I've done the 750-words-a-day challenge and found that most of what I wrote didn't turn out to be good or useful. It was great for feeling disciplined and virtuous, but it didn't actually help me get closer to my writing goals. Instead, for me, co-working has been the most transformative method for making writing progress -- both in person and virtually. I've had marvelous success with in-person co-working retreats, but mostly I do co-working as a member of Flow Club, which hosts virtual shorter increment sessions (90-minute and 2-hour sessions work best for me). The combination of accountability and the need to clear my schedule for a known increment of time seems to matter more than writing daily for me. I also try to book conference travel so that I arrive a day early, so that if needed, I have time set aside to tweak my paper or slides without pulling an all-nighter. And if I don't need it, I get to take myself to a nice restaurant and read something fun. Mostly though, I think the key is try lots of different strategies and methods so you can find what works best for you!
Love all of this, Emily! My favorite line is, "Mostly though, I think the key is try lots of different strategies and methods so you can find what works best for you!" There's so much advice out there and the reality is, there are many paths to reaching your writing goals. The key is to experiment and figure out what works for you. Thanks for sharing!
Really enjoyed this, Jenn! I have drank that kool aid myself, setting an unrealistic daily rule and dropping off shortly after. It caused me to feel uncommitted, when the truth is, I felt boxed in by uninspired rule following (you know how feral I am). This article inspired me to just write as the inspiration flows, but be intentional about actually writing, not just dreaming about it :) Thank you!
This is a frequent discussion with my doctoral mentees. I am not of the 30 minutes per day persuasion. My experience is likely rather different from many academics.
I started my professional life working as a law clerk for the U.S. Courts and then moved into private practice as a litigation attorney. In both jobs writing is just a part of life most days but there are seldom two days alike. In the court we might be conducting a bench trial and the law clerk is the person preparing the draft opinion for the judge. That can mean days of setting, listening, and taking notes. Then there are days of writing the decision. Mixed into all of that is preparing draft decisions and orders for the judge on all the other matters on the docket assigned to you are the clerk.
In litigation it was similar. There were weeks of writing motions, responses, and replies. Every so often there was an appellate brief. On some occasions one had to draft jury instructions. All of this requires “research,” which is essentially documentary research in a very stylized manner. My case load as a litigation associate was generally around 25 cases or “matters,” which were at different stages in the process.
What I learned from this was that build a system of writing efficiently. That is not just writing 30 minutes a day or x words per day. What does work is to set a deadline to get something done. In litigation the processes are chunked into the various motions and stages of a case. In academia this can be accomplished with a realistic outline of what needs to be done and then chunking it into tasks. The tasks are typically not just writing. Some items may need additional support, or what we could call research in litigation. There may be a need to do different types of editing.
Typically this starts with an outline and managing completion as a project. AI actually can help a lot in the development of the outline. The key is to have a realistic structure and fill in the white spaces.
I completely agree that one of the big writing roadblocks for people is not having a clear map of what needs to be done. So often people sit down and say, "I'm going to work on X project, but they don't know where they left off last session nor do they know what to work on." I don't fault them for this because we don't teach project management in most grad programs and have to fumble around in the dark until we figure out how to break things into parts. Thanks for sharing your expereince!
I've done the 750-words-a-day challenge and found that most of what I wrote didn't turn out to be good or useful. It was great for feeling disciplined and virtuous, but it didn't actually help me get closer to my writing goals. Instead, for me, co-working has been the most transformative method for making writing progress -- both in person and virtually. I've had marvelous success with in-person co-working retreats, but mostly I do co-working as a member of Flow Club, which hosts virtual shorter increment sessions (90-minute and 2-hour sessions work best for me). The combination of accountability and the need to clear my schedule for a known increment of time seems to matter more than writing daily for me. I also try to book conference travel so that I arrive a day early, so that if needed, I have time set aside to tweak my paper or slides without pulling an all-nighter. And if I don't need it, I get to take myself to a nice restaurant and read something fun. Mostly though, I think the key is try lots of different strategies and methods so you can find what works best for you!
Love all of this, Emily! My favorite line is, "Mostly though, I think the key is try lots of different strategies and methods so you can find what works best for you!" There's so much advice out there and the reality is, there are many paths to reaching your writing goals. The key is to experiment and figure out what works for you. Thanks for sharing!
Really enjoyed this, Jenn! I have drank that kool aid myself, setting an unrealistic daily rule and dropping off shortly after. It caused me to feel uncommitted, when the truth is, I felt boxed in by uninspired rule following (you know how feral I am). This article inspired me to just write as the inspiration flows, but be intentional about actually writing, not just dreaming about it :) Thank you!
I'm so glad! Yes, writing rhytems are highly personal and I don't believe anyone should dictate yours. You are most welcome!
This is a frequent discussion with my doctoral mentees. I am not of the 30 minutes per day persuasion. My experience is likely rather different from many academics.
I started my professional life working as a law clerk for the U.S. Courts and then moved into private practice as a litigation attorney. In both jobs writing is just a part of life most days but there are seldom two days alike. In the court we might be conducting a bench trial and the law clerk is the person preparing the draft opinion for the judge. That can mean days of setting, listening, and taking notes. Then there are days of writing the decision. Mixed into all of that is preparing draft decisions and orders for the judge on all the other matters on the docket assigned to you are the clerk.
In litigation it was similar. There were weeks of writing motions, responses, and replies. Every so often there was an appellate brief. On some occasions one had to draft jury instructions. All of this requires “research,” which is essentially documentary research in a very stylized manner. My case load as a litigation associate was generally around 25 cases or “matters,” which were at different stages in the process.
What I learned from this was that build a system of writing efficiently. That is not just writing 30 minutes a day or x words per day. What does work is to set a deadline to get something done. In litigation the processes are chunked into the various motions and stages of a case. In academia this can be accomplished with a realistic outline of what needs to be done and then chunking it into tasks. The tasks are typically not just writing. Some items may need additional support, or what we could call research in litigation. There may be a need to do different types of editing.
Typically this starts with an outline and managing completion as a project. AI actually can help a lot in the development of the outline. The key is to have a realistic structure and fill in the white spaces.
I completely agree that one of the big writing roadblocks for people is not having a clear map of what needs to be done. So often people sit down and say, "I'm going to work on X project, but they don't know where they left off last session nor do they know what to work on." I don't fault them for this because we don't teach project management in most grad programs and have to fumble around in the dark until we figure out how to break things into parts. Thanks for sharing your expereince!