http://insidehighered.com/views/2006/08/07/wink
I needed to read this article right now…obviously there are enough of “us” out there that needed it, especially at the end of the semester. Like this woman, I too have not finished nearly enough of what I hoped to during the summer “break.” Beyond the “I’m not alone” message, it is the “we need to take time to think and ‘incubate’” that I really liked. I just finished teaching 5 week eng102 (second semester, research focused FYC courses). I found myself writing “it would have been nice if you had the time of a sixteen week semester to further think, research, and revise while working on this project” more often than not. The students didn’t have the time to just let the material “sit” with them.
I too need to account for this…I think this is the reason that I’m switching my focus on how I write my dissertation. Instead of setting a goal for an “I’m finished” deadline, just set the daily goal of ### number of words a day. If I do that…the disseration will finish itself. I’m tired of the “guilt” of missing yet another deadline I set for myself. And I realize that working on it daily will also keep the back of my mind “sitting on” and “incubating” the material.
Of course as a writing instructor I should “know this” already and “know better;” but, I’m as guilty of “do as I say, not as I do” as anyone else.
