it started with learning to knit back in november (thanks anita!!!). of course, my scarf was hideous at first, and instead of getting better, it has only gotten more hilarious. but the act of producing something that i could feel & hold in my hands & say "I MADE THIS!" was eerily satisfying and even calming during a semester of high stress (when i shouldn't have been doing ANYthing but sleeping, eating and writing).
now i am trying to convince myself that these things i am studying and writing for my thesis, these "ideas" or "postulations" if you will, are in fact concrete. well, they will be once i print them out & hold in my hand a hard copy & say "I MADE THIS!".
at least that's what i'm telling myself. and if it doesn't do the therapeutic trick, then i'll have to go knit something.
but, for now, i can boldly proclaim to the world that i have, indeed, started the concretiary productionation of my thesis! all 462 words of it!!!
and they're rock solid, baby.
[the Rock explaining what I will deliver to the Big Bad Thesis Boogeyman on April 1st, 2006]
10 comments:
462 words is a LOT. Way to go. And you've got the Rock behind you? You're solid.
(When do I get to hear about it?? I would say "read it," but I know better than that...)
One of the most important epiphanies (is that properly written?) I had last year was "Don't worry so much about the quality of your writing... just get on with it and the good writing, and the completion of all your papers will come to you. But stop judging your writing before it even gets to paper (or screen)". Ever since I've written more than ever. And I've become a slightly better writer. So I can relate to the feeling you describe. Whenever I get something done, I look at it and remember a saying "It's like a son: I don't know if it's pretty or ugly... but I know it's mine, and that does it for me".
Eduardo, you spelled that fine. I LOVE the say @ the son.
Fro, I feel you on the tangibility of a work in progress. But I think knitting is the perfect act to combat the frustration of having nothing to show for what you've done all day, week, month...
I think Eduardo's right @ writing techniques, though. Editing as you write is a sure-fire way to frustrate yourself, lose your coherence & spoil what could be an utterly triumphant experience.
when you write, just write. Leave the critiquing for when you're feeling less inspired.
it's good to hear that others have learned to same lesson i have about writing...well, i should say the lesson that i am trying to pound into my brain!
right now, i've made a compromise with my perfectionist self. i still do a lot of editing as i go, but i have forced myself to actually start writing with only a small inkling of the organization that my thesis will take. that doesn't mean that the final product will actually end up where i predicted, but it helps me be more focused in the process.
i am also much more prone these days to actually let something sit for a couple days before coming back to edit or add to it. this is an interesting battle of opposing forces: on the one hand, the things i'm writing now are just TOO LONG to write in one all-night-power-writing session. on the other hand, leaving enough time to edit means starting earlier (before the panic that i call 'inspiration' sets in) and having some sort of self-imposed deadlines that i actually stick to...
anyway, it's fun to have some mini-goals to distract me from the fact that i have to write 80 pages of publishable scholarship in the next 5 weeks. :)
knitting kept me sane for the last month or so of thesis writing. and for the past 7 weeks or so of babysitting. needless to say, i've nearly finished a sweater.
and writing your thesis will very nearly kill you. not to be pessimisstic--just a warning. so just know that ahead of time and just keep writing no matter what. by the time i get back to the States, you'll be done!
Alexander. When will you finish Campaspe?
Apelles. Never finish: for always in absolute beauty there is somewhat above art.
- John Lyly's Campaspe
beautiful quotation, becca!
Thanks! And thanks for calling it a quotation. For that, you get an A+
k
yes, yes. i knowledge the differentiate between verbs and nouns!
i don't know where that k came from...
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