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qatarperegrineI just sent in what I think MIGHT be the final draft of an article for publication in a professional journal.
Almost exactly one year ago, my then-boss suggested that a conversation I'd had with a coworker -- about similarities between social work and language tutoring -- would make a good article. The coworker and I have been working on said article on and off ever since.
Last time I tried to count, we'd done at least 11 drafts, and that was (I think) three drafts ago. We've written, rewritten, e-mailed revisions to each other, rewritten, sent each other relevant books and articles, rewritten, met for hours and hours on two business trips to Pittsburgh, rewritten, gotten feedback from other social workers and language tutors, rewritten, submitted it for publication, had it accepted, cut the length by HALF to meet length requirements, and then rewritten some more.
This is my first time going through this process. I had no idea how perfectly one comes to loathe one's topic over the course of a year. (I think I understand Ph.D. students a lot better now.)
On the bright side, I just spent a full workday immersed in the article, and I'd forgotten how wonderfully engrossing that is. Though I'm a bit bored of the topic now, I still really really love the writing itself -- and, strangely, the rewriting. As frustrating as it was to have the journal editor say "You should explain x" when we thought we had explained x fabulously, I actually really enjoyed the puzzle of reading through closely and trying to work out where we might be confusing people and how we might get them to follow our thought process better.
I'd like to be spending more time doing substantive writing. (As opposed to throw-away LJ posts like this one.... Which, for the record, I've already editedfive six times. I think I've become addicted to editing.)
Almost exactly one year ago, my then-boss suggested that a conversation I'd had with a coworker -- about similarities between social work and language tutoring -- would make a good article. The coworker and I have been working on said article on and off ever since.
Last time I tried to count, we'd done at least 11 drafts, and that was (I think) three drafts ago. We've written, rewritten, e-mailed revisions to each other, rewritten, sent each other relevant books and articles, rewritten, met for hours and hours on two business trips to Pittsburgh, rewritten, gotten feedback from other social workers and language tutors, rewritten, submitted it for publication, had it accepted, cut the length by HALF to meet length requirements, and then rewritten some more.
This is my first time going through this process. I had no idea how perfectly one comes to loathe one's topic over the course of a year. (I think I understand Ph.D. students a lot better now.)
On the bright side, I just spent a full workday immersed in the article, and I'd forgotten how wonderfully engrossing that is. Though I'm a bit bored of the topic now, I still really really love the writing itself -- and, strangely, the rewriting. As frustrating as it was to have the journal editor say "You should explain x" when we thought we had explained x fabulously, I actually really enjoyed the puzzle of reading through closely and trying to work out where we might be confusing people and how we might get them to follow our thought process better.
I'd like to be spending more time doing substantive writing. (As opposed to throw-away LJ posts like this one.... Which, for the record, I've already edited
