Comments on: On Putting a Fork In It http://savageminds.org/2009/04/09/on-putting-a-fork-in-it/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:06:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Information Foraging | Savage Minds http://savageminds.org/2009/04/09/on-putting-a-fork-in-it/comment-page-1/#comment-593571 Information Foraging | Savage Minds Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:29:20 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1802#comment-593571 [...] up on Rex’s last post, I’d like to ask readers a question about doing online research. One of my favorite Radio [...] [...] up on Rex’s last post, I’d like to ask readers a question about doing online research. One of my favorite Radio [...]

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]]> By: John McCreery http://savageminds.org/2009/04/09/on-putting-a-fork-in-it/comment-page-1/#comment-593391 John McCreery Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:43:51 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1802#comment-593391 Could be it's time to send it off and see what happens. If nothing else, that gets it off the top of your stack, making room for something else. But, switching tacks again, another barrier may be the notion that each article has to be a finished work of art, complete within its own frame. When I go back and read Vic Turner, for example, I note how much his essays overlap. None simply repeats the other. Instead, you see the constantly wrestling with new chunks of data, starting with already developed ideas but pushing them in new directions and adding new ideas suggested by the new cases. The result is not a set of perfectly formed gems but, rather, an evolving body of work that grows richer with each iteration. Could be it’s time to send it off and see what happens. If nothing else, that gets it off the top of your stack, making room for something else.

But, switching tacks again, another barrier may be the notion that each article has to be a finished work of art, complete within its own frame. When I go back and read Vic Turner, for example, I note how much his essays overlap. None simply repeats the other. Instead, you see the constantly wrestling with new chunks of data, starting with already developed ideas but pushing them in new directions and adding new ideas suggested by the new cases. The result is not a set of perfectly formed gems but, rather, an evolving body of work that grows richer with each iteration.

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]]> By: Rex http://savageminds.org/2009/04/09/on-putting-a-fork-in-it/comment-page-1/#comment-593278 Rex Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:25:51 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1802#comment-593278 I have to agree -- since you only really write papers as part of your ongoing conversation with some community of readers, it really is important to make a community part of the writing process. This means getting feedback, or even just having someone listen to you as you try to explain to them what you are trying to do. How easy that is depends on where you are, who is around, how well your friends use the Internet, etc. That said, I think that even work done in contact w/others reaches a point where you just stop caring enough to keep going. Partially I think this has to do about community too -- people have _heard_ about it and read _drafts_ but they keep waiting for the real thing so that they can circulate/cite it. But mostly I think there is a point in which you say "this has to be out the door so I can move on or else I am going to start stripping the gears" I have to agree — since you only really write papers as part of your ongoing conversation with some community of readers, it really is important to make a community part of the writing process. This means getting feedback, or even just having someone listen to you as you try to explain to them what you are trying to do. How easy that is depends on where you are, who is around, how well your friends use the Internet, etc.

That said, I think that even work done in contact w/others reaches a point where you just stop caring enough to keep going. Partially I think this has to do about community too — people have _heard_ about it and read _drafts_ but they keep waiting for the real thing so that they can circulate/cite it. But mostly I think there is a point in which you say “this has to be out the door so I can move on or else I am going to start stripping the gears”

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]]> By: John McCreery http://savageminds.org/2009/04/09/on-putting-a-fork-in-it/comment-page-1/#comment-593219 John McCreery Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:12:10 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1802#comment-593219 As someone who writes for a living, I can only agree that deadlines are wonderful things. When delivering before deadline is one of the reasons that clients bring you business, finishing becomes a priority. That said, I wonder why my academic friends seem to me incredibly casual about meeting deadlines. I don't know how many times I've heard editors complaining about manuscripts being repeatedly delayed. But, on a less snarky note, I wonder Rex, if you have anyone to work with as you write? When I'm hitting a wall as I write, I start talking about it, first to my wife (a very smart woman who is always able to point to something I may have missed or say, "I don't know what you are trying to say here). Then come other friends and acquaintances, even thinking out loud on the Internet. I can recall leaving graduate school with this crazy idea that academic writing is all about solitary genius, perfecting the great work before it is suddenly revealed to acclaim. From working in the ad industry, I have since learned that it makes sense to work in groups and be willing to brainstorm lame ideas and listen to what the others have to say about them. I may be stuck or not at the top of my game. Then someone else in the group says, "What about X?" and I'm off and running again. As someone who writes for a living, I can only agree that deadlines are wonderful things. When delivering before deadline is one of the reasons that clients bring you business, finishing becomes a priority. That said, I wonder why my academic friends seem to me incredibly casual about meeting deadlines. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard editors complaining about manuscripts being repeatedly delayed.

But, on a less snarky note, I wonder Rex, if you have anyone to work with as you write? When I’m hitting a wall as I write, I start talking about it, first to my wife (a very smart woman who is always able to point to something I may have missed or say, “I don’t know what you are trying to say here). Then come other friends and acquaintances, even thinking out loud on the Internet. I can recall leaving graduate school with this crazy idea that academic writing is all about solitary genius, perfecting the great work before it is suddenly revealed to acclaim. From working in the ad industry, I have since learned that it makes sense to work in groups and be willing to brainstorm lame ideas and listen to what the others have to say about them. I may be stuck or not at the top of my game. Then someone else in the group says, “What about X?” and I’m off and running again.

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