The easy non-analytical answer is: it wastes time. It is a distraction from all the things I should be doing. So, instead of looking for dishes to wash or making unnecessary grocery store runs, I blog. Blogging is simply a good reason not to work on my dissertation!!!
But of course like all academics I want to analyze this answer. So here goes:
Anyone who knows me, knows I love reading fiction even at the busiest times of the year. But I do not read fiction simply for the joy of reading. I read it because it makes me feel good about myself. Reading political theory takes time; reading fiction reminds me that I am still a fast reader. I can read!! I am not simply plodding through, I am making progress!!! It makes me feel like I have achieved something in the day.
Writing can be worse than reading. I feel more reluctant to write than to read – partially because reading is passive and writing is not. I know some of you must have felt the need to tweak a sentence or a paragraph for minutes on end or gotten so frustrated at not getting your point across that you abandoned the endeavor for the day.
Things get worse when you are teaching full-time. With 95 students this semester, I have been feeling the impact of teaching on my dissertation. Try writing at the end of a 9am-5pm day of teaching and what seemed daunting is now impossible. The busy work associated with teaching makes things worse. Answering emails, keeping track of attendance, meetings – they all have to be done and seem easier to get through than writing after a long day of teaching.
But now, I have the blog and it presents some advantages. At least blogging is writing – not academic writing maybe but some variation of writing. Just like reading fiction is not as productive as reading PT but better than pottering around the house, writing a blog may not be the same as writing my dissertation but it is better than not writing at all. Or spending time emailing students.
To be fair, there are other reasons. I look forward to my friends’ blog and so I want to write one too. I also like sharing thoughts and events in my life with friends and family scattered throughout the country. But ultimately, the one which comes to my mind is that it means I am writing – maybe not my dissertation but something. Delusion though this may be, this is the one important reason that jumps out at me. I am writing!!
But of course like all academics I want to analyze this answer. So here goes:
Anyone who knows me, knows I love reading fiction even at the busiest times of the year. But I do not read fiction simply for the joy of reading. I read it because it makes me feel good about myself. Reading political theory takes time; reading fiction reminds me that I am still a fast reader. I can read!! I am not simply plodding through, I am making progress!!! It makes me feel like I have achieved something in the day.
Writing can be worse than reading. I feel more reluctant to write than to read – partially because reading is passive and writing is not. I know some of you must have felt the need to tweak a sentence or a paragraph for minutes on end or gotten so frustrated at not getting your point across that you abandoned the endeavor for the day.
Things get worse when you are teaching full-time. With 95 students this semester, I have been feeling the impact of teaching on my dissertation. Try writing at the end of a 9am-5pm day of teaching and what seemed daunting is now impossible. The busy work associated with teaching makes things worse. Answering emails, keeping track of attendance, meetings – they all have to be done and seem easier to get through than writing after a long day of teaching.
But now, I have the blog and it presents some advantages. At least blogging is writing – not academic writing maybe but some variation of writing. Just like reading fiction is not as productive as reading PT but better than pottering around the house, writing a blog may not be the same as writing my dissertation but it is better than not writing at all. Or spending time emailing students.
To be fair, there are other reasons. I look forward to my friends’ blog and so I want to write one too. I also like sharing thoughts and events in my life with friends and family scattered throughout the country. But ultimately, the one which comes to my mind is that it means I am writing – maybe not my dissertation but something. Delusion though this may be, this is the one important reason that jumps out at me. I am writing!!
2 comments:
So,
Reading fiction IS TO Writing blog
AS
Reading PT IS TO Writing dissertation.
I understand.
Jill,
Yes. You got that right except for one thing. While my diss has to be all about PT, my blog will not be all about fiction.
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