Notes from the Study: Some Reflections on the Writing Episode
Hello everyone and welcome to my library, a digital imagined workspace where I share book recommendations, advice on studying literature as a hobby, and sometimes reflections on my own process. You can imagine the library in whatever way most suits you, but I like to imagine a small, cozy room where walnut bookshelves fill the walls and books are stacked, or even double stacked, from floor to ceiling. I like to imagine a substantial wood desk, with a chair on either side, where we sit and have these office hours, as well as a comfortable sitting area with an overstuffed chair, a chaise lounge (because I love to lie down and read), and a small inlaid wood table lit by the gentle light of a Tiffany lamp, so, perhaps to fit all of this furniture the library isn’t so small, but it is still cosy. I like to imagine this space situated at the ground-floor front of a townhouse (where, from day to day, I imagine myself in different cities), where floor to ceiling drapes of rich velvet flutter with the breeze in the spring and summer, and where, during the dark, rainy months I drink tea and read to the sound of rainfall against the window. From this dreamy cavern that, if I’m being honest only exists in my mind, I write to you each week.
As some of you are probably already aware, last Wednesday Kim and I released our writing episode of Salon Evocations, an episode that we recorded in the salon pre-Covid many months ago, and while it is difficult to imagine how my writing process has changed in less than a year, all of this solitude during quarantine has given me plenty of time to reflect on my writing process and today I wanted to write a little bit about some of the things I have learned about myself as a writer that I would include if I were recording this episode today.
A rare glimpse into a rough draft page
One of my biggest discoveries since recording is that I will only write if it is the first thing I do in the morning. I used to like to begin my day with a reading, at times, thinking that this was an easy and encouraging way to begin the day, but during quarantine I had the time and space to realize that if I do not write first thing in the morning it is very likely that I will not write, and if you’re struggling to write, hear me out because this may help you as well. As I’ve discussed in previous posts, I’m a big fan of the pomodoro method. I think, setting a twenty-five minute timer helps to make writing less intimidating and also the time limit makes the writing I do feel more urgent. I am more driven to accomplish my writing because I know time is limited versus when the hours yawn out before me. However, there are other ways writing can become intimidating throughout the day. Particularly as an academic, the specter of writing looms large, so large we have a phrase around the pressures to produce the written word “publish or perish” describes the very real relationship between an academic career and publishing new knowledge. If we do not write we do not publish, and if we do not publish it is not unusual for that to be the end of our careers. This pressure is two-fold for graduate students, who qualify to become professors by producing a 200 to 400 page document known as a “dissertation,” often accompanied today by the same pressure to publish articles while writing this qualifying document. Needless to say, from the minute any early career academic (graduate student, independent scholar, visiting professor, adjunct, or tenure track professor) wakes up until the time they go to bed, the specter of writing exists either in the background or foreground of our lives, and, while I personally take a lot of joy in writing, that love of process rarely relieves the sense of pressure.
So, what happens if I wait until I’ve read an article, before I write? Well, even during that brief hour to two hour long task I will spent a disproportionate amount of my time thinking “you should be writing.” Then, as I read, perhaps I’m so impressed by the article, I start to also think “I could never write anything as well informed as this.” Then, if an article is too closely related to my topic, or even just has the appearance of being too closely related in the first paragraph or two I might start to think “do I even have anything original to say?” Where I woke up in the morning refreshed and potentially full of writing energy, I’ve now become filled with self-doubt. Then, if I sit down and writing is hard, that compounds the pressure. So, I like to try to get my own thoughts out first, and now if it’s a writing day, I make writing the first thing I do while drinking my morning coffee. I set my pomodoro timer, and usually I’ll work for two pomodoros on one project, then shift for two more pomodoros on another writing project. Once I’ve completed approximately two hours of writing I give myself permission to turn to research related to those projects or to any other project that is on the horizon. Now, in the afternoons, I also have conversational French lessons and practice, which is a good afternoon task for me that is a part of my professional development (strengthening my confidence and knowledge of my research languages), but the first few hours of the morning is for writing! Having begun structuring my day this way I find I am much less likely to have days where I procrastinate writing so long that I simply don’t do it, and that is a secondary lesson I’ve learned. If I push writing off until 3 pm or later, the odds go up significantly that I will not write at all. Around three to four pm I lose concentration and start getting tired, sometimes, now that I’m writing in the morning, I might get a second wind in the evening and write some more, but I find to be able to do that I have to have written in the morning. If I haven’t written, the pressure is too high by the evening and I just can’t write.
Helen Sword’s Air & Light & Time & Space
Kim and I talk a lot about Helen Sword’s book: Air & Light & Space & Time, where Sword writes about the importance of finding a writing routine that works for you. What I really appreciate about this book is that Sword reveals, through data she collected about academic writing processes, that successful academics have their own writing routine, and these writing routines are not standardized. I bring this up because, while I find that I have to write in the morning, it is up to each of us to find the writing routine that works best for us, but I offer my process as an example of two things.
The writing process is a constantly evolving practice and it’s okay to change and try new things. We will always be learning what works best for us.
If you find that you’re struggling with the pressure to write, and procrastinating writing only to not do it, then maybe give making it your first task in the morning a try. You might be surprised what tackling the problem head on does for making your day less stressful.
Something else I have learned is that, while under strict or tight deadlines I can adapt, in general I write for four to five days a week and those last two to three days I need some downtime to think through new ideas or come up with where I’m going next. I used to try to write seven days a week but inevitably what happened was, there were days where I didn’t write (sometimes on weekdays, which was the worst because I felt a lot of pressure to get work done on weekdays without recognizing that part of the problem was I wasn’t resting on the weekends). Now, I pick the days I am not going to write and I tell myself I’m not writing, sometimes I even restrain myself from writing because I want to make sure that I get the rest I need in order to be able to continue to write productively and with intention.
When I was a graduate student I met a senior scholar, fully tenured and at the time a chair (we were on the same panel) who told me that when he was writing his dissertation he wrote five days a week during the daytime, then he took the evenings and weekends to read, watch films (he was a film scholar), and live life. Even during his dissertation he took time away from writing, and that story always stood out to me, that here was this senior scholar who was actively encouraging his younger colleagues to implement a conscious writing schedule that doesn’t allow writing to colonize every corner of our waking days. I think I’m a much more productive writer now, having put this to practice, because I’m more well-rested, and taking those days off from writing allows me to come back to my work rejuvenated and enthusiastic about writing instead of feeling constantly drained and worn out from writing. So, I encourage you to track your writing and see approximately how much you’re writing, if there are days where you aren’t writing but you also aren’t resting (because you’re still putting yourself under pressure to write), and start taking some conscious days off based on what you learn from tracking your habits. My logic for this goes as follows: if I’m not writing anyway, I might as well enjoy those days and get the rest I need rather than self-flagellating and wearing myself out more. Those days aren’t filled with writing already, why not make it conscious and intentional so I can benefit from that break.
So, there are two ways I’ve altered my writing practice in order to work better for me. I hope this post offers you some ideas if you’re struggling without suggesting that there’s one, monolithic way to write. Have any questions for me, or want to share something about your writing process that you think could benefit others? Leave your thoughts in the comments!