August writing challenge

[Puget]

Back by popular demand!

Like many, this will be a busy month for me as we start the new semester, so trying to keep the goals realistic:

1. Preliminary steps of grant revisions with collaborator
2. Contribute to grant revisions with other team of collaborators (this week and next)
3. First step of analyses for big group paper (maybe second set if I get collaborator's data in time)
4. Help grad student #3 hopefully finish and submit paper.
5. Help grad student #2 hopefully have paper draft through results at least


Today is #2 because this deadline is coming up, and as per the PI on this grant is pushing things to the last minute and expecting us all to jump (I've known her fo a long time, and have come to accept this-- she has many other redeeming qualities).

[Sun_Worshiper]

I'm taking it easy in the first half of August (including a mini vacation - in the woods, so plenty of isolation), and starting to teach in the second half, so this will probably be a slow month for me.

August goals:

• Work on book proposal OR work on part of proposal idea for stand-alone article
• Make progress on paper with colleague

Stretch goal if I have some unexpected time:

• Complete IRB training and submit IRB for new project(s)

[nonsensical]

A mini vacation in the woods sounds marvelous. I could feel myself relaxing just thinking about it, and it isn't even my vacation!

Yesterday I drafted a section of a grant application AND a section of a theory paper. I was thinking doing two would redeem me for today, when I didn't expect to have time for writing. But it looks like I do have a bit of time before my meetings start.

I just got an R&R from a fancy place for a different theory paper I had been writing with a colleague, so my goal for today is to go through the current version of the manuscript and make bubble comments with notes to myself about things to change based on the reviewers' comments. We submitted this paper to a different fancy journal where it got very rejected a few months ago - very rejected, not just a little rejected, because neither the reviewers nor the action editor seemed to like anything that we were saying. So I was expecting to need to do many more rounds with this paper, and send it to many more places further down the prestige ladder, before it got any positive responses. I haven't gone through the comments carefully yet, but I skimmed and they seemed doable and also pleasantly phrased. All of this is quite the nice surprise, especially given the reception this paper got at the previous journal!

[darkstarrynight]

Unfortunately, I am finishing up Summer grading, then have to turn around and prepare Fall classes since we moved our semester a week early. I am teaching a new class in Spring 2021 and have to gather and read six potential textbooks before October on top of this, so I am worried my 2020 productivity might tank soon. However, I am going to try to keep myself on track.

August goals:

• Keep working on grant project manuscript towards target journal with team
• Start new project with colleague in my sub-field, reviewing collected literature
• Submit article with superstar and rising star
• Make significant process to finalize report for organization to publish in September
• Continue working with colleague to transform her dissertation into article for target journal

[nonsensical]

Unfortunately, I am finishing up Summer grading, then have to turn around and prepare Fall classes since we moved our semester a week early. I am teaching a new class in Spring 2021 and have to gather and read six potential textbooks before October on top of this, so I am worried my 2020 productivity might tank soon. However, I am going to try to keep myself on track.

That is a lot of textbooks! Also, even if your productivity decreases (understandably so), it's great that there was something to decrease from. Your current and past productivity can maybe smooth out some of the times when you're less focused on research.

I've finished adding all of the reviewers' comments to my paper. Not sure how I will address some of them, but that is a problem for a different day.

[darkstarrynight]

Unfortunately, I am finishing up Summer grading, then have to turn around and prepare Fall classes since we moved our semester a week early. I am teaching a new class in Spring 2021 and have to gather and read six potential textbooks before October on top of this, so I am worried my 2020 productivity might tank soon. However, I am going to try to keep myself on track.

That is a lot of textbooks! Also, even if your productivity decreases (understandably so), it's great that there was something to decrease from. Your current and past productivity can maybe smooth out some of the times when you're less focused on research.

I've finished adding all of the reviewers' comments to my paper. Not sure how I will address some of them, but that is a problem for a different day.

Thanks for the positivity! It is a doctoral course so I figure it may have more than one book. I am excited to read but just wish I had more time.

[Puget]

Good morning writers!

Accomplished my task yesterday of providing feedback on senior collaborator's grant which is due Monday, finishing at 10:30 PM. This person is a dear former mentor and current collaborator but drives me batty with how last minute everything always is, and the expectation we'll all just set everything else aside to make it happen (which I guess we reinforce by doing it every time. . .)

Today: turn back to grant revisions with favorite peer collaborator since grad school who is just the opposite and wants to get started now on submission for Feb. Add analysis brainstorm and missing data plan to shared doc.

In good news, I got a conditional acceptance back on long-neglected paper from past threads, at a very solid journal published by one of our two major disciplinary associations-- very pleased to finally put this paper to rest, after it was rejected outright at two journals, and got a rather brutal R&R at the current journal (based on some rather poor reading comprehension on the part of the dreaded Reviewer 2). This is the sort of story I like to pull out when grad students get discouraged about rejections.

[Parasaurolophus]

I start the second week of September, so there's a whole month of writing to be done! It'll be useful to continue the writing challenge into the fall, however.


For August:

• Prepare this term's association Newsletter
• Finish Book Review
• Fix and resubmit Book Proposal
• Read new chapter of partner's dissertation
• Make new syllabus (not a research goal, but I need to do it!)
• Fix and resubmit Co-Authored Paper 1
• Make progress on Co-Authored Paper 2
• Fix and resubmit Unusual Outlier Paper
• Start writing Short New Paper

I definitely need to do (1)-(7). The other two are bonuses.


Today:

• Work on Newsletter
• Work on Book Review
• Read a chunk of partner's new dissertation chapter

[nonsensical]

In good news, I got a conditional acceptance back on long-neglected paper from past threads, at a very solid journal published by one of our two major disciplinary associations-- very pleased to finally put this paper to rest, after it was rejected outright at two journals, and got a rather brutal R&R at the current journal (based on some rather poor reading comprehension on the part of the dreaded Reviewer 2). This is the sort of story I like to pull out when grad students get discouraged about rejections.

Congratulations! I am not even involved in this paper and I still got excited about this.

I addressed one comment on the R&R my collaborator and I received earlier this week. The comment required me to read a new paper and then do a brief-ish literature search in an area with which I'm not very familiar. It was about two hours of work to write one paragraph in our manuscript. But, it is done now.

A graduate student collaborator just e-mailed me with another R&R that just came in, which is also making me happy. I've been enjoying working without deadlines for most of the summer, and it looks like that it coming to an end, but I'm grateful that she is lead author on her paper and that I only have to edit that manuscript, not actually write all the new text from scratch. I am also feeling glad because I have had periods of time where I was getting rejections every few days, and getting several pieces of good news in a row is a nice counterweight to that.

[Sun_Worshiper]

In good news, I got a conditional acceptance back on long-neglected paper from past threads, at a very solid journal published by one of our two major disciplinary associations-- very pleased to finally put this paper to rest, after it was rejected outright at two journals, and got a rather brutal R&R at the current journal (based on some rather poor reading comprehension on the part of the dreaded Reviewer 2). This is the sort of story I like to pull out when grad students get discouraged about rejections.

Congrats!

[Parasaurolophus]

Today:

• Work on Newsletter
• Work on Book Review
• Read a chunk of partner's new dissertation chapter

The Newsletter took up most of the workday, but that's okay, since it needs to be done soonest. It's just about done now, minus some touching up. And the book review should be done in another two or three days.

[mamselle]

Thanks for the new month's thread!!

Making more progress on the book and powerpoint projects, but it's slooooowwww going. 

At least I found all the digital files of the archived materials I got last year. Text growing bit by bit from those.

Need to do more for Friday's music appreciation classes, and look up my old music theory notes to be sure I get that stuff right, too!! (I'm teaching my middle-schoolers freshman/sophomore college theory, and I haven't done four-part writing in centuries...gotta look up those voice-leading rules again!)

Still have catch-up work to do from materials developed last weekend, too. Maybe time to finish that tomorrow, a meeting was just cancelled.

M.

[Puget]

Thanks Sun_Worshiper and nonsensical, and congrats nonsensical on your double R&R week-- that's fantastic!

Made some progress on yesterday's task but didn't finish, so finishing that up ahead of meeting with collaborator tomorrow is my main writing task for today.

[Parasaurolophus]

Today:

• Book Review
• Partner's Dissertation
• Short New Paper (I had a flash of insight last night, and I'm excited to start)

[nonsensical]

Addressed another comment on the R&R with my colleague. This one was easier than yesterday's and took less time. Progress!