Two more linkity-link tidbits [rowing, writing]

[rebeccmeister]

This article on overcoming the pain barrier in rowing talks about critical aspects of mental training for rowing. It highlights some of the key traits that rowers have to address to perform at their maximum capabilities. That's part of what keeps me going as a rower - knowing that continuing to work on mental training will have positive benefits for how I live my life in general.

Meanwhile, here's Anne Lamott on how to find time to write. It's funny - I wound up following her on Twitter, which is a mixed blessing because she posts a lot of political stuff that I don't care for. On the other hand, she's so good about addressing emotional aspects of writing, and I found Bird by Bird satisfyingly encouraging, so occasional things like this are a good boost.

That piece by Anne Lamott motivated me to show you a figure out of the book How to Write a Lot:


These are data from a writing experiment conducted with a group of academics. The "abstinent" group was asked to not write anything for the experiment duration. The "spontaneous" group was told to only write when they felt inspired to do so. The "contingency management" group was told to set up and maintain a writing schedule.

And on that note, time to abscond off to the library to work on my research statement for job applications...

Comments

[twoeleven.livejournal.com]

That's like the old line about business: "I'm very lucky; I get tons of lucky breaks. And the harder I work, the luckier I get!" :)

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Although, from what I understand, a lot of Americans fail to account for how much luck actually contributes to where they wind up. Probably because that luck takes on somewhat unexpected forms.

[twoeleven.livejournal.com]

Sure, though as I understand it, the big lucky break is the first one: choosing one's parents well. :) I've read a news article about that (which cites papers) which talks about the effect of assortative marriage on how kiddies end up. Unsurprisingly, being the child of two smart, well-educated, and probably upper-income parents makes one very likely to earn lots of money.

[manintheboat.livejournal.com]

I read that 3 times as Abstinence and Incontinence.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Haha, that would lead to a slightly different interpretation of the figure, eh?