Some self-reflection: today I learned a lesson that I've already learned several times (it never sticks). Don't re-read secondary sources until you're done hashing out a draft and know, at least temporarily, where everything goes and what you think it means. Every time I have a look at things I read near the beginning of the writing process, the occasional flashes of recognition or even inspiration I feel are completely overshadowed by an oppressive feeling that This Has All Been Done Before.
My intellectual mind knows that it hasn't, but my emotional mind is VERY susceptible to doubt, even, at times, to despair. When I am fully immersed in what I do, this doesn't happen. I understand that I'll need to go back over everything to make sure I'm not repeating something someone else established previously, to be sure to give credit where it's due, etc. At the same time, ignoring everything else is sometimes a great help...it allows me to proceed on the assumption that I am doing the right thing, a new thing.
[The other thing I’ve got to remember is that The Book will always read differently/better than The Dissertation. I have to stop comparing my project to things that other people have made which are in much more finished stages, having much more research and thought behind them.]
Posted by Heather at October 22, 2004 04:06 PM
Comments
I feel your pain here. Took me long to decide what to do for my dissertation project, plainly for the fact that I wanted to contribute and not just do what had been done a thousand times before.
Posted by: Melli at October 24, 2004 12:09 AM