On Writing

"Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go."

E.L. Doctorow

The above quotation sums up the way that my focus on writing has expanded from just the end finished product to thinking about the process itself. Writing as a process can help you to learn what it is you think about a topic and what you know. Again it is that plunge into the unknown that makes writing frustrating and exhilarating. Freewriting into rough paragraphs can then provide the fodder for later ideas and other ways of looking at a text; it can expose the gaps in your research and help to find new ways of structuring a piece.

More than anything I've found by thinking about the process the end result seems to happen in a less stressful manner, and so my body takes on less physical stress. As at the end of the day the ability to think with clarity and write are bodily processes. For example tiredness after a bout of insomnia can leave you feeling drained, tetchy and sluggish. It can feel difficult to focus. These are not ideal conditions to start writing part of a complex theoretical work but this is not to say that on those days where you are not well rested you shouldn't try to write. A little and often goes a long way. Think tortoise and not hare.

Self-Reflexivity

Lately I've been thinking a lot about simple ways to improve my happiness. This was inspired by Gretchen Rubin's 'The Happiness Project' blog and book. I have become much more self-conscious about the way I go about the world and whether I am reaching my own idea of potential. I think this project has come to me at a time when I am ready for it, which fits the saying that when you are ready to learn the teacher will reveal itself to you. Why am I telling you all this? The chapter of the book that I finished over lunch was about allowing yourself to embrace your passions. I'm already doing quite well with this, since mine are finding out about new ideas, discussions, writing and reading. I'm trying to think of ways that I can reflect this in my daily life. For a while I've wanted to use this blog as a place to store quotations, ideas, thoughts and fleeting moments, so my conclusion is that I'm going to start posting something at least 5 days a week. Let's see how I go!

“Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.”
Zeno of Citium

I'm joining InAdWriMo 2009!!

Ok thanks to Alice Academic's post that I read this morning, I've decided to join in the challenge of InAdWriMo. It is the academic alternative to NaNoWriMo (Aim: write a 50,000 word novel in a month), which was started by Fumbling Towards Geekdom in 2006.

The aims are as follows:

• Write as much as you can and get those niggling projects finished at least in the rough draft version.
• Post a word count progress bar on your blog
• Write about your progress on your blog
• Register at this post so you can receive moral support from your fellow academic writers.

I'm going to use this as inspiration to help me complete the following tasks:

• write more on my dissertation (7,000)
• write progress review documents (2,000)
• write my conference paper to present end of next week (3,000)
• write a shitty first draft of my book chapter (8,000)

Well I'm going in to start some of this writing and hoping that I can think through my fingers! Best of luck to any of the rest of you who are participating in InAdWriMo 2009 (and to those other academic dissertation writers)!!

Inspirational Quotation

'If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? The game is worthwhile in so far as we don't know what will be the end.'

Michel Foucault

This quotation is giving me to write everyday even when I'm not sure what to write about, as by writing I'm discovering what I want to argue, to read and how to piece things together. It feels exciting. My current goals are to write a minimum of 500 words a day (though it is often more than that).

I will update shortly on my developing thoughts on genealogy and its usefulness for my project, as that has been the main focus of my daily writings for the past day or two.