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Nov. 2nd, 2012 12:02 pmI have a nice cold. I was expecting something after I submitted the PhD, but I guess a cold was surprising for it's so very normal. It's also possible to take medications to let me teach and to stop sneezing. And I got to snuggle up in bed for a bit of extra time and to tell myself "I have a cold and can do my work a bit later." It restores my faith in the human body, does this batch of sniffles.
In real news, there was a wild strip-tearing noise this week and all the papers on the back of my front door descended to the floor. They outlined the work I had to do during the doctorate, for the most part, including all my main deadlines from most things during that time. I don't know how they knew that their time was done, but they did, and so I scrunched them up and confined them to the recycling box*.
I now have a brand new piece of butcher's paper on the back of that door and it contains the tasks I need to finish by my father's birthday (late December). There are twenty-one items up there, ranging from a half-written BiblioBuffet article to 5,000 scholarly words that are not yet researched. There will probably be more in the next few weeks.
Putting it all down on paper makes it so much less overwhelming. Take the two Aurealis items (I have separated novels from short stories), for instance. I haven't started the short stories yet, but there are only twelve novels left to read**. The ten thousand word article is written and waiting for the mail, which next week will contain two very recent books I need to read to check my ideas and, if possible extend them fully. This means that the list says 10,000 words, but it really means "Two books and a careful revision and maybe 500 words." Three days work, in all.
This means that, yes, post-PhD I'm very busy (And I thought I was imagining things), but it's not impossible as long as I actually do the work and as long as I do it intelligently and don't faff around. and if it's what I need to do to get a job in my field, then it's what I need to do. It adds up to around 50,000 words (not counting blogging and other unseriousness, or job applications), but, as I said a minute ago, some of it is already written. About a third of it is already written and just needs finishing, in fact. Also, if I look at the list, it's all things I want to do.
There was a reason for me writing this today. Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. Some people are saying "Why don't you do NaNoWriMo?" and this would be why. Some other people are saying to each other "Why do NaNo at all?" While I don't do NaNo myself (it's never been convenient), I can see that it would be a very good indicator of physical capacity if one is able to keep up the steady research and writing that one actually needs in order to write, longterm.
It's not a foolproof test, for longterm a writer (of fiction, of nonfiction of anything in between) has to be able to maintain quality, otherwise they become a burden to their editors and ultimately to their readers (and three of the books I read yesterday were precisely that - fortunately the fourth was a total gem and redeemed the others) but it can help someone understand what they need to do if they want to write professionally, what working habits will help them and what ideas they need to sort out before they write.
*When I get a big box of books, the empty box takes recycling. It's now a very heavy and overflowing recycling box and I have a second recycling pile and I might have to do a bin run just as soon as this cold is finished. The cold may be just an excuse, but it's a very good excuse.
**Unless more get delivered, of course. I got a new one today, along with a new review book. I do like parcels!
In real news, there was a wild strip-tearing noise this week and all the papers on the back of my front door descended to the floor. They outlined the work I had to do during the doctorate, for the most part, including all my main deadlines from most things during that time. I don't know how they knew that their time was done, but they did, and so I scrunched them up and confined them to the recycling box*.
I now have a brand new piece of butcher's paper on the back of that door and it contains the tasks I need to finish by my father's birthday (late December). There are twenty-one items up there, ranging from a half-written BiblioBuffet article to 5,000 scholarly words that are not yet researched. There will probably be more in the next few weeks.
Putting it all down on paper makes it so much less overwhelming. Take the two Aurealis items (I have separated novels from short stories), for instance. I haven't started the short stories yet, but there are only twelve novels left to read**. The ten thousand word article is written and waiting for the mail, which next week will contain two very recent books I need to read to check my ideas and, if possible extend them fully. This means that the list says 10,000 words, but it really means "Two books and a careful revision and maybe 500 words." Three days work, in all.
This means that, yes, post-PhD I'm very busy (And I thought I was imagining things), but it's not impossible as long as I actually do the work and as long as I do it intelligently and don't faff around. and if it's what I need to do to get a job in my field, then it's what I need to do. It adds up to around 50,000 words (not counting blogging and other unseriousness, or job applications), but, as I said a minute ago, some of it is already written. About a third of it is already written and just needs finishing, in fact. Also, if I look at the list, it's all things I want to do.
There was a reason for me writing this today. Oh yes, NaNoWriMo. Some people are saying "Why don't you do NaNoWriMo?" and this would be why. Some other people are saying to each other "Why do NaNo at all?" While I don't do NaNo myself (it's never been convenient), I can see that it would be a very good indicator of physical capacity if one is able to keep up the steady research and writing that one actually needs in order to write, longterm.
It's not a foolproof test, for longterm a writer (of fiction, of nonfiction of anything in between) has to be able to maintain quality, otherwise they become a burden to their editors and ultimately to their readers (and three of the books I read yesterday were precisely that - fortunately the fourth was a total gem and redeemed the others) but it can help someone understand what they need to do if they want to write professionally, what working habits will help them and what ideas they need to sort out before they write.
*When I get a big box of books, the empty box takes recycling. It's now a very heavy and overflowing recycling box and I have a second recycling pile and I might have to do a bin run just as soon as this cold is finished. The cold may be just an excuse, but it's a very good excuse.
**Unless more get delivered, of course. I got a new one today, along with a new review book. I do like parcels!