Sunday, October 21, 2007

Because I need a challenge: It's InaDWriMo!

Continuing my pattern for the weekend, I got a late start and an early stop today. I have 3 more applications together and sealed. I have a cubic fuckload left to do, and furthermore, I need to go visiting people in just a short while, including a trip to see my family and watch my niece being theatrical in the school play (Midsummer Night's Dream. I think she's a fairy or elf or whatever. Basically an extra.) That means I need to really crank out these shitbags (that's the metaphorical term; I understand that the whole "flaming-bag-of-poo-on-the-front-porch" practical joke is not conducive to getting me a job, regardless of how much the image of some search committee trying to stamp it out pleases me.) and get them all sent before Nov 1. Argh.

But the only way to get my butt in gear is to truly freak out about (or procrastinate from) the next deadline! So I've got new dissertating deadlines set up! If working under immense pressure is what it takes, pressure is what I'll have! That stupid rock! I'll turn that fucking lump of carbon into a diamond! The largest diamond in the world! Mwhahahahaha! And I'll kill anyone foolish enough to fly over my secret diamond lair --- oh wait. Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. Anyhoo,

Over at Dissertation Boot Camp and Brazen Hussy's they are planning InaDWriMo, or International Dissertation Writing Month, modeled after National Novel Writing Month. So everyone who accepts the challenge chooses a word/page amount for the month of November and starts writing away. As Brazen Hussy describes it:
Here's the deal: It starts November 1 and ends November 30. You set your own goal (totally up to you), and keep a word meter or word count on your blog to track your progress. (here are a couple of word meters.) You can only count the words written in November. You can get as competitive and trash-talking as you like (*cough* see Weezy for an example). At the end, the winner... well, the winner gets the pride of a job well done. Or maybe I can send a postcard. But it won't be from Australia.
So my goal for November InaDWriMo is to crank out 15,000 words, which I calculate to be about 60 pages, or my whole fourth chapter. (Gulp.) That means about two pages a day, for every day of November. (Holy fucking shit, what am I getting myself into?)

Stop it, cog! Quit yer whining! You're taking on a challenge! You are going to kick everybody's asses because you love kicking ass! You are going to rock that chapter and be soooo glad afterwards that you got through it so fast, or even through a shitty draft of it so fast. You are going to prove that you are the studliest ... well, cogliest ... dissertator ever and you are going to burn through those pages so fast there'll be treadmarks and the smell of burning rubber left behind! And in order to meet your challenge goals, you're going to have to finish those applications double quick! Now get a move on, maggot! Shoulder that pack! Pump those knees! Ready, go! Go! Go! Go!

(What have I gotten myself into? What have I gotten you all into? You might want to be careful visiting around here in the near future.)

8 comments:

vC said...

OOOOH! InaDWritMo! Why is this tempting to me? It shouldn't be... It should make me tremble with fear... But all I see is a big fat challenge that will get me done faster, perhaps. Consider the challenge accepted! (But can we have a day off for Thanksgiving?)

azoresdog said...

So are we blog commenters supposed to be kindly and supportive, or ferocious and drill-sergeanty?

gwoertendyke said...

hey cog: i emailed you my address, but alas, where is yours? do you not want a giftie??

Fretful Porpentine said...

You know, I always thought there should be a month like that when I was writing the diss. (But wouldn't, say, January be better than November, when all the end-of-semester and job-market madness is in full swing?)

moria said...

Sis, I rely on you to make my concerns seem trivial and my stress negligible. (Well, you and a friend who's a journalist in Cairo and trying to join a Teheran bureau, because "it will be great to be there when war breaks out.") So thank you.

More supportively -- this is a great idea. Usually what writing needs is just what my grandfather would call a swift kick in the derrière -- sneaky bit of human nature, that incapacity for self-motivation. Smart of you to seek the kind of structure / accountability that will help you shove this thing forward. But I wonder, with sue who, whether I should be cheering from the sidelines or running after you with a whip?

Belle said...

You, my e-friend, are insane. 15K words? Are you into 'that' part of your diss already?

My last three chapters took all of two weeks to churn out, as I was really into it and enjoying what I was doing. My readers all said they could tell I was having fun with those. But the rest? Lordy, it was like shitting boulders.

Be nice to yourself. How about 10,000?

gwoertendyke said...

how many chapters do you have total? how many have you written? the momentum thing does of course change as you get closer to the end.

i'm all for it. i had the archival work chapter written and an introduction and part of another chapter (notes, ten pages, lots of research/reading) when i began writing ernestly a year ago aug. the first chapter i wrote when i began to write toward a deadline (i decided then that i would defend in may and my committee agreed it was possible/they were on board), it took 2.5 months to write. after that, i wrote two more chapters, a new introduction, and extended one other chapter by 25 pages. i wrote in chunks of 5 week deadlines. i put it on my kitchen calendar and i met every fucking one as a result.

you can do this, pressure is good. only remember that if you don't meet your precise goal (15k words) that you can meet it maybe december 15th, which still kicks ass.

we're rooting for you, cog.

Earnest English said...

Now why didn't they have an International Diss Writing Month when I was try to shit boulders?! It's not fair!

Looking at how I have this article at a complete standstill because of the wretched job market, I want to piggy back on this and try to crank that puppy out by the end of the month. I wonder though whether I'll do it. But I think I should. Hmmmm. Do I need more pressure or not. I wonder. . .

Cog - 15,000 words is insane on the market. I was sick three times in six weeks when I was writing my diss -- and that was when I already had my job. Please, you'll kill yourself. And then what would I do with all of my free hours? No cog blog reading. Unacceptable. Please be careful.