Ooof. So how I'm feeling.
Great post by New Kid on the Hallway: Writer's block - a trip down memory lane.
I'm about 3000 words behind. Feeling out of touch, distracted, and hating myself! I have like two weeks left to get in a decent, defendable draft.
Unfortunately, New Kid's advice #1 about climbing out of block (DO NOT ISOLATE YOURSELF) is not something I've done to myself. My institution is 1200 miles away, and my advisor, much as I love him, isn't exactly chatting it up over email at the moment; I guess there's more than me to worry about on his end. I will say every time I see the area code of my institution pop up on my phone or a new message popped up in the inbox devoted to emails from my institution, I'm filled with dread. Somebody is going to be mad at me for not being more on top of it.
I'm reading. Thinking. Not writing. And I'm not the type of writer that will all of a sudden sit down and write 20 pages after weeks of percolating. I write very slowly. I'm hte type that makes 5 cups of coffee and has 10 snacks. Plus there's life and boy to distract at the moment, too.
Anyway, I appreciated this post.
Comments
J, I am SO the type that makes 5 cups of coffee and has 10 snacks. Mike is the sit down and write 20 pages overnight with footnotes type. One time I was trying to finish a term paper, and I did everything but write. Mike came home and said, "how's the paper?" and I said, "Let me show you our clean hall closet." :)
Posted by: Rachel | March 18, 2006 8:56 PM
I loved reading New Kid on the Hallway's post and your response to it, but it also makes me cringe, not only for your writer's block and frustrations, but also for the fact that I have to start the long process of dissertating this summer. And let's not talk about the fact that I don't have a topic yet. You'll pull through this, because you're brilliant and dedicated to your work, but I totally understand the feelings of hating yourself for not being more productive. It stinks that most of us academes have to go through that.
Rachel, your comment was awesome. In a fit of writer's block last year, I single-handedly rearranged our entire living room while my husband was on the computer in the other room, and he was a little surprised when he came out to see my handiwork. I'm guessing that many parts of my house that haven't seen a dustrag or a sweeper in quite some time will be sparkling by the time I get into full swing on my dissertation. Ugh.
Posted by: Erica | March 20, 2006 12:51 PM