When you are feeling stuck on an article, not sure what to write, not sure what to say, try this exercise.
Write a 100 word version of your article. Not an abstract, but a 100 word version with a newspaper or magazine in mind. Sometimes, getting to the essence of what we wish to say helps move us forward.
Forcing ourselves to put words to paper is another benefit of an exercise such as this.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Shame Part 3- Disconnecting
Anyone who has been involved in "professional helping" has had clients disconnect. Sometimes it is a conscious choice; they find they do not need help anymore, do not find the help of value, no longer can afford it, or have met all their goals.
However, sometimes I think people disconnect from their support systems slowly, by accident, and then feel too ashamed or embarrassed about reconnecting.
I remember this happening with a massage therapist I was seeing for a back problem, a long time ago. I remember missing one appointment, and then missing another. I remember feeling ashamed about this, and then somehow that embarrassment grew to the point where I could not possibility ever contact her again. The same thing happened in my Egyptian civilization class when I was a freshman in college (but, I forgive myself for that one, great material, horribly boring teacher!).
I have seen this with some of my coaching clients, and also people I have mentored over the years. I can almost feel the shame when they recontact me; they are so tentative, so fearful.
And my response? I just feel glad to hear from them. It is important to make people feel welcomed back, to allow people to reconnect. When we are on the other side of things, when we are the one that is ashamed, we imagine the worst. Usually, however, people are just glad to hear from us. This is important to remember.
Yet, how to connect to those who have "left." I want to walk the fine line between being a support, challenging the type of disconnection that often is a huge part of people's writing problems, but also respect people's privacy and choice. I think I need to develop some sort of personal and professional policy for this. Any suggestions? I posted about this a bit last week, but wanted to follow up more directly and connect it to some of our past discussions.
However, sometimes I think people disconnect from their support systems slowly, by accident, and then feel too ashamed or embarrassed about reconnecting.
I remember this happening with a massage therapist I was seeing for a back problem, a long time ago. I remember missing one appointment, and then missing another. I remember feeling ashamed about this, and then somehow that embarrassment grew to the point where I could not possibility ever contact her again. The same thing happened in my Egyptian civilization class when I was a freshman in college (but, I forgive myself for that one, great material, horribly boring teacher!).
I have seen this with some of my coaching clients, and also people I have mentored over the years. I can almost feel the shame when they recontact me; they are so tentative, so fearful.
And my response? I just feel glad to hear from them. It is important to make people feel welcomed back, to allow people to reconnect. When we are on the other side of things, when we are the one that is ashamed, we imagine the worst. Usually, however, people are just glad to hear from us. This is important to remember.
Yet, how to connect to those who have "left." I want to walk the fine line between being a support, challenging the type of disconnection that often is a huge part of people's writing problems, but also respect people's privacy and choice. I think I need to develop some sort of personal and professional policy for this. Any suggestions? I posted about this a bit last week, but wanted to follow up more directly and connect it to some of our past discussions.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Fifty first
Ready to start your day? Time for coffee or tea? How about just 50 words first, or maybe even one hundred? If you did that each day, just as a ritual, how would that change your life?
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Know Thyself
Look- have you to be true to yourself. You have to know how you want to spend your time, and spend your professional life, and not force yourself to be the kind of scholar that you do not wish to be.
If you love empirical work, and really only want to write about this type of work, do it!
If you love parts of the writing process but hate others- get collaborators to help with the parts you hate.
If you want to publish an article every few years, and really not make writing a big part of your career, you better find creative collaborations or find the type of university that will support this level of contribution.
There are so many ways of capitalizing on our strengths; too often we feel we have to do everything by ourselves. The academy supports this type of isolation, but we do not need to buy into this type of isolationist approach to our work.
Find colleagues to work with. Find editors. Be true to yourself.
Of course, this does not mean you can get away with only doing what you wish- life does not work this way. Still, you have to know yourself, and be true to yourself, and see the type of career you wish to have.
If you love empirical work, and really only want to write about this type of work, do it!
If you love parts of the writing process but hate others- get collaborators to help with the parts you hate.
If you want to publish an article every few years, and really not make writing a big part of your career, you better find creative collaborations or find the type of university that will support this level of contribution.
There are so many ways of capitalizing on our strengths; too often we feel we have to do everything by ourselves. The academy supports this type of isolation, but we do not need to buy into this type of isolationist approach to our work.
Find colleagues to work with. Find editors. Be true to yourself.
Of course, this does not mean you can get away with only doing what you wish- life does not work this way. Still, you have to know yourself, and be true to yourself, and see the type of career you wish to have.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Helping a friend who is stuck
What do you do when a colleague, friend, or mentee falls off their writing wagon? Pushing might feel unkind, uneasy, but should we always take the easy path with those we care about? How much tension should we be willing to cause to help someone get back to writing?
When we are stuck, we come up with a thousand reasons why we are stuck, and do whatever we can to avoid confronting it. When people remind us of how stuck we are, we can easily turn on them, be defensive, or avoid emails or calls.
I would love to hear from some of you the strategies you have developed. I still struggle with how much to push, and when to back off and give someone their space. After all, adults have freewill, and we should do what they wish, correct? If someone wants to be left alone, should we?
Still, the stakes are often high, and we are in community with each other. Sometimes, caring for people means being willing to piss them off, and risk being abandoned by them.
When we are stuck, we come up with a thousand reasons why we are stuck, and do whatever we can to avoid confronting it. When people remind us of how stuck we are, we can easily turn on them, be defensive, or avoid emails or calls.
I would love to hear from some of you the strategies you have developed. I still struggle with how much to push, and when to back off and give someone their space. After all, adults have freewill, and we should do what they wish, correct? If someone wants to be left alone, should we?
Still, the stakes are often high, and we are in community with each other. Sometimes, caring for people means being willing to piss them off, and risk being abandoned by them.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Ok, I don't always....
No, I don't always like to write. In fact, today I am really, really not having a good time. I am writing a chapter for a book I am doing with a colleague on the criminalization of immigration. My head has been out of the material for a while, I am struggling with finding my way into it. That is what happens when your teaching and scholarship are not connected; so few of us get to have them seamlessly integrated, if integrated at all. That is also what happens when you have too many interests, but that is my personal curse, and a subject, perhaps for another time.
So, I am reading. Reading a few passages, a few pages, and then back to the writing, trying to get some words down, trying to slog through it. A few hours later, I have a few hundred words; its not that good, but it is down.
It is moments like this that I have to trust myself, just myself enough to know that this will get done, that it will be fine, and that I will somehow survive the boredom that I am experiencing. It is part of the "the life." It is not always fun, but what job is always fun?
I now return to the grind.
So, I am reading. Reading a few passages, a few pages, and then back to the writing, trying to get some words down, trying to slog through it. A few hours later, I have a few hundred words; its not that good, but it is down.
It is moments like this that I have to trust myself, just myself enough to know that this will get done, that it will be fine, and that I will somehow survive the boredom that I am experiencing. It is part of the "the life." It is not always fun, but what job is always fun?
I now return to the grind.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Exercise time: Sentence length
No, not push ups or sit ups.
And while we are not going to concern ourselves with lean muscle mass, I do want us to consider lean sentence structures. Too often, academics write sentences that are too long and too complex. Sentence which are too long are often confusing, hard to follow, and boring. They do not lead to greater understanding, but instead, obscure. Complex sentences should never be confused with important ideas.
Start with an article or something you are working on. Take a rough passage, perhaps a paragraph or two. When reading it through, consider sentence length. See if you can take what you have written and create some good lean, short sentences. Seek to reduce sentence length for the passage. Come back in a day or two, and read it again.
Learn anything?
And while we are not going to concern ourselves with lean muscle mass, I do want us to consider lean sentence structures. Too often, academics write sentences that are too long and too complex. Sentence which are too long are often confusing, hard to follow, and boring. They do not lead to greater understanding, but instead, obscure. Complex sentences should never be confused with important ideas.
Start with an article or something you are working on. Take a rough passage, perhaps a paragraph or two. When reading it through, consider sentence length. See if you can take what you have written and create some good lean, short sentences. Seek to reduce sentence length for the passage. Come back in a day or two, and read it again.
Learn anything?
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