Earlier this year I resolved to write a bit every day, since this is apparently the secret to finishing the dissertation. Does blogging count as writing? Wait! That's not really what I mean--I mean, does it (anything) count if it's not specifically thematically related to my research?
Should I be pleased with myself or even just relieved if I can at least write an entry a day? Does that count? Some part of me thinks that the main thing is to develop some self-discipline, and that the form it takes is fairly inconsequential.
So long as I just write.
Posted by Heather at October 13, 2003 04:24 PM
Comments
Sure it counts. Especially if it's unrelated; where else do you put random thoughts. Use it to write responses to things (like this: http://www.iht.com/articles/112582.html) rather than brand new ideas if that's easier.
Posted by: andrew at October 13, 2003 04:49 PM
As I was working on the dissertation -- and I should say that I write this from the lofty place of being done for a whole week – I kept looking for what I thought of as The Ideal System. The System took various forms, usually with names attached. These included “Write First,” in which I would rise, produce a few brilliant or tortured (it didn’t matter since the only goal was to write) pages by 10 or 11 a.m., and I would then go on with a productive and yet relaxing day. This one never really happened. Ever. And then there was “Get Warmed up with a little Computer Solitaire” (or the related “Playing a bit of Moorhun Never Hurt Anyone”) to which I devoted several months with little result. Next I tried “Clearly you work Better in the Kitchen than at Your Desk” which was somewhat successful but sort of hurt my back sometimes and made dinners complicated. What I finally settled on was “Get it Any Way You Can” which involved periods of fretting and the occasional day of unbelievable unproductiveness peppered with fits of working against (mostly, but not entirely, externally imposed) deadlines. And then one day, the dissertation wasn’t finished, but it was done.
So thanks for writing about your Hem/mungen, Heather. I am enjoying reading them thus far, and I can’t imagine that thinking out loud about things related to Germany, art and life will hurt your dissertation production in any way.
Posted by: Libby at October 14, 2003 09:01 AM