Guest Post: Writing and Writer's Block as a Professor

This is part two of my two-parter (Part I can be found here). The point of the two-part guest post is to demonstrate a shared experience: writer's block and insecurities are not unique to ECRs. The below post is from a professor at a very highly ranked research university (friends in high places!). The conversation, like so many in academia, began in a bar and took surprisingly little convincing, as we were discussing the struggle of getting a paper written. When asked for the requirements, my three part response was simple: 1) write honestly about the experience 2) be as frank as you wish 3) anonymity will cover 1 and 2. 

So, without further ado, LaProfesseur, unabridged and unedited.

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When theAdmin suggested I do a blog-style piece on the extent to which experienced academics still suffer from writers’ block, I thought:   ‘Yeah!  That’ll be fun!  I’ll do that right away!’  That was about six months ago. 

So, the answer, emphatically, is yes.  Even when the stakes are pretty low (apart from the threat of the ire* of theAdmin) some of us never do outgrow our love-hate relationship with writing.  I love having written something.  Actually writing something, myehh, not so much.   I still experience many of the same symptoms that I did when I was a novice keen to break in to the world of publishing but uncertain about how to do it.  That includes:  many of the same insecurities about whether I’m saying anything worthwhile; many of the same fears about certain Imagined Readers (I have two Imagined Readers who can freeze me mid-sentence if they pop into my mind);   many of the same infantile procrastination strategies (eyebrow plucking, anyone?).   So if you are looking for reassurance that you will outgrow bad habits and The Dreads, I’m sorry.  So if not comfort, what can an an experienced professor at a highly ranked research-intensive University offer to someone who shares the writer’s block affliction but has only just started to publish? Empathy:  definitely.  It’s hard.  My sympathies.  It’s not just you.  And…perhaps a little advice on how I have learnt to defeat myself (occasionally) at my own games.  A few of my more successful strategies (that is, sometimes they work) are below. 

• ·         Strategy one:  have a really solid outline.  These are not so onerous to write and once it’s done, you really are on your way.  This helps to focus the mind and start the flow.  It also helps to impose coherence.  Entropy is always a risk in the panic of writer’s-block-meets-deadline; a solid framework helps you to avoid it. 
• ·         Strategy two:   write something; anything.  The tyranny of the blank page is a nightmare.  Even a title, your name, a few references that you know you will use in the correct format for your target journal:  it all creates a comforting sense of progress.  I often infill sections of the outline that I know I can do easily or which I feel passionately about.  You can worry about how it all holds together later.
• ·         Strategy three:  speaking of flow, find it and go with it.  I don’t know the provenance of the expression and wouldn’t recommend taking it literally, but I suspect this is the wisdom of ‘write drunk; edit sober’.   Self-editing from a critical place is necessary eventually, but can be paralysing when you are trying to get into the flow.
• ·         Strategy four:  replace those dreaded Imagined Readers with some friendly, supportive people that see things your way and will appreciate your work.  Write for them first.  In later editing, you can defend yourself against the others.

A theme is emerging here, which is about acknowledging writing as a process with easier and more difficult stages.  Making the difficult stages easier and picking the low-hanging fruit of the easy stages allows you to get to a place where you feel the article taking shape.  Then it’s okay to let your more critical self out of that dungeon in your mind.

Ironically, I think I have a reputation for being pretty reliable.  In other words, I do usually manage to get things done despite the procrastination and various forms of torture I put myself through.   For all my flaws, I do respect both negotiated timelines and imposed deadlines; not respecting them only makes things much worse.  That is something I HAVE learnt and it is increasingly true as work intensifies.  Postponements and creative blocks are rarely a product of having too much to do.  You can make those deadlines too – and no-one needs to know the agony behind the scenes.

*NB – the Admin doesn’t really do ire – follow her kind and wise advice!

-LaProfesseur

Guest Post: Writing and Writer's Block as an ECR

Firstly, Happy New Year to all my readers! I hope 2015 brings you all health, wealth, and, of course, published papers! 

Secondly, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for all the follows, retweets, posts, emails, messages, and comments. It's been great exercising my editorial muscles over the past year and trying to catalogue some of the knowledge that I've accumulated over the past 7 (yikes! has it been that long?) years. 2015 has some exciting things in store - I officially made the switch to freelance at the end of 2014 so will have more time to devote to blogging (haha) alongside my academic career. So do tell all your friends about me. And keep asking questions! 

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For being such loyal readers, for your belated Christmas gift, I decided to post this and its counterpart Guest Post: Writing and Writer's Block as a Professor rather than the normal drivel spewing forth from my own keyboard. The two posts are from two ends of the academic spectrum. In the first, theECR comments on getting through the early years of publishing, as well as the lingering fears and anxiety that we all feel. In the second post, LaProfesseur comments on the established years of publishing, as well as the lingering fears and anxiety that we all feel. And thus the idea behind the two guest posts: ECRs are not alone in fears and anxieties. I'm not saying this to scare you into thinking that it'll never go away. Quite the opposite. The intention is to show you that such things are normal and an integral part of an academic career. Learn to deal with them now, and you'll find they'll become much less of an issue. 

So without further ado, here is a completely unedited version of theECR's words:

It’s been over three months since I had my first peer-reviewed article accepted by a top journal in my field and I’m still pinching myself… and still sort of waiting for them to tell me they’ve made some terrible mistake. To put the imposter syndrome aside for a moment (don’t worry, it’s just for a moment…), when theAdmin asked if I’d contribute a post on the writing process, I agreed immediately. I mean, loads of people blog. How hard could it be?

Actually, it’s pretty hard.

So here I am, trying to write a post about writing, writer's block, and my experience, and, guess what? Yep. I have full on writer's block. You really couldn’t make it up. Underpinning this latest bout of writer’s block was the gnawing question of ‘what if people think my post is rubbish’? In fact, substitute ‘post’ for ‘thesis’, ‘chapter’, or ‘article’ and that pretty much typifies my perception of my academic career to date.

How I Feel Most Days...    Tumblr.com

It would’ve been so easy to suffer in silence, to walk even further into what The Thesis Whisperer has called ‘The Valley of Shit’. I was staring at a blank screen. I was worried about how the blog post would be received. I was convinced I couldn’t write anything useful. Worse than that though, I just felt very alone... just me and this blank screen. All this was uncomfortably familiar. It was exactly how I felt when writing my first article.

Yep...my usual response to The Valley of Shit imgur.com

I knew what I had to do… cue a whiney, late night conversation to theAdmin. It didn’t take long before I soon realised that staring at a blank page and all the various neuroses that come with it are actually totally normal. In fact, they’re fairly typical of the ECR experience.

So, that was a pretty long meandering introduction to a simple truth: we get stuck all the time and there’s no shame in that. In fact, part of being an ECR is learning to use our resources and to ensure that we don’t travel through ‘The Valley of Shit’ on our own. We have guidance and enthusiasm. We have structure and plans (my PhD work plan is my pride and joy…). We have serious support networks, which include our supervisors and mentors, colleagues and friends, and lovely people like theAdmin.

These resources are important. They help you get started and they can even keep you going. I mean, is there any better feeling than someone telling you that you’re on the right track, or that your work is actually good?

Feels GOOD!    imgur.com

My experience was one of trial and error, just like yours will be. But let me start at the beginning of the article writing process. As in all academic disciplines, publishing is paramount. What is it they say? Publish or perish? Unfortunately, it’s a reality for all researchers even ECRs. I knew that I needed to have something accepted for publication otherwise I could kiss goodbye any chance of making it on to a job application long list…

The idea for my article came from the first chapter of my thesis. My supervisor thought it was good enough to publish from and actively encouraged me to turn it into an article. He even suggested a journal that would be most suitable. His buy in and belief in my work gave me an initial boost. However, the prospect of transforming an 11,000 word chapter into a 7,000 word article was tough. What should I cut? Would the journal actually like it? Was it too theoretical?

After bashing the article into some sort of respectable first effort, I realised that I needed to call on my support network. I was too close to this work. It was too precious to me and there was the danger that I had lost a certain amount of objectivity. Was I killing enough of my darlings? Thankfully, my supervisor, theAdmin, and another ECR chum were willing to give up their time to read through my first effort. To be honest, it was pretty nerve wracking just asking for their feedback, but I knew that I had to get the article into the best possible shape before I cast it into the depths of the dreaded peer-review process…

I must’ve printed out the article six times to edit it, edit it some more, and maybe a little more after that. Throughout that period, I had convinced myself that this manuscript was going to be instantly rejected. I soon began to doubt the originality of my approach, the breadth and depth of my research, and my ability to write coherently and, more importantly, academically.

This is not an ideal mindset... tumblr.com

Needless to say, submitting through the journal portal (in this case, ScholarOne) was nerve wracking and daunting. I’d followed the formatting instructions (always remember to do that, otherwise people like theAdmin get peeved), I’d uploaded the anonymised document, I’d dotted the Is and crossed the Ts. And I’d seriously run down the battery on theAdmin’s mobile owing to frantic late night nervous texting.

Why so nervous you might ask? Well, there were many reasons… I was putting my research out there for the first time in written form. It was going to be reviewed and critiqued by experts in my field. I was worried that, if it was rejected, I’d have let down both my supervisor and myself. Clicking that ‘Submit Manuscript’ button was hard because it was loaded with so many hang ups and expectations… all of which I’d placed upon myself.

But you know what? The bit that happened after clicking the button was pretty straightforward and far from the nightmarish experience I thought it would be. We’re not really taught what to expect with the whole peer-review journal process. My misguided belief was that two academics would tear apart my article with glee abandon, laughing their way through my tenuous arguments and flimsy evidence. We’re led to believe that it’s an unknown, mysterious abyss from which a polished paper will magically appear. This is completely false. Contrary to my unfounded, initial expectations, both the editorial and peer-review process were incredibly helpful. The editors were extremely approachable and flexible. The comments received from both reviewers were considered and aimed to strengthen the piece rather than denigrate it. Imagine my pleasure when one of the reviewers even suggested that my manuscript should be published in its current form. That felt like a win in its own right, but, perhaps more importantly, it was a vindication that my work was sufficiently original and interesting.

This is what winning feels like.... imgur.com

Ultimately, my article was accepted with minor revisions. All in all, it wasn’t the nightmarish process I’d psyched myself up for. As theAdmin has mentioned countless times, this is a process run by fellow academics that have probably felt just as nervous, have had writer’s block, and have worried about clicking that ‘Submit Manuscript’ button just like you.

This is the bit where I try and distill some insightful words of wisdom to help you with the writing process. Firstly, don’t be afraid of using your support network… even if it’s just chatting about ideas over a coffee. Second, remember that the peer reviewers are there to help strengthen your work. They’re not evil ogres. They’ve more than likely been in exactly the same position. Third, without wanting to sound all Disney, believe in your own ability and don’t be scared of writer’s block. It happens to all of us.

I hope this has been useful. Also, make sure you keep reading theAdmin's blog! There's got to be some good stuff coming at some point, right?

-theECR