Jazz Thinking Back to Pre-Tenure

At a coffee house I dig just outside of Tacoma; and listen to jazz. Its been a while since I have written to jazz; its something I used to do a great deal. Sitting here, it reminds me of what it was like to write as a young assistant professor at Colorado State, back in 2000.  Pre-tenure, there was this constant pressure and a bit of fear. In the right doses, it was energizing. While some of you may think this is a bit crazy, part of me misses that constant external push in the background of my life.

The costs were so high if I failed; a young family that relied on me, the hopes for a life's work as a scholar that depended upon the evaluations of others. That push kept me writing, writing in a way that helped me to produce work that I perhaps would not have done so without. It is different now, I write what I want, when I write, and have very little external pressure. While the decrease in anxiety has led to freedom, I do miss those times, and am reminded of them today.

Allatoneceness

I discovered a really nice blog post from a Canadian scholar who wrote about scholarly writing for a period of time. Here is a nice nugget from her, on what I would call a holistic exploration of the modes of academic writing.  She calls it Allatoneceness. Whoa!

Upcoming Book: Detaining the Immigrant Other

Just got a sneak peak of the cover for my upcoming book with Oxford University Press, Detaining the Immigrant Other. This MAY be the final version, so if it is not, I may eat crow!!

I love how simple and classy it is; it hints at detention without ramming it down your throat. I will talk about this book more another time, but thought I would share this for now. It is coming out in February. I will get the preorder form up soon!

Processing Exercise Week: Questions for Self Reflection

Now that we have finished five days of writing exercises, I want you to explore some self reflective questions (in writing, of course). Spent about a half hour or so; use these as your "warm up" to your other writing.

The questions are arranged by how engaged you were in the exercises. Feel free to "mix and match."

For those who completed all the exercises

1) Which exercise worked best for you? Why?

2) Which exercise was least helpful? Why?

3) What did you learn from engaging in these exercises that you can bring into your own practice?

4) Craft a plan for the next two weeks based upon these insights.

For those who completed some but not all

(begin with the questions above)

1). When you were able to write, what strengths facilitated your writing?

2) When you were not able to engage in the exercises, what got in your way?

3) Which of the barriers that stopped you are in your control, and how can you make changes to help your writing agenda?

4) What "internal chatter" got in your way?

5) What support and resources do you need based upon what you have learned?

For those who tried, but were not able to do many much writing

1) What structural barriers interfered with your writing?

2) What "internal chatter" got in your way?

3) Describe your feelings and self perceptions about not being able to engage in the exercises. Are these thoughts and feelings that frequently get in your way?

4) If you are not able to identify what gets in your way, consider what this means for you?

5) What supports have you used in the past to help you transcend these issues? What has helped, what has not helped?

Over the next few days, I will explore some of my thoughts to help you consider the uses and implications of the exercises, and your own reflective processing of them.

Exercise Week Number 5: Look at Calendar, Pick Times

Look at your calendar as soon as you wake up. That is correct, as soon as you wake up, before coffee, tea, breakfast, and most certainly before email. Obsessive email and social media, and responding to it as if you are on a string is deadly for writers and scholars!

Now, based upon your calendar, choose three times of varying lengths. Put them in your calendar. Make them as important as any meeting.

Tomorrow, I am going to give you a list of reflective questions to help you process exercise week :). Then on Monday, we will process it a bit more.

Excercise Week Number 4: Morning, Afternoon, Night

Between 15 and 30 minutes, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once after dinner. Feel free to do one longer session if you can squeeze it in. If you can't, just focus on getting each time in. Process with some freewriting.

Exercise Week Number 3: 15/45/15

I think you have the idea now, right? (minutes, not words). Three times over the course of the day.

Do it, and then journal after how it worked for you.