I've been writing about this on Techsophist as a sort of metadiscourse to help me make conscious choices about how I write now that I have a book-length writing project. The main things I've come up with that are different for me is scheduled writing every day, many mini-deadlines, and friendly competition with my office mate who is also writing her dissertation. I'd like to hear from those of you who are now post-diss about how you go about writing a big (something large enough to logically need chapters) writing project and how it differs from your usual writing process. Did you stand and write like Hemingway (I always thought that was silly)? How did you keep on track?
Strategies for Long-Term Writing
Submitted by llcadle on September 9, 2004 - 09:39.
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Collin's advice
I'm just starting the prospectus myself, so I've nothing profound to add, but check out Collin's advice.
CultureCat
Collin's advice
What a great post! It's a good look at the process from the committee's view as well, something I think is worth knowing.
When I wrote my memoir, I set
When I wrote my memoir, I set the goal of writing at least 2 pages a day. Doesn't seem like much, but if you grind it out, day-in and day-out, it doesn't take long. I wrote a 300-page book in about a year. Now I'm working on revisions.
Of course, if you add up the days, you realize it doesn't work--I should have been able to do it in half a year. However, I didn't work on weekends or the kids' school holidays, so I think it works out about right.
--Dave
Hunter S. Thompson Style
My workload is usually too hectic, with too many sudden fires to put out (between committees, advising, family, etc.) for me to actually be able to set aside regular scheduled times. (I really wish I could--I think I'd be more productive.) I can usually carve out an hour or two every couple of days to work on shorter pieces--articles, chapters, conference papers--but I don't make enough progress on book-length projects that way.
What I've been doing the last several years is setting aside two or three days about once or twice a semester where I rent a cheap hotel room close to home (I've lately been staying at the wonderfully old-school Hotel Saranac in the Adirondacks, about 45 minutes from my house and $45 a night), pack several suitcases full of books, notes, and other paperwork), and load my truck up with the suitcases, my acoustic guitar, some headphones, and a couple of fifths of Wild Turkey. (The last item may explain some passages in work I've published.) I usually work for about 18 hours a day, and I'm completely wiped out by the time I get home, but I always come home with a hundred pages of new text, or major revisions of a full manuscript.
It's sort of bizarre, but it works for me. I wrote most of Designing Effective Websites over two of these sessions, and did about 40% of the major writing and revision to Datacloud in sessions like this near home (and tacked onto the end of conference or speaking trips in Worcester, MA, Tampa, and Chicago last year). And since I absolutely hate writing and am miserable to be around when I'm doing it, my family actually is happy that I'm not around when I'm working on large projects.
(As always, "I am not a role model.)