Thursday, March 20, 2014

March Madness

It's the time of the semester when I wonder if I'll make it out with my sanity. My institution does not have a spring break, so not only am I dragging, but my students are also dead—so dead that every class feels like this:



On the book front, I am making steady progress. But I am wiped out and worried that I won't have any gas left in the tank once summer hits and all I "get" to do is write. For those of you who have done this, do you have any advice on pacing? How have you maintained progress without gassing out in the first third?

4 comments:

  1. A paragraph a day. If you finish it quickly, do something else. That way you'll have reserve energy for the days when it takes 18 hours.

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  2. I like that advice. Also, come summer maybe consider joining the Academic Writing Club: http://academicwritingclub.com/. It's pricey but I found it worth the investment while I was on leave. There are four-week sessions and you're put in a group with other profs. Kind of a combo of online cheerleading / mutual support and a way to manage time effectively. It might help recharge the batteries.

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  3. I have to slog through stuff I HATE all the time. ALL the time. Writing press releases is probably like death, though I can't be sure. Let me say this: I just do it. Sometimes I procrastinate a bit, but I just. do. it. I write a super shitty first draft if I have to, sometimes full of humorous snark about how Super AWESOME!!! the topic is, then I begin to edit... See, cos I'm better at editing... :-) You'll kill this one, NO doubt!! Go get it!! - Di

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  4. Thanks, friends. I'll check out the writing club. RG, I need to find my version of a paragraph a day (since I'm more of a vomit/revise writer). I'm doing it, D, but will need to find the practices that will let me keep at it. Rah rah.

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