Yipes

[rebeccmeister]

Do you ever have those weeks where you just don't feel like writing much?

Usually, those weeks coincide with the times when I'm supposed to be working on academic writing.

D pointed out that I cannot claim to hate writing in general, given how much I manage to write on my blog. (I'll refrain from making comments about the differences between volume and substance)

OTOH, I can say I find academic writing more challenging to the point where it manages to take over my life periodically, leaving me feeling stupid and overwhelmed.

In the long run, I'd like to make my academic writing work like my non-academic writing, something that I spend a short, manageable amount of time on every single day. But just as it's hard to get back in the saddle with respect to things like rowing, it's hard to get back in that particular writing saddle. I like to blame my woes on my workspace, but that's not really a fair thing to do, either. Occasionally, I'll switch and blame my woes on my writing system (typing on a computer screen instead of scrawling things out long-hand in a pretty notebook).

Amusingly, the thing that usually helps me get back to writing the quickest is the act of writing about writing.

Also interestingly, sometimes I have the feeling that more people will read what I write here than will ever read my academic writing. So what does that mean for the relative importance of the two bodies of work? The impact is different, though.

And with that, I'm off. Wish me luck.

Comments

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Do you ever have those weeks where you just don't feel like writing much?

Try the last two years of grad school for me.

[bluepapercup]

Yep.

Good luck to you. I feel ya, I have a research grant application I need to write by 12:00 noon tomorrow, and I haven't written a word of my personal statement yet.

*sigh*