We all need this t-shirt
Last month, I was in a Zoom book club call with Rachael Cayley, author of Thriving as a Graduate Writer. The book is brilliant, and I highly recommend it for graduate students and those who advise them. At one point in the conversation, Rachael said this:
“Writing is so amazingly resistant to efficiency measures.”
I instantly wanted that phrase on a t-shirt.
Now it might seem counter-productive for me to amplify this statement, since I’m in the business of helping academic writers move forward with their projects and Get. Sh*t. Done. But hear me out. One of the ways I help my writers make progress is by helping them accept that the process is often messy, non-linear, and slow. When writers accept the process, they avoid the paralyzing shame spiral of believing their work is messy, non-linear, and slow because something is wrong with them.
Everyone doing research and writing can use this reminder. The work is hard. Setbacks are to be expected. Discovering something new requires groping around in the dark. And it’s okay to ask someone to keep you company on the journey.