April writing challenge

[att_mtt]

Todays goal:
-make additional figures (30-40 min)
-start rewriting the result section (30 min)

[Parasaurolophus]

Today:

• -200 words

Gotta cut this thing back down to size!

[Wahoo Redux]

Stalled out a bit.  Close to finishing but that last theoretical bit needs more research and I've hit a brick wall.  Tired of staring at it.  So, a couple weeks break.  Read some more stuff on topic.

Now!  Back to the book prospectus.  200 words and edit the intro: tonight's goal.

[hungry_ghost]

Cutting is harder than writing. Congratulations to all for your great success murdering your darlings.

My plan for the week (measuring minutes instead of words since I'm at the revising, cutting, and reorganizing stage):

• Monday: 20 minutes on a timer, before noon
• Tuesday: 60 minutes on a timer
• Wednesday: 60 minutes on a timer, before noon
• Thursday: 45 minutes on a timer, before 1pm
• Friday: 45 minutes on a timer + plot the weekend

I am not an early riser. I will never be one of those people who arises at 5am to write, but I'm still more efficient and get more done and feel happier if I write before noon. A morning meeting was canceled so hopefully I can write tomorrow morning.

This afternoon I spent 2 hours doing 60 minutes. One reason it took so long is I spent time searching for 2 books, which I must look at and cite. I found one but not the other. It is HUGE (folio size) and 2 volumes, and it is in this room with me. But I cannot find it. This is simply absurd.

[att_mtt]

Todays goal:
-make additional figures (30-40 min)
-start rewriting the result section (30 min)

Additional figures - check
rewriting - did not happen
:D I try tomorrow again.
Thanks everybody!

[Parasaurolophus]

Today:

• -200 words

Gotta cut this thing back down to size!

Made it, but I had to murder a darling.

[JCu16]

Didn't make quite through that manuscript as it needed significant attention - ended up being a significant amount of rewriting. Hoping to finish it in the morning. Didn't get a chance to do my own writing as teaching responsibilities crept up.

Success, turned that paper around. That will keep him busy while I finish the Pt2 paper.

Also managed to solve a couple of trippy bits of code that were causing me trouble for analysis, allowing me to springboard into a more productive day tomorrow, in between installing a microwave replacement.

[Puget]

I've been neglecting to post, but I have been working on the preregistration-- the technical bits (analysis methods) have turned out to be a lot more complicated than I initial thought (all the more reason to preregister!) so it has been taking a lot longer, but I'm optimistic about actually finishing it today.

[Parasaurolophus]

A little more ambitious today, to celebrate the end of a pile of teaching stuff yesterday (the pile never ends, unfortunately):

• -50 words of the chapter
• proofs for an article
• 200 words on a new article (for which the inspiration hit me last night as I brushed my teeth)

[att_mtt]

Todays goal:
-make additional figures (30-40 min)
-start rewriting the result section (30 min)

Additional figures - check
rewriting - did not happen
:D I try tomorrow again.
Thanks everybody!

Todays goal: Rewriting results part (45 minutes)
Shortening Material & Methods (30 mins)

[darkstarrynight]

I am on a little bit of a high right now! Last night I found out that the study in the manuscript revision my coauthor and I submitted last week won the research award for a professional organization! Because the conference this year has been cancelled, we will be able to present it virtually (and hopefully it will be published before the end of the year too)! I am so excited! It is my coauthor's first research study too.

Now my daily goals are to work on two projects, one I have been trying to get finalized and written to submit for five years (cringe). I added a new coauthor to the project, who is providing a fresh perspective and is motivated to get published. My other project involves three former students of mine, and has been lagging. The April deadline was extended until June, so I am working a little bit on reviewing literature each day while the former students work on their parts. Here we go!

[hungry_ghost]

Congratulations, Darkstarrynight! That is wonderful news!

My plan for the week (measuring minutes instead of words since I'm at the revising, cutting, and reorganizing stage):

• Monday: 20 minutes on a timer, before noon
• Tuesday: 60 minutes on a timer
• Wednesday: 60 minutes on a timer, before noon
• Thursday: 45 minutes on a timer, before 1pm
• Friday: 45 minutes on a timer + plot the weekend

I started before noon, but not far enough before noon to be as focused as I would have liked. I know what I need to do next (rare clarity!) but alas, I'll be getting a pile of papers this evening and the next few days will be spent in grading jail and I will  have less time.

Also, I finally found that 2-volume set, which was smaller than I remembered and also brown not red. And also not as helpful as I had hoped.

[att_mtt]

Todays goal:
-make additional figures (30-40 min)
-start rewriting the result section (30 min)

Additional figures - check
rewriting - did not happen
:D I try tomorrow again.
Thanks everybody!

Todays goal: Rewriting results part (45 minutes)
Shortening Material & Methods (30 mins)

Finished. Yay!

[Puget]

Congrats Darkstarrynight! I love hearing people's good news.

I've been neglecting to post, but I have been working on the preregistration-- the technical bits (analysis methods) have turned out to be a lot more complicated than I initial thought (all the more reason to preregister!) so it has been taking a lot longer, but I'm optimistic about actually finishing it today.

Finally finished! Turned out the answer was right there in a methods paper I had read and applied before, but didn't realize/remember could also be applied to a different type of model.

Tomorrow on to the long, long (since Nov.) neglected major R&R (not sure if it will be treated as a revision at this point I'm so late) paper that I've been feeling guilty about for all these months. The truth is, besides the pain of extensive revisions I just sort of fell off my priority list in favor of more recent and exciting papers and publishing with my students. It is a paper with left-over postdoc data, and not a current area of focus for my lab. Nonetheless, it is a paper I think should be published because to shows some things people often think are related are not strongly related, which is important information. So, tomorrow I will go back through the reviews and make notes on how to address each one, so I can start tackling them one at a time.

[Parasaurolophus]

I am on a little bit of a high right now! Last night I found out that the study in the manuscript revision my coauthor and I submitted last week won the research award for a professional organization!

Waow! Congratulations!

Tomorrow on to the long, long (since Nov.) neglected major R&R (not sure if it will be treated as a revision at this point I'm so late) paper that I've been feeling guilty about for all these months. The truth is, besides the pain of extensive revisions I just sort of fell off my priority list in favor of more recent and exciting papers and publishing with my students.

Oh man, I hear you. If it's any consolation, in 2018 a paper I wrote won a major prize (which included publication in the top subfield journal). Things lagged a bit on the publication side, and in November 2019 I got comments back, along with a list of revisions. I then dragged my feet on those revisions until mid-March 2020, pretty much for the exact same reasons you cite. It felt kind of horrible to do that, but it was sooooo freeing once I handed the revisions in!

A little more ambitious today, to celebrate the end of a pile of teaching stuff yesterday (the pile never ends, unfortunately):

• -50 words of the chapter
• proofs for an article
• 200 words on a new article (for which the inspiration hit me last night as I brushed my teeth)

-51 words (plus a small organizational overhaul), proofs done (ugh, it took forever), and 693 words! Whew!