02/24/2010

Research Blues

Man, sometimes it takes four days to write two pages, and sometimes it takes 1 day to write 18. It is amazing how that works. When I'm stuck, I just write while I watch television. Then, at least, a few pages get done during commercials instead of my falling asleep. When I'm unstuck, I can rip off page after page. I think if I had a standing desk, I could probably be more consistent, but the real enemy always seems to be consciousness. Sometimes my mind is racing and it is more of your traditional ADD type problem. Sometimes my mind is not racing and I fall asleep mid-sentence. But some days are just golden; I'm focused, writing, and not agonizing. Here are a few tips:

1. Give yourself permission to write a crappy first draft of anything. You can always revise much more easily than you can compose something from scratch.

2. Don't over-eat. Eat comfortable meals, but not too much at any of them. Then you're a little more alert and a little less prone to be sleepy. You can even have wine with your meal if you don't eat too much sugar or too many calories. But that really depends upon the person. I'm sure my naturalistically minded friends would tell me that this is because I'm hungry and more alert like my ancestors who were scanning the water hole for vulnerable prey. But I think it is just because being well fed makes me feel like a turtle falling asleep in the sun. Oh, did I just play into my naturalistically minded friends' hands with that one?

3. If you smoke, smoke a pipe while you work. It should be a stimulant. I don't smoke, but I always come across people like C.S. Lewis and Popeye the Sailor Man swearing by tobacco as an instigator of brilliant periods of concentration.

4. Don't over-research before you start writing. Get a skeleton down on paper first and flesh it out as you research. Lay down layer after layer of paint. Make an assertion and don't back it up. Later you can back it up or change the assertion, but at least you'll have something to go on.

5. Know thyself. Some people get it all outlined out and then execute their writing as if they were building a bridge. Some people jump in the middle and revise continuously until beauty ensues. There is no right way, though I'm sure we'd all like to be the bridge-builders. Don't beat yourself up for your process. Beat yourself up if you don't get anything done.

6. Don't wait for the perfect time to work. If you work 9-5, there will never be a good time to write the great American novel or finish your dissertation. There will only be times that are slightly less awful than others.

7. Don't do things the way I do them. I can't believe I'm even offering advice. It has taken 10 years to finish a Ph.D.

8. Don't judge your personal worth by how much you've gotten written. You're a busy, wonderful person made in God's image. If you get anything written, that's just lagniappe, as long as you pet your dog today.