The Writing Process: A Test of Will
Well, I'm still buried deep in the "writing process." Last week, my advisor and I bumped the manuscript back and forth a few times and then on Friday he dropped a major bomb on me. The 9 page (single-spaced) document was now 4.5 pages! Over half of the introduction was gone and the first and last sentence of most paragraphs were deleted.
We talked about it for about an hour and he pointed out a few things that he still wanted me to work on. I spent most of the weekend angry about what was happening and realized that the editing process ultimately comes down to a test of will. I can argue and argue for the way I want it to be. My advisor can do the same. Ultimately, one of us has to back down or we both have to bend. I'm not sure why, but my experience has been that bending doesn't work. It's like the paper ends up sounding to wishy-washy because you never come straight out and say what you want to say. After a couple of days of thinking about it, I decided to just let my advisor have his way. I decided that it would be better to get the paper done and published (even if it isn't exactly how I want it) than to continue through this torture of editing and re-editing with him.
So, on Monday, I took my poor, hacked up paper and made the changes that we discussed last week. I sent it back to him and within 10 minutes he came over to my desk (after all, it just doesn't take very long to read 4 pages) to tell me that the paper is choppy and it's like we've taken 3 steps backward. Well, why do you think it's choppy? BECAUSE YOU DELETED THE FIRST AND LAST SENTENCE OF NEARLY EVERY PARAGRAPH!!!
Well, things seem like they're going from bad to worse when he next says to me, " We need to make this even shorter. Let's get it down to three pages." So, my 9 pages are now three pages and my 6 figures are now 3 figures. Is this progress?
We're planning on contacting some journals this week to see if they're interested in it. If we can finally get this thing out there, I'll be happy to just have it behind me. I need to get on with my postdoc/job search and I've been waiting to get this off my plate first. I don't think I can wait any longer, though, if I'm still going to defend in March.
We talked about it for about an hour and he pointed out a few things that he still wanted me to work on. I spent most of the weekend angry about what was happening and realized that the editing process ultimately comes down to a test of will. I can argue and argue for the way I want it to be. My advisor can do the same. Ultimately, one of us has to back down or we both have to bend. I'm not sure why, but my experience has been that bending doesn't work. It's like the paper ends up sounding to wishy-washy because you never come straight out and say what you want to say. After a couple of days of thinking about it, I decided to just let my advisor have his way. I decided that it would be better to get the paper done and published (even if it isn't exactly how I want it) than to continue through this torture of editing and re-editing with him.
So, on Monday, I took my poor, hacked up paper and made the changes that we discussed last week. I sent it back to him and within 10 minutes he came over to my desk (after all, it just doesn't take very long to read 4 pages) to tell me that the paper is choppy and it's like we've taken 3 steps backward. Well, why do you think it's choppy? BECAUSE YOU DELETED THE FIRST AND LAST SENTENCE OF NEARLY EVERY PARAGRAPH!!!
Well, things seem like they're going from bad to worse when he next says to me, " We need to make this even shorter. Let's get it down to three pages." So, my 9 pages are now three pages and my 6 figures are now 3 figures. Is this progress?
We're planning on contacting some journals this week to see if they're interested in it. If we can finally get this thing out there, I'll be happy to just have it behind me. I need to get on with my postdoc/job search and I've been waiting to get this off my plate first. I don't think I can wait any longer, though, if I'm still going to defend in March.
posted by pro_blogger at 12:46 PM
1 Comments:
Ah, I am starting "the writing process" as well, although just looking through the lab book right now, figuring out what available data can be used, and what data still needs to be taken.
My advisor, English not being her first language, doesn't seem like the type to micromanage writing style - unlike your advisor.
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