The good news, I just figured out the transitions between chapters 3 and 4, and chapters 5 and 6. The bad news: the final piece in the puzzle that’s been the structure of my book occurred to me as I was falling asleep. Two pages of frenzied writing later, I am wide awake. Time to […]
Category Archives: Work(+flow)
More on the Writing Process
Today’s a slow writing day, which is to be expected since I’m not technically in the middle of something. I “finished” a draft of chapter 2, except that what I thought was going to fit into chapter 2 has now split into chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 3 is a bit tough because I have […]
Back in the Saddle
Since returning from Minnesota, life at our place has been all about writing, at least as much as possible. Carrie has actually been on a roll for months and will send out her book manuscript for review before we leave for Australia in July. As for me, I haven’t had this much sustained time to […]
Grad Students: Record Your Meetings With Your Profs
I know the headline sound paranoid, but it’s not. Just think about it. You’ve written a chapter of your dissertation, a seminar paper, whatever. You go in and meet with your prof for an hour or more and have a great discussion about it. You take some notes. You’re excited. You get busy. You leave […]
An Organizational System That Works (for me, sort of)
As promised in the last post. The next one will be about television. I’ve mentioned my ongoing struggle to be more organized elsewhere on this blog. The chair position has forced the issue and I think I have a system that sort of works. It’s not perfect, but it’s alright. Keep in mind I hate […]
Academic Labor Politics in the Air
It must be the season or something. Today, our TA union staged a demonstration outside the front gates in support of their ongoing contract negotiations. McGill teaching assistants are quite underpaid compared to their counterparts at other Canadian universities and “R1” universities in the U.S. It’s a Quebec thing, since they’re better paid than TAs […]
How to Read a Book in Less than an Hour
Chris Kelty’s advice. I haven’t tried his method though I have my own “plowing” methods which I may detail at a later date if I decide there’s something original in it. I tend to real slowly and obsessively when I teach. Leaving aside dull and moralistic arguments about how much effort should be expended in […]