Revisions

I'm not good at revising. I never have been. I've always been a one-draft kind of woman. But that doesn't work for this process. So I'm revising. I've basically got a full draft of my dissertation (I'm saving the brief conclusion for the end, appropriately enough) and have a chapter revised (chapter 2). I'm working on revising chapter 1 -- my lit review -- this week. And last week, actually. I need it done by Friday so I can send it to my writing group. My deadline (May 2oth, I think) is fast approaching, but my motivation level is incredibly low. I am just soooo beyond done with all of this. 

But it has to get done, so here I sit in the grad carrels in the library with my bag of almonds, my piece of string cheese, and my Odwalla Strawberry C Monster, trying to face the day of meetings and writing. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping these are magic inspirational and motivational almonds. Tony Robbins almonds. Here's hoping.

If only there were a pill.....

Greetings, bootcampers. I found this YouTube video through a new blog, Thirty-Thirty. Take a look at the clip. It's a riot. (The blog is pretty good, too.) I only wish writing a dissertation were so easy..... ;-)

Checking in (again and again)

Hey, folks-- It's been a while since I've posted, but I think about you all (and this blog) just about everyday. I just returned from a conference in New Orleans where I was fortunate enough to meet Chris, Meagan, Jason (ok, I already knew Jason), K8, Tamika, and a whole host of other dissertation writers. It was so nice to meet others who are in the same boat. While I haven't written here as much as I would have liked (and I'm about to change that), I am so glad to know you all. I appreciate what you are experiencing, and I appreciate that you appreciate what I'm experiencing.

Right before New Orleans, I chatted with my advisor who was very supportive of my work thus far, and while in New Orleans, I was able to meet with one member of my committee. She, too, was supportive. I'm not exactly sure that I'll be able to pull it off, but our plan is for me to finish this summer. It's a huge task, but it just might be doable . . . doable now that I have reconfigured the dissertation.

Now, that sounds uncomfortable. I'm not really changing as much as I am limiting. And given that I'm working with sports, basic writing, and collegiate-level athletics, limiting the work has become an important activity. What I have produced thus far are methodology and case study chapters. The next chapter was to be about "alternative pedagogy" and alternative assignments, but I've decided to wait on that and let the data and that informs this chapter become other potentially publishable work. What I'll do now is take what I have and focus on how the fairly traditional assignments I have highlighted in the case study chapter were taught in with "alternative pedagogy." I hope that made sense.

But the point is to focus and finish. Focus and Finish. That's my new mantra.

While finishing and focusing on the dissertation is first and foremost (what's with all the "fs"?) on my schedule, I do have a few other writing projects bubbling to the surface. Chris and I are working on a collaborative article on student athletes and surveillance, and I'm finishing another collaborative piece with a local colleague on reflexive photography. I'm also drafting an article that is not dissertation related, but is related to my current full-time job: dissertation-writing groups in a writing center.

OK, I have about 3.5 months to finish my dissertation work. I think I can do it, but it'll be hard. I do have a tendency to be a bit soft emotionally . . . and I anticipate that to be a challenge, but I'll get this done. I'll get it done if I focus and finish. Expect me to post here quite often.

Oh, and I've been using an analogy for writing the dissertation for about a year: wrestling an alligator. I now have a picture. A real alligator. I've already kicked its ass so hard, it's color is gone. (Pic taken at the New Orleans Aquarium.)

Done-ish

Well, it's finally "done." There are holes in the chapter and the end falls apart, for sure, but I sent it to my chair for some overarching comments. My brain is pure pudding so I'm taking a few days off to do things like laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, and spending time with friends.

On Monday, I'm going to start revising my lit review. Wish me luck.

Quick update

Full draft by Monday? Not so much. 

Tuesday? Probably not, but hopefully close.

Wednesday? Now THAT seems do-able. I'm on page 33 right now and have lots more to say, so it's not so much about page length at this point I guess. Still 33 pages feels decent. I got 19 to my writing group on Friday, struggled on Saturday, but was relatively productive yesterday.

Tonight Meagan and I are meeting to talk about what we've written at a dive bar that has remarkably good grilled cheese sandwiches. So I'm going to try to keep writing for a bit and then head down there. 

Haven't heard much from the rest of the DBCers lately. Hope all is well. And good luck to those heading to CCCC. Wish I was there!

Chunks

I'm getting some writing done, but right now, it's all in chunk form. I'm not worried about this-- this is how my writing process goes-- but I still (still!) wish that everything I wrote came out whole and coherent and smooth on the first pass. This would be much quicker that way.

Some progress

Just a quick note to say that I'm on page 11 of my embodied rhetoric chapter. There's A LOT of information I need to figure out how to get into this chapter, but I feel like I have a better sense of how to do that than I did with the rhetorical listening chapter. I'd like to have a full chapter draft done by Monday or Tuesday, and would ideally have at least 20 pages to send to my writing group Friday night. That's the plan, Stan.

Reading, reading, reading

I apologize for not posting lately, but I've been reading instead of writing. I was hoping to get back to writing tomorrow, but I think it'll be more like Monday. I read two books today, though, so I'm happy about that. I have some errands to run tomorrow, but I'm hoping to read at least a few articles tomorrow, too.

How's everyone else out there doing?

Drafted

That seems appropriate (although scary, I suppose) for the whole Boot Camp idea. But I finally finished a very ugly draft of my third dissertation chapter (rhetorical listening) this morning. it's a complete disaster (also called a disaster draft, in my world), but it's done enough for now.

I'm heading over to the grad carrels to read for a few hours, then heading home on what is a very dreary New England day.

Almost

Tomorrow is the last day of February and I've said that this time, THIS TIME, I'm going to have this chapter draft done by the end of the month.

I lied.

But I am thisclose to having it done. It's messy and ugly and quite possibly the worst thing I've ever written, but it's close to at least being a completed mess. I'm at about 14,000 words and I still need to write the section about challenges to traditional notions of persuasion and might need a section on a pedagogy of rhetorical listening and I need to wrap up the rhetorical listening in the classroom section, but I feel like, at least for today, I'm at the end of my abilities.

We have friends coming into town tonight so my weekend is probably a lost cause. I only see them 2-3 times a year, at best, so I'm not willing to sacrifice my time with them for writing. But I think, I THINK, I can have this chapter done by mid week next week. It's possible that I could keep writing this afternoon, but my back hurts something fierce and there are dishes to be done.

So I give up. At least for now. But I wrote 6 pages today and that's something to celebrate.