Not so good advice

Well, I am certain that some of the advice that I have given has not been great for each and every one of  you. Writing is, at its core, a creative process in which we each need to find what works for us, yet be willing to try new methods and ideas.

However, I do think there some pieces of advice that are really just not good. For instance, I recently read an article on academic writing in which the author suggests that we should not send out an article until it has been read by at least ten people.

There are several problems with this feedback. First, ten different people are going to provide t en different types of feedback- how in the world is someone ever going to reconcile all of those disparate ideas?!

Second, at some point, this is what the review process if for! Do a good job, get some feedback, and get it out there!

Lastly, can you imagine the amount of times it would take to actually contend with that much coordination and communication? I think I would never have published anything had I learned, and felt the need to follow, this piece of advice earlier in my career.

So, the point is, be open, but be critical of what you learn about writing. Even (or perhaps especially) from me!

Guest Blogger: Dr. Riki Thompson

Today's guest blogger is another groovy faculty member at the University of Washington Tacoma. Riki Thompson teaches writing at UWT, and is known as being one of our best teachers of writing. She is one of the people I go to when I really want to understand writing from the perspective of a composition studies scholar.

I provide you a link to her terrific blog, in which she explores what moves her to write.

Leaving on a jet plane....

Well, I will be traveling for the next few weeks. I am doing research interviews with expatriate men who have retired overseas. This is an ongoing project that explores the intersection between globalization, transnationalism, and the psychosocial health of older, expatriate men. I hope to conduct these interviews in about ten different countries over time. My hope is that it leads to a book, but at least there should be a few articles that I will write from the data.

Have no fear about blog posts; I have made sure that I have gotten a bit ahead, so you will still get at least three posts a week, the weekend challenge, and hopefully even a guest blog post as well. What you may not get is a really fast response if you contact me; although you will hear from me soon! (and while I make that disclaimer, I tend to respond pretty quickly!).

I am also excited to have a good deal of time to write. Away from home, with no responsibilities other than my research and feeding myself, I tend to be as creative and productive as I am capable of being.

Happy writing, time for a really long flight!!

Weekly Challenge #8

For this week, I want you to come up with a challenge for yourself, and for others on this site! What can you do to push yourself today that might be helpful for others to try? Post your response under the comments, please.

A therapy video with a writer working on his procrastination

I found this video looking for materials for a class I am teaching on cognitive based approaches to change. I thought I would share it with you, as it presents a therapy session with an author who talks about his procrastination problem.  Watch the video and see if you can relate to some of his "process," and see how he creates barriers that inhibit his work. Also, consider how the session can help you think through ways of exploring your own problems with procrastination. The REBT or cognitive-based approach helps you identify the thoughts and behaviors that can inhibit your work.

If you have these issues, see if you can use this material to make some changes. If you can do it yourself, great. If not, seek a mentor, writer/s group, therapist, or writing coach!

See video

The best writing? When it just does not feel right

When am I proudest of my writing? On days when it just is not going well. Today, I read through and worked on a a co-authored article; I am the second author. I really was not "feeling it," not inspired, and just was not doing great stuff. Yet, after an hour or so, I was able to get out 300 words. I will clear it up tomorrow, to assuage those feelings of "not good enough." I am working with a partner, after all.

But you know what? It are days like these that are the most important, the ones that in the long haul I feel most proud of. Not the days of awe-inspiring inspiration, but those when I am just grinding it out, doing my job. It is days like this that make, for me, the days of inspiration possible.

For me, the key is to not judge myself, but just do the work, the best I can, day after day, year after year. Of course, I need to evaluate the work, but this is different from judging myself, and comes after, not on, days like this.

Writing across boundaries project

One of the great things about writing this blog is looking up other people who contact me or leave comments, and seeing what their interests are. Through one of you, I found the website for the Writing Across Boundaries Project of the Department of Anthropology at Durham University. They state that they are dedicated to improving qualitative research writing for doctoral students: a worthy project indeed. They also have a page where they have invited some excellent social scientists to write about writing.  Here is that link.

Writing on writing: Writing across boundaries project

I have yet to explore the site a great deal, but plan on doing so myself over the coming days.