The Counter-Intuition of Writing

The funny thing about writing (or me?) is that for me, the project goes slowly and is stalled until and unless I take action. Let me give you an example. So I had the draft of my book for a long time. I completed most of it in January. Basically the writing came to me in big spurts. It was easy because all I had to say was already in my mind for a long time, they just flowed out.

But that draft was just there hanging. I wanted feedback but did not receive a lot. But those I received (very gratefully) helped pushed the work forward. And then it stalled...

But suddenly, the draft progressed... After I did two things:

1. I asked designers to design my front cover. Alright, so after the samples came out, I realised that my title could be improved and was not grammatically correct. I have not touched the title for a long time and the impetus to touch it came ONLY AFTER the book cover came out and I saw for myself something was wrong. So I sought M's advice and I improved the title.

2. I sent my draft out for copyediting. It's crazy but the number of things to be improved I spotted suddenly increased ONLY AFTER I sent it out. Prior to this, I was just sort of procrastinating, thinking that I have time to work on these small issues some time later. It was the sending it out that made me realised that the deadline to publication was actually nearly than I thought.

So I just want to share a tip with you, in case I am not a weird case, but my experience is shared by other human beings... Perhaps if something is slow and stalling for a long time, you might want to take an action that may initially seem illogical.

For example, you may think your work is still at its beginning stage... Of course, you don't send it for feedback from your supervisor or your peers! You wait till you improved this version, and then you send it out...

Or... You may think your work is still not yet close to being proofread... Of course! You don't send it for proofreading at this stage! Or you have wasted efforts! What is copyedited may be eventually deleted and you're wasting time and energy and MONEY! You wait and wait...

And here I am going to soon do the very illogical act of publishing a book on academic writing and publishing. Hey, this is the gal who GAVE UP her PhD studies to travel... What does she know about writing and publishing for graduate students?

Sometimes writing happens counter-intuitively and you need to trust your instincts and an act that seems illogical may be the very act you need to take at that moment to push yourself and your work forward. This has been my experience many times.

Sometimes even if you may not know the steps to take, the best thing you can do is to still take a step forward.

Updates...

I've not been here in awhile. I have been wandering about Latin America. I sometimes don't think what I am doing is considered "traveling". It seems more like random wandering with no particular purpose or order. I see many younger people traveling and I have so much to learn from them... I like how they systematically cover places of interest while keeping in touch with their loved ones. And how they end up in many places, each they personally chose to be at. Traveling at low cost. They look contented and happy.

How do they do it?

Alright. Back to this. Remember that book?

I took a long hiatus from it. One of my friends just gave me really good feedback and it scares and excites me at the same time. It scares me because her feedback is incisive and it excites me because I finally found someone who can give me the kind of feedback that can move the work forward. Incisive is exactly what I need.

I also wonder how much faith do I have. Do I have enough faith to think that piece of work can help anyone at all and is worth writing well? I don't feel like asking anyone that question. I feel like finding the answer myself. Just like how I stop asking someone what he or she likes about me. I will find out for myself what is likeable about me.