Can I Accurately Judge My Own Work?

A Response to a Reader Question

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

I recently wrote a series of posts about overwriting and how to overcome it. If you missed any, you can find them all here:

• Overwriting Part I: The Manuscript Readiness Checklist

• Overwriting Part II: Our Old Friend Perfectionism

• Overwriting Part III: Embracing the Incompleteness of Academic Work

These posts prompted a reader to pose this question in Office Hours:

Even though I feel good about my piece, my fear is that my assessment is all wrong and that I will burn my bridges with the journal that suits it best when they say "No thanks" instead of requesting an R&R. This has happened to me a couple of times, and that article still doesn't have a home. How does one negotiate this? What if the problem isn't a desire for perfection but a doubt in one's ability to judge one's own work?

First and foremost, I'd like to acknowledge that rejection has a habit of making us doubt our abilities. It stings, and because so many of us attach our self-worth to our research and writing, the sting can be felt very deeply. I have written about this in more depth in the post On Rejection, the Myth of Meritocracy, and Baseball Bats. I see you and I feel you, dear reader.

It is critical to remember that rejection is a common occurrence in academia and that everyone encounters it at some point. It's critical to use these moments to reflect and remember that two things can be true at the same time: 1) academia is not a meritocracy, and rejection is not always a reflection of the quality of our work; and 2) rejection can be used to learn and grow.

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash