and pass them on to technician
3: extras: half an hour of office decluttering
Oceangirl101
- 4 hrs writing/editing/research per day on Ch 3
- exercise x 4, fun x 2
- cat to vet for check up and set up house sitters for when I am gone
- final admin bits for upcoming travel
- finish labwork and organize stuff to give back to government when travel in July
Susan
1. Read dissertation (today + tomorrow)
2. Make travel arrangements (today + tomorrow)
3. Place book orders
4. One day on Memorial, assuming I get comments from editor
5. Tackle desk, reorganize shelves so I can find books
6. Walk three times
7. Read: 2 x journal, 2 x book for fun
8. Get a second roofer to come and give estimate
Waffles
1. Finish the conference presentation.
2. Write and submit review
3. Either R&R or progress report - one of them needs to get done.
4. Do some longitudinal analysis webinars so I can claim them on my progress report!
Another not-great week for me, because apparently I'm crap at Acceptance and had another go at yogurt. Coconut milk version not too bad (so maybe that will help a bit??), almond milk version awful, poor sleep especially toward the end of the week, grawwrrrr. Must go back to doing what works instead of testing things, particularly as I will be traveling this week (though that was a spur to testing, in hopes that I could ease up a little while away).
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1, gym/walk/swim x6, stretch x6, usual low-FODMAP cooking. YES (x7), 4/6, YES.
2, some gardening and other House Stuff. YES.
3, keep writing/editing R&R. YES (less than hoped, but hey, non-specific goals mean I can meet them easily!).
4, read one scholarly book or the equivalent in articles. NO. Read one chapter and skimmed some other items.
5, continue planning courses, ~ 2-4 hours. YES.
6, read at least 1/2 hr x 3 in a strong language, drill grammar or vocabulary x 5 in a weaker one. NO, x3.
New goals:
1, gym/walk/swim x6, stretch x6, usual low-FODMAP cooking.
2, make one House-related call.
3, keep writing/editing R&R.
4, read introductions to two books.
5, continue planning courses, ~ 2 hours.
6, drill grammar or vocabulary x 5 in one language.
7, pack and prep for trip.
For a not-great week, it looks like you still got some good things done. And what's this "course planning" of which you speak? (Ugghh I'm going to ignore that until July.)
DeleteAt least two of next year's classes need substantial adapting, even though I've taught them before, so I'm trying to get that done now in order not to be doing a lot on the fly next year. Not that I'm being very efficient, but maybe I can at least get the dithering, I mean thinking, stages over with now.
DeleteMy turn to have blogger eat my comment.
ReplyDeleteNot a good week gone, busy one coming, ugh ugh ugh.
Goals:
1a: water, if the cold allows do 5-10 minute exercise routines, sleep schedule YEs, no, messy
1b: pick up the spaces that have been decluttered, make another appointment. no, no
1c: pick up the square I was working on and make some progress no
2a: Spend half an hour each on Fragment and FlatProject, review an article, make comments on the second draft from LikesMaths yes, no (due to Other People issues), couldn't find it, yes & it took ages
2b: start making some lists, send more emails about the recce visit no, yes one
2c: Find samples for FavouriteIslands analysis and pass them on to technician no
3: extras: half an hour of office decluttering no
guess what, the same goals again...
1a: water, 5-10 minute exercise routines, sleep schedule
1b: pick up the spaces that have been decluttered, make another appointment.
1c: pick up the square I was working on and make some progress
2a: Spend half an hour each on Fragment and FlatProject, review an article, complete application for pointless but potentially gratifying thing
2b: start making some lists, send more emails about the recce visit
2c: Find samples for FavouriteIslands analysis and pass them on to technician
3: extras: half an hour of office decluttering
Well, as John McPhee says, there is no Square Two, just Square One squared and cubed. In some sense, we're all, always, on the same goals. I hope you feel better this week, at least. I've had huge problems with sleep this summer, so far, so great sympathies there.
DeleteAt the moment, I feel like both quality AND quantity are lacking. I'm having this June-Is-Over-And-I've-Done-Nothing!!!! feeling, which isn't really accurate since I *did* turn in an article on the 14th, but the cold and then last week's trip to Parentland slowed me down.
ReplyDeleteI realized two things, though. One is that I shouldn't always treat myself like a Thing-Producing Machine. I'm allowed to have and enjoy a life, too. (For the record, I *do* take plenty of time to enjoy my life, but I don't always behave as though that counts as time well spent. And that's a problem.)
Two is that going away usually means that I come back wildly ambitious and ready to work!!!!!.
Last week:
1. Language x2 - YES, write x2 - x 1, sit x4 -x 1, exercise x1 - YES
2. Reread readers' report and essay draft -Readers' report, yes; essay draft, about 1/5th.
3. Schedule lunch with new friend -Emailed her
4. Read part of a book - Yes, part of it is read. Not much, though.
This week, I'm doing some first-year advising, and Bonaventure is home a LOT. Nonetheless, I have wildly inflated expectations.
1. Daily stuff: Language x5, write x5, exercise x5, sit x?. I'm just going to keep track of how many times I sit.
2. I'm also going to keep track of how many times I can hit 10k steps (on my phone). Those last 10 days of inactivity really got to me.
3. Life stuff: Passport renewal applications, various bills, return a package, etc.
4. Other people's business: Read grad student essay.
5. Finish rereading Wonder. Start a new draft with a new framework that might just solve All The Problems.
6. Finish academic book; read either a new pleasure book or 35 pages of Proust.
Oh, I hope your new framework does the trick! It's so satisfying when you find a way to make everything work.
DeleteI sat this morning for the first time in ages. I'd like to make it a regular practice again.
I prefer to be a quality over quantity person, though looking at what I've done over the past 8 years there's some quantity too! But I always argue that we use the quantity as a proxy for the difficult judgments of quality... (Of course I'm brilliant, right?). Like Heu Mihi, I'm trying to make more room for life -- finishing the two articles that were hanging over me makes me feel much more free.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, meh week:
1. Read dissertation (today + tomorrow) DONE, but I finished Thursday, not Tuesday
2. Make travel arrangements (today + tomorrow) Again, done, finished Thursday
3. Place book orders One set done (today, Monday), waiting for colleagues on the second course)
4. One day on Memorial, assuming I get comments from editor -- Got comments this morning, so no.
5. Tackle desk, reorganize shelves so I can find books Started on the desk, and for a few minutes this morning I could see the surface of parts that had been buried under years of odd papers.
6. Walk three times - Yes (actually, 4)
7. Read: 2 x journal, 2 x book for fun - 2 or three articles?
8. Get a second roofer to come and give estimate NO, must email to get reference
Well, the dissertation took longer than I expected (what else is new). I was also distracted by an administrative appeal I had to finish (that had also distracted me the week before) -- thus reviewing 8 years of work. But I've send my student comments on the dissertation, and I have places to stay and airplane reservations for my vacation vacations.
The other delay is that I changed my cell phone provider, and got an internet service upgrade from the cable company, which took basically all of Friday morning; then the new modem "leaks" (who knew?) so I spent half of this morning on the phone wondering why I only have wifi right next to the modem. But this is 5 or 6 hours that accomplished, well, not much!
The nice thing is that the editor's comments which arrived this morning were very positive, but also seemed very do-able. So I can finish these revisions pretty easily, I think, in a working week in early July.
I leave for the month of July (half vacation, half work) on Sunday, and my sister arrives on Saturday, so this is a low goal week:
1. Finish book orders
2. Finish clearing desk
3. Possibly get some book organizing done?
4. Get reviews into Zotero so all the random clippings can be recycled
5. Do one manuscript review
6. Pay relevant bills
7. Pack
8. Walk 3 times
9. Try to be mellow
I'll be checking in next week from the airport or having just arrived across the Atlantic.
Have a great trip! I hope it all goes smoothly. Congratulations on the positive comments.
DeleteMy posts here demonstrate my ongoing difficulties in sustaining a productive writing practice. I often think that a certain word count *seems* like it should be achievable, but then I don’t get there. And then the inner critic throws herself a big party. Right now my strategy is to leave the tab with my current project (Tiny Project) open on my desktop and to make sure I look at it every day. We’ll see if it’s a useful approach.
ReplyDeleteLast week
1 Draft Time abstract: no
2 Write and submit a review: no, I’m waiting on a final copy of the book, since I read an ARC that I can’t quote from
3 Finish next review book: no, I started two different books, weirdly, so the schedule is off
4 Blog post: yes
5 Write for Tiny Project every day: 5/7
This week
1 Draft Time abstract
2 Write and submit a review
3 Finish next review book
4 Blog post
5 Write for Tiny Project every day
There are enough of us having this sort of problem right now that, if I believed in such things, I'd wonder if Mercury was retrograde or something. I hope your open-tab approach works for you, this week, or just for today.
DeleteHumming, I have had some success with "touching base" with a project every day. I hope it works for you.
DeleteSo, on the topic, I feel like I'm currently hung up on a combination of the two, where quantity in particular has a lot to do with quantity of time, as in, I'm trying to finish this R&R that I've had on hand for three years. It's not going to get any earlier and I can't go back and do it sooner, but there are huge quantities of Bugges around this piece, just because it has taken so long. Somehow that is getting in the way of putting in the time right now, this summer, when I finally can. Quantity of time now would probably produce a reasonable-quality essay, but I'm determinedly getting in my own way, worrying about any number of things I ought to be doing or taking care of.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't even really about work (at least on some level), but more generalized anxiety about aging and illness, my own, my father's, assorted friends. Maybe naming it as such will help. I'm thinking a lot about quality of life, and what it consists of, for me. A lot of it has to do with being able to work on things that interest me. So, then, why not just do the work? I wonder if not-doing it is a sort of mourning or an effort to hold on to something even though it's a thing whose nature is to be released.
See reply below...
DeleteDEH, I'm not sure if my feelings are similar to yours, but I have struggled a lot over the past two years with figuring out what work I value enough to do even in the face of illness. I mean, it's like I sensed this diagnosis (I hate the "c" word) was ahead of me, and I thought, "If I only have a few years left, what do I want to do with my time? What is most worthwhile?" I'm sure I even wrote about it here on our TLQ page, and it seemed to paralyze me and make the work more difficult because what work do I really want to do?.
ReplyDeleteIf I am misreading your comment, I'm sorry if I'm projecting onto it.
Oh, I was being vague enough that anyone could project anything onto it. This spring, an old friend's father died; a friend-acquaintance from the other end of a friend-group is seriously ill; my dad is reasonably okay at his assisted-living place but personally I would prefer not to live to be in his position. I think. I feel like circumstances are prompting me to consider these matters, and they take a lot of brain-space as it is. Actually having some serious diagnosis would be even more distracting. Sure, one wants one's time to count for something, but for what exactly, if one has to prioritize?
DeleteTopic: When I was working on the PhD thesis, I eventually learned that I could not rush a first draft of a chapter. Since I was doing a UK PhD, I hadn't already done comps or an oral exam, so I was reading at the same time I was writing. As a result, my initial drafting (often longhand) occurred alongside careful reading. Then I would eventually (usually after 6-9 months) have a half draft that presented the main argument but in a way that was somewhat reductive and definitely lacking sufficient research. After that, I could speed up. Research could be faster as I filled in gaps, and writing was faster, too, as I revised and developed the argument with more nuance.
ReplyDeleteI recently got my copy of Belcher's new edition of "Writing a Journal Article in 12 Weeks." I go back and forth about whether I want to tackle doing an article write now.
Last week:
1) Meditate 2x--NO.
2) Start knitting a hat (I've never done a hat). NO.
3) Walk 3x (probably with Dad). YES.
4) Write 500 words 2x. NO.
5) Journaling 2x. ONE TIME.
6) Have fun with the family and my dad. YES!
My dad's visit was fun and good, but I did not have hardly a minute to myself except for at bedtime, and this was rough on TLQ and my introverted nerves. My goodness, it was taxing. It's hard to visit and converse constantly.
Today, I focused on course prep, which was good, but I got myself worked up and stressed, and I didn't prioritize self-case. Lesson learned (for today).
This week:
1) Write 5x
2) Walk 5x
3) Yoga 2x
4) Meditate 5x
5) Write SQ for SF short stories and put them in Canvas
6) A fun outing with family
Of course, "tackle an article write now" should be "right now," but maybe it was a Freudian slip?
DeleteLove the prompt this week. When I am really "in the groove" and have been writing deeply on a project for a long time, a high daily word count often works during the summer, one that I lower appropriately during the school year when my writing time is limited. But when I am just getting into a project or feel 'blocked' for whatever reason, a time count works better or sometimes even a really low word count that I know I can reach. For me the real point is getting my butt in front of the computer. I went through a horrid period of writer's block during my dissertation, and during that period my goal was to sit and try to write for 2 hours a day or to reach a 150 word limit and stop, whatever came first. After a few months of 2 hours sitting and not getting writing done I eventually did, but it was a very painful time that I never want to revisit. It taught me how to be flexible with how I write. When things are really hard I still turn to pen and paper which almost always works (other than when I had the evil writer's block).
ReplyDeleteMy mom's house is selling and I need to go out there before I go on my scheduled trip to set up field work for next summer. So this week has been wonky and stressful:
- 4 hrs writing/editing/research per day on Ch 3 Almost
- exercise x 4, fun x 2 No, Yes
- cat to vet for check up and set up house sitters for when I am gone Yes
- final admin bits for upcoming travel Almost
- finish labwork and organize stuff to give back to government when travel in July Yes, but it meant working all weekend :(
This week:
- write one day for two hours (cheating, already did :)
- organize paperwork to export stuff back to field site per export regs
- emails to set up meetings at field sites
- get ready to be gone for 2 weeks- keys to cat sitter etc etc.
- pack and ship things from my Mom's house, say goodbye to that house (this is going to be hard)
I am not going to have good email while I am gone as I will be in pretty remote tropical locales. So my goals for the first week of July and second week of July are:
1) meet with govt officials, local offices to discuss 2020 project
2) give back analyzed objects and organize at the Museum, discuss idea for exhibit
3) meet with landowners/council of elders to get permissions
4) see my second family (my adopted family at my field sites)
5) travel to a new island and see if I want to work there
6) eat some really yummy fish, swim and snorkel as much as I can, hike, enjoy a beer or two, and generally get away from it all for awhile
This sounds like a fascinating trip! Good luck with the house and your goodbyes.
Delete1. Finish the conference presentation. DONE
ReplyDelete2. Write and submit review DONE
3. Either R&R or progress report - one of them needs to get done. Progress report DONE
4. Do some longitudinal analysis webinars so I can claim them on my progress report! NOT DONE!
This week has been INSANE!!!! We arrived in minneapolis on Saturday. That night I checked my eRA commons account to see if my reviews for my NIH K application had been uploaded. My password didn't work which meant I needed to change it but I was too lazy to do so. The next morning I changed my password - and my reviews were there! I skimmed them - went to find my mentor (we shared an airbnb, so it wasn't a long walk) - and we skimmed them together.
BUT - I had to give a presentation at the conference in just a few hours! We went to the conference and did our talks - and from there it was a whirlwind of meetings and discussions and strategizing …
The upshot is they liked me, liked my research plan, liked my letters of rec, liked my institution - what they didn't like was that I would continue to have my mentor be my primary mentor. They said I needed independence from her.
So, we found a new primary mentor - and I am back home and need to work like crazy. I plan to resubmit for the July 12 deadline - which means a full, near final draft by July 3. EEK!!!
Goals for this week:
1. Make a full to do list with a plan
2. Submit JAMA paper so I can talk about it.
3. Get to work on revising the grant!!!
3/4 DONE and they like you, they really like you! Very good news!
ReplyDelete(This is for Waffles.)
DeleteTopic: Perhaps because my three pre-tenure years (I had only three for several interesting reasons) were completely focussed on meeting the quantity of articles needed (because all the ones I had done at previous institutions did not count), I was ALL about quantity of words and articles. Now that I am tenured, I am focussing more on quality, although I try to leaven quantity in as well. Several of my fiction writing groups hold word sprints at various times of the day, and I often jump in to get the words moving. The rest of the time, I know roughly how much I write in an hour, and tend to concentrate on time rather than word count.
ReplyDeleteAnother factor is I concentrate on word count more when I have to write something out of duty, not interest. If it is something interesting to me, I easily sink into the words, and only need to keep track of time in order not to miss meetings or meals. That sort of interest is rarer than I would like, and is often interrupted.
Last week’s goals:
Pack for conference. Yes
Declutter work office two hours x 3. Yes
One hour x 3 on faculty review document. No
Email associate dean to schedule meeting.No
Block and install lace curtains. No
Analysis: The conference was tough on me. While walking twice as many miles as my usual day was ultimately good for me, it beat me up most days. Also, I had over twelve hours in committee meetings in the course of three days, so there was not a lot of down time. On the plus side, we stayed in a very lovely hotel, and had dinner with a former colleague who is a good friend.
My return from the conference coincided with the huge push to bring up the new library platform, so the rest of my week was reviewing data on 2.7 million records and reporting problems--not the most conducive to writing, unfortunately.
Given that it is Saturday morning on the east coast, there is little point in making new goals.
Float like mist, everyone.