Todays reading brought me two views of writing that I think will be useful. First A Learners Space has Great Day and Useful Writing Techniques. I found this piece very useful to contemplate today, as I did non-writing work. I think it has a nice breakdown for many of the things we haven't been taught since we were children, assuming we were even taught then.

Defining concepts - not a dictionary definition but rather:

• what the concept means in the context of what you are writing about

Working on patterns of problem-solution:

• have you described the situation
• have you identified a problem
• have you described a possible solution
• have you evaluated the solution

Achieving coherence in your writing:

• repetition of key nouns
• use of pronouns
• use of transition signals
• arranging sentences in logical order

Think of transition signals as things that tell your reader when to:

• go forward
• slow down
• stop

thus enabling you as author to set: pace, tonality, focus. Examples of use:

• a similar idea - similarly, moreover, etc.
• an opposite idea - on the other hand, in contrast
• an example - for example
• a result - as a result, accordingly, in consequence
• a conclusion - in conclusion, in summary, in brief, in short

Best advice of the day, though, related to the use of Summary Labels and Generic Labels in text analysis. Basically, summary labels are identifications of content which you list down the left-hand side of your text, and generic labels are identifications of kinds of writing, or indications of the author's purpose and you note these down the right-hand side of the text. Combined, these make really good representations for note-taking, article summaries, analysis of a text, identification of key ideas, themes, strength or weakness of an argument, etc.

Some generic labels:

• introduction
• explanation
• comment
• opinion
• definition
• evidence
• illustration
• analysis
• process
• interpretation
• intention
• position
• conclusion

This technique worked so well when it came to analysing Lotman's text on the semiosphere. These activities really help you to focus your thoughts and enable you not only to extract key ideas but also to formulate your own position/thoughts towards/against them in a much clearer way. It's almost as if the labelling acts as a frame that just sets these elements in stark relief so that they are loudly foregrounded and thus become easily accessible.

New Kid in the Hallway tackled the Writer's block - a trip down memory lane giving us a timeline of her writer's block leading to dissertation and, more importantly, what she learned from those semesters.

What lessons have I gleaned from this process? Well, let's see.

1. DO NOT ISOLATE YOURSELF. Seriously. Personally, I got the most done during the times I was teaching or working on campus, and part of a dissertation group, and I got the least done during the quarters I was on fellowship. I got writer's block and I vanished and hid from my advisor and tried never to speak with her about the dissertation. I had no idea how to talk about my work and what I was doing at that point, anyway. It seemed so pointless to walk into her office to say, "Uh, I read some books/documents." I think this was partly because I assumed (actually, pretty much correctly, given this woman's position in the field) that she knew everything that was in those books already, so what was I going to say to her? Now, I realize I totally should have talked to her. But I couldn't at the time. (Partly, of course, because I wasn't reading any books/documents! It was an evil cycle.)

In any case, DON'T HIDE. DON'T DO WHAT I DID. A lot easier said than done, but what happened to me was that my advisor started making stuff up about what I was doing (or not doing). Not that I can blame her - she had no evidence to go on that I was actually doing anything! (Which, much of this time, I wasn't.)

It may feel like you can't possibly face (whoever it is) with as little done as you have. But you know what? NOT facing them, and isolating yourself, and STILL not getting work done, is not going to put you in a better position with this person. Dread is not conducive to productivity. Confessing your sins and moving forward is a much better idea.

Obviously, if you're writing a dissertation, this is much more useful advice than at other points in one's career. A book editor to whom you owe a chapter probably does NOT want chatty reports of what you're up to or a blow-by-blow of your research process (actually, one's advisor may not want that, either, but at least has some context/use for it). But if you're behind on something and you really aren't just about to get it done - you really are going to take a while - it's probably much better to get in touch with the person to whom you owe it to explain yourself and be responsible about it, than just to vanish for months. (I have another story along these lines, but it's probably not worth the energy to write it. Just believe me.)

2. DO NOT PLAN TO WRITE IN EIGHT-HOUR MARATHONS.* Honestly, I was never as relieved as I was the day that I read Joan Bolker's words: "There are not a lot of people who can just write - not stare into space, not get up to make five pots of coffee, not talk on the phone, but write continuously - for more than about two hours a day. You can write for a very long time on any given day, but the trouble is, you can't then do it again the next, and again, and again - and writing daily is the pattern that's best suited to finishing a dissertation." (pp. 53-4, if you're curious.) I mean, it made me realize how utterly wrong-minded I'd been with all my plans to write all day long, but it was nice to realize that I couldn't do that because it was an unrealistic goal, not because I was an undisciplined slacker.

*Unless, of course, this is necessary for meeting a specific deadline. I'm all about the 8-hour-writing-days to finish a conference paper or something. But don't plan on this as a regular schedule for writing, even if you are on fellowship or sabbatical or whatever.

3. IF YOU DON'T ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU PLANNED TO ON ANY GIVEN DAY, DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP OVER IT. LET IT GO. This was probably my biggest, biggest problem in the days I describe above. I reached such a pitch of self-loathing about my inability to get done what I'd (unrealistically) planned that I was good for nothing. NOTHING. Not every day is going to go as well as you'd like. If you blow off a day, you are not an evil, bad, self-indulgent person. Just start again on the next day. And do NOT expect yourself to do more on the next day to make up for it, because that's just setting yourself up for failure. (Y'all do realize I'm talking to myself here, right?)

In a way, the thing that's helpful about working full-time when you're trying to get research done (rather than being on fellowship or something) is that it's hard to reach quite that abyss of self-loathing. If you're working, then you're teaching classes and/or going to meetings/accomplishing other admin/service tasks, as well as probably dealing with independent study students, professional associations, articles for review, etc. etc. There's always more that needs to be done; but at least you're doing SOMETHING. And it's hard to feel so bad about yourself if you're running around getting classes taught and meetings held and so on. Sure, it's not research productivity, but it is productivity. Being on fellowship/leave (or even just off teaching for the summer) is, for me, an irresistible temptation to work out, clean the apartment, go shopping, and watch TV - none of which are remotely productive. So I end up feeling much, much worse than I do during the school year.

There is lots of useful advise in both of the full posts.

Posted by prolurkr at March 18, 2006 06:24 PM

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