Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Another episode of writer's bloc



http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1159



This is exactly the point I am in my writing. I've got my existing and about-to-be-submitted papers, and I've been moving text around, inserting bits here and there. I've gotta get my act together and actually make it look like a thesis and not a series of publications.

I stumble upon two situations which cause me grief: (1) the writing and rewriting of sentences that I already understand, but have trouble communicating an idea in a concise manner, and (2) just not knowing what else to say.

Situation (1) is not a fun place to be in. I get lost in time sometimes and get stuck on a sentence/paragraph for hours. Situation (2) isn't too bad, cause it clearly is a signal that I should stop writing, and work things out on a whiteboard, or hunt down articles and do more reading.

I mention grief, but it's not that I don't enjoy this process. Sure there are non-fun periods of time. But that's part of it. Overall, I have a vision in my brain how I expect things to turn out.

But my main adversary is TIME. I resent the calendar as the days are whizzing by now. I've got so much I still want to do, but there must be a point where I just have to stop the ideas and get the writing done.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Whiteboard frenzy


Thought that it would be productive to have my own whiteboard at home, and I will hence be able to save paper with my doodling. And I'll be able to take photos of them without embarrassing myself! (Coz I take photos of whiteboard stuff we discuss in my supervisor's office, lest I forget anything. He used to find it odd, but now he uses his new iMac to do the same thing!)