Welcome back! I hope last week went well for you. This week's quote and question are about finding people to read your work, beginning with these words from Ann Lamott's classic Bird By Bird.
"Whenever I'm giving a lecture at a writing conference and happen to mention the benefits of finding someone to read your drafts, at least one older established writer comes up to me and says that he or she would never in a million years show his or her work to another person before it was done. It is not a good idea, and I must stop telling my students that it will help them. I just smile, geisha-like, and make little fluttery sounds of understanding. Then I go on telling people to consider finding someone who would not mind reading their drafts and marking them up with useful suggestions. The person may not have an answer to what is missing or annoying about the piece, but writing is so often about making mistakes and feeling lost" (162-3).
Maybe you have someone who reads your work; maybe you have a writing group in which you exchange short or long bits of writing; maybe you have one or more people who get together for writing dates (I believe this is now called Body Doubling, and you can watch videos of people working if you don't have a real person to study/write/whatever with). What is your experience with such readers or working groups? If you have one, how did you find or create it? If they don't work for you, why not?
And then let us know how you did with your goals, and what you're going to attempt this week!
(I'm wondering if Daisy is Overcome By Events, but I hope you'll be back! Anyone else who wants to join in is welcome; we don't have a set number of spaces and would be happy to have you join. Since it's a short session this time, maybe this would be a good chance to try us out knowing it's only for another 10 weeks . . .)
Last week's goals:
Dame Eleanor Hull:
--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--Latin prep for Friday's group meeting
--meet with TA's
--meet with other faculty
--tackle teaching report for annual review
--put together that list of class prep items, with time estimates
--3 hours on garage
--remember book group meeting
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
1) Finish syllabus and ViLE page
2) Get to 5500 words of messy draft of essay; read over it to see where I am,
figure out next steps
3) Creative writing x 1
4) Finish knitting sweater for friend's new baby
5) 35 pp. of Italian
6) LoR for former student
7) Sit some amount
8) Finish book for festschrift intro
JaneB:
SELF-CARE:
all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make an appointment with declutterer
c) make a plan for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) finish second year grading and start first year grading
b) set up ViLE for module that starts late February
c) schedule and complete appraisal meetings (it's a "cascaded duty"
which makes it rather pointless - but I have to appraise three juniot
colleagues this week)
d) prepare lectures for first week of teaching
RESEARCH
a) read over referees comments and suggested responses for minor author paper
b) schedule a meeting to discuss plan for lead author paper
c) read papers in advance of meeting for Large Funded Project
d) read and reply to email from Unexpected Collaborator
e) make a list of all the projects that might need attention this session!
Julie:
1. Research: go through notes and archive photos to find
examples for Big Article
2. Writing: new, longer introduction to local history chapter.
3. House/life admin: return library books, do some research for summer trip,
pay in a cheque, do some decluttering, organise for weekend away.
4. Self-care/fun: text friend, read, exercise (find a weights class?), weekend
away with family.
Susan:
1. Finish syllabus for new course, post on LMS
2. Create budget for conference
3. Revise letter of reference for student for the perfect job
4. Pack up two boxes of books for second hand bookstore, and two for the
"book sale/giveaway" I'm doing on campus.
5. Keep up with exercise and physical therapy exercise.
6. See people and be nice to them.
7. Have some fun
For over a decade, I had an on-campus writing group that formed, first, through a workshop LRU held, facilitated by a staff member. It was, deliberately, cross-disciplinary, but as you might imagine, when you're writing for academic audiences, the engineers, musicians, librarians, education specialists, social scientists, etc., really don't speak each other's languages. Then some of us splintered off into a social-sciences and humanities group, which worked well for a time; and then a couple of humanities people created a group that was just people from English and foreign languages, all working on literary topics, which for some time was great. But then 2 or 3 people retired, and another had enough medical stuff going on (not life-threatening, but painful), that first she gave up on research and then also retired, and I went on sabbatical and stopped attempting to organize the group and no one else picked up the reins (the only other quondam member who still works for LRU is doing an admin job that eats research time), so I'm groupless. I miss having a writing group, but I would really like to have one composed of medievalists, or maybe including early modernists and classicists, but people who work on old stuff. I got myself into a terrible tangle with that very overdue essay that was up to 5005 words last week, and when the editors were justifiably leaning on me, they said "just send what you have and we'll see what makes sense for you to work on" so I sent the 8500 words I'd got to and I hope they will be as helpful and kind as the group I had . . . or at least in the ballpark.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days: say YES, though it was one day of 2 hours and one day of TOTAL BINGE before sending the 8500-word mess off.
--Latin prep for Friday's group meeting: enough . . . I always bat cleanup, so I prepped the final bit and skimmed the rest.
--meet with TA's: checked in with them, but we need a more thorough meeting still.
--meet with other faculty: YES (had to happen)
--tackle teaching report for annual review: NO
--put together that list of class prep items, with time estimates: YES put together, NO time estimates
--3 hours on garage: NO
--remember book group meeting: YES
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day: YES
ALSO: volunteered for a committee, subbing for someone who is on medical leave; wrote two letters of recommendation; went to a fundraiser I did not enjoy; swam 2.666 miles over two days and managed one other gym trip; baked carrot-ginger muffins.
New goals:
--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--meet with TAs
--tackle teaching report for annual review
--add time estimates to list of class prep items
--prep for my class and for a guest class
--write one letter of recommendation; advise on another student's statement of purpose
--process grad applications (6?) and read PhD exam essays
--3 hours on garage
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
Sometimes the binge writing is better than spreading it out, at least for me. I'm glad that the editors are willing to look at what you have, because sometimes when you see a mess, someone else will see what's in there. And I think as scholars we're a bit like artists: we see something there, and are trying to get there, but never quite make it. But we get caught up in our vision, so... Anne Lamott is right, as she is about so much!
DeleteHope the editors come back with useful comments. It's a nice offer. Swimming 2.666 miles sounds impressive.
DeleteI don't have a writing group that reads work: the two I sometimes join are purely about sitting in a real or virtual space and forcing ourselves to write. My previous mentor was very generous at reading drafts and in the department we have a practice of workshopping articles/book proposals and sometimes even full books for colleagues who want that, usually early career people. I will probably ask for a workshop on Big Article at some point. I like reading other people's work, so I'm always happy to do that. And this prompt has reminded me I need to chase one of my mentees who wanted me to look at a draft but hasn't sent it yet.
ReplyDeleteLast week
1. Research: go through notes and archive photos to find examples for Big Article - YES, but not finished.
2. Writing: new, longer introduction to local history chapter. - YES (another 1,500 words of padding, just need to do this 9 more times, sigh)
3. House/life admin: return library books, do some research for summer trip, pay in a cheque, do some decluttering, organise for weekend away. - YES, SOME, YES, NO, YES
4. Self-care/fun: text friend, read, exercise (find a weights class?), weekend away with family. - NO, YES (two train journeys helped), SOME (but no weights class), YES (it was quite intense, but lovely to see my siblings and their partners, as I didn't see them over Christmas, and my two year-old niece).
This week:
1. Finish finding examples for Big Article (2 days, but working around meetings).
2. Start on review article (1 day).
3. Work on local history chapter (1 day).
4. Chase mentee.
5. House/life admin: tax return, other financial stuff if time, more summer trip planning, four January birthdays, decluttering if time.
6. Self-care/fun: read, exercise, journal, maybe plant bulbs at weekend, text friend.
Excellent research progress! Your department sounds very collegial; I can't imagine mine having such arrangements for workshopping chapters. It's not that we're hostile, just that everyone always seems so busy.
DeleteWhat a great department to do workshops like that! And you have reminded me that I need to do my tax return for the UK. It always catches me out because it's on a different schedule.
DeleteI have had, and love, writing groups! For five or so years a group of four other medievalists and I would gather about monthly on (what is now) Google meet to discuss something one of us had written; since it was a group of five, this meant that twice a year my work was discussed, which is a pretty good pace when you're writing a book. It was incredibly helpful; one of the members, in particular, had a wonderful way of distilling what I was trying to say in language that was always so much clearer than my own!
ReplyDeleteI've also met with friends to write on occasion, usually during the winter break. I wrote the better part of a chapter that way a couple of years ago. What is it about company that's so helpful?
Last week:
1) Finish syllabus and ViLE page - Yes, more or less
2) Get to 5500 words of messy draft of essay; read over it to see where I am, figure out next steps - Got to 5500 words; did not read over it or figure out next steps
3) Creative writing x 1 - NO, but I did do some creative work in the form of elaborately decorating a small box to house a flash drive (see explanation below)
4) Finish knitting sweater for friend's new baby - YES
5) 35 pp. of Italian - YES
6) LoR for former student - YES; it was a pleasure, she was an amazing student
7) Sit some amount - Twice, I think
8) Finish book for festschrift intro - YES
The other big thing that I did was transfer 20 years of VHS home movies to a single flash drive, courtesy of equipment that I checked out from the library! I will now make copies of the flash drive for my mom, dad, and brother, and decorate little boxes in which to store them (so that they don't get lost in a drawer somewhere). This was a surprisingly enjoyable project; while most of the videos are pretty boring, I would just have them playing on the little device next to me while I worked on something else and occasionally look over to notice how tiny my brother looked in his suit at a swim meet back when he was eight, or how young my mom was at Christmas 1985. And allll those tapes can now be recycled!!
I also attended a two-day Research Mentor Training, which was very much STEM oriented (despite the organizers' protestations to the contrary) and thus only a little bit helpful.
This week:
1. Read over essay and figure out next steps
2. Schedule a couple of meetings with student groups
3. Work out goals and plans for the coming semester/year
4. Sit some amount
5. Read a dissertation chapter (two, if I really get into it)
6. 35 pages of Italian
I have also scheduled a "float" for this week, courtesy of my husband's Christmas gift to me--I'm looking forward to it!
Humans are social animals, and, like other apes, when we see someone else doing something, we're more inclined to do it too. It looks, if not more desirable, at least safer.
DeleteCongratulations on the digitizing of home movies! Your family will be delighted. The little boxes sound like a lovely housing for the flash drives. Let us know how the float goes!
Oh, my, the ways in which research and graduate education discussions are irrelevant to the humanities and much of the social sciences is just so exhausting. Because we have to do it, and it's just time. Our current grad dean, associate grad dean, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Provost are all science people. They all say, we need to understand what the humanities need, but then don't really try.
DeleteI would love to see pictures of the decorated boxes when they're finished. That is such a lovely idea.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a writing group that reads my work. I wish I did. Like Julie, I've been parts of groups that sit and write at the same time, but they don't then read. I do have people I send things to, but since I write across several fields, those people vary. My real challenge was that my husband was my first reader for 30 years, and I really haven't found anyone else.
ReplyDeleteI do like reading things for people, and think I generally am a pretty good reader/ editor.
How I did:
1. Finish syllabus for new course, post on LMS ALMOST _MUST FINISH TODAY
2. Create budget for conference YES
3. Revise letter of reference for student for the perfect job NO, TODAY
4. Pack up two boxes of books for second hand bookstore, and two for the "book sale/giveaway" I'm doing on campus. YES PLUS: 3 and 3 (the ones for campus have already been delivered.)
5. Keep up with exercise and physical therapy exercise. YES
6. See people and be nice to them. YES
7. Have some fun YES
AND ALSO: 5 hour meeting on the least bad ways to cut 20% of the school budget over the next 3 years; attended 3 hour meeting that was a follow up to the work group last fall; pruned half the roses; brought the armchair that needed upholstering to upholstery shop. Worried about a lot of stuff at work and life.
I really think I was just tired this week, because I didn't really have a break. So I read a couple of trashy novels, stayed in bed late, etc.
I think the LMS is the worst thing that has happened to teaching during my career. I hate it. // Tantrum over.
I'm not sure why it took so long to get the syllabus done, but there were lots of interruptions (see "meetings" under AND ALSO). I have a pretty good draft syllabus, that will get me through the first few weeks of class, and I'm just going to say that that's fine. Otherwise, I had dinner with one friend, breakfast with another.
I also said "no" to two additional tasks which was very freeing!
Goals for this week:
1. Finish and post the syllabus
2. Survive the start of classes chaos week
3. Letter of recommendation
4. Send notes to students I will interview for admission to my undergrad alma mater
5. Send various emails
6. House: Deal with the Room of Doom
7. Select upholstery fabric for chair (still dithering)
8. Do fun things
9. Continue not looking at my iPad before bed, and reading instead.
10. Keep up with exercise, physical therapy
Oh, Great Cat, those meetings about cutting the budget are so draining, and that is a HUGE cut! Ugh--sympathies! I can see that if you had an excellent, sympathetic reader for 30 years, it would be very difficult to feel that he could in any way be replaced. For a time I had a good friend with whom I exchanged work, but she left academia and we lost touch. I believe LRU's current support for writing groups is limited to the kind who sit and work together. That certainly can be helpful, but sometimes you really do need someone who can say "Look, your real thesis is on page 4; what do you think would happen if you stopped trying to drag yourself back to what you think the thesis should be and just went with this idea?"
DeleteAagh cuts. And I like Dame Eleanor's habit of calling the Virtual Learning Environment (Learning Management System alternative name) a ViLE. Apt
DeleteI hope the five hour meeting came with coffee breaks and snacks at least. What a nightmare.
DeleteHello. I'm tired, and feeling done with the week, but it's only Monday. And the Interim Head who I have limited confidence in is going to be "Interim" until at least September. And my sister's dog is in his last weeks. And Mr Shoutypants decided to eat his breakfast too fast, run upstairs, and throw up in the bathroom neatly divided between his fiddly to clean water fountain thing and the clean bathmat - at least it wasn't an on campus day so I was able to clean up fairly immediately, not find it after a long day! And I started to mark a pile of honours student essays this afternoon and found an AI-did-my-homework in the first couple, so that did not help my mood! It's feeling very January around here.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a reader, but I almost never write something just by me, so my collaborators or co-applicants are usually my first readers, and I'm theirs. And then there are people I sometimes ask if I feel an outside eye would be useful, and I play that role sometimes. Disciplinary differences! Now for my FICTION I don't have another reader, and I'm not sure I'll ever really make it to the point where it's fit for other eyes even by the My PhD Supervisor Rule (he always said hand it over when you think it's OK but needs a polish, because if you wait until you think it's good, you won't be very open to feedback and it all becomes much more emotional. He had flaws, but he did give some good advice!).
SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4 yes - 4x20!
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 1 - crocheting during a meeting
c) something gently social x2 one - online forum chat with good people
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week yes
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores not quite
b) make an appointment with declutterer YES
c) make a plan for the shelving in living space had a different idea. Need to think about it more
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) finish second year grading and start first year grading yes, and finished the first year grading
b) set up ViLE for module that starts late February mostly
c) schedule and complete appraisal meetings (it's a "cascaded duty" which makes it rather pointless - but I have to appraise three juniot colleagues this week) just the paperwork left. Rather delightfully the one whose paperwork looked all super driven and ultra ambitious so I was feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing arrived in my office, recognised and enthused over my little Bagpuss plushy who lives in my book case (much beloved British children's TV puppet "saggy old cloth cat" - only 13 episodes were ever made but he is iconic), then told me he was taking Friday off because it was his birthday and he was taking his four year old out of day care so they could make a cake together. Sometimes people are surprising in a good way!
d) prepare lectures for first week of teaching yes
RESEARCH
a) read over referees comments and suggested responses for minor author paper yes, and agreed and sent back
b) schedule a meeting to discuss plan for lead author paper yes
c) read papers in advance of meeting for Large Funded Project yes
d) read and reply to email from Unexpected Collaborator oops, no
e) make a list of all the projects that might need attention this session! yes. It's a list...
THIS WEEK:
DeleteSELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) finish third year grading and mark bits with extensions
b) prepare class materials for second week of teaching - some fairly substantial revision needed this year
RESEARCH
a) lead meeting, write up plan, for lead author paper
b) chase up emails sent out before Christmas for grant application
c) read and reply to email from Unexpected Collaborator
Oh, Shoutypants! I understand, or at least recognize, the clean-bathmat impulse (must get claws into something!), but really, the fiddly-to-clean water fountain? What was that about? Be kind to your poor person and stick to the mat!
DeleteLess than two weeks of January to go! And it's nice to find you have a colleague who appreciates Bagpuss. It looks like you had a good week, last week, so if this week you're 'done' on Monday maybe there's some flex here?
A lot of yes there!
DeleteWere there really only 13 episodes of Bagpuss? I feel I watched it a lot. Maybe they had the 13 on repeat, and we had all forgotten the first one by the time it rolled round again. Definitely an icon.
So glad your colleague turned out to be a nice human being! As for Shoutypants, what Dame Eleanor said. My SIL had a cat who would pee on any clothing available, in her gym bag, etc. GAH.
DeleteIt's not letting me reply for some reason! Yes, I was shocked when i realised how little Bagpuss was actually made - the organ mouse song is deeply ingrained in my brain. And of course Shoutypants needed to use the new fresh bathmat - it's cushy on the toesies...
ReplyDeleteThe reply function is out of order at Clothes In Books, too; I think it's a Blogger problem more generally. But at least CIB is recognizing that I'm signed in as Dame Eleanor now. A few days ago I could only comment with name/URL. (If you don't read Clothes in Books, I recommend it highly: https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/ )
ReplyDelete