Well this is perfect timing! Just when I've been looking motivational advice, I'm going to push myself to write more of my first PhD paper during November, encouraged by the creation of AcWriMo: Academic Writing Month.
This idea follows that of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), to encourage novelists to set lofty writing goals, such as writing an entire 50,000 word novel in a month! Using this same concept, AcWriMo has been established to encourage academic authors to be more productive with their scientific paper and book writing. Although some have warned about the folly of writing just for the sake of hitting a word count limit, and not because you have something useful or meaningful to say. So I think that the combination of social accountability along with realistic goals that push you to your limits will work best for me.
So what are my goals? To avoid the problem of word count limits, a time based goal seems the best option. However, I have tried that before in the past and failed. I set up 30 minute blocks for writing, with 5 minute breaks in-between, but found that I would focus on the time ticking by rather than my work. And sometimes didn't want to stop every 30 minutes, and when I did, would completely lose my train of thought.
So what are my goals? To avoid the problem of word count limits, a time based goal seems the best option. However, I have tried that before in the past and failed. I set up 30 minute blocks for writing, with 5 minute breaks in-between, but found that I would focus on the time ticking by rather than my work. And sometimes didn't want to stop every 30 minutes, and when I did, would completely lose my train of thought.
And then I'd draw pictures of myself looking at clocks. Go figure.
As a quick exercise, I decided to try writing 250 words on my paper before I continued writing this post... and it worked! I wasn't focused on the clock, and I only let myself check to word limit when I felt like I had nothing else to write. So this is my plan:
1. Write 500 words per working day on my first paper (but if I'm in the mood to keep writing, I can keep going over this limit).
2. Analyse the data for my first paper only after having written 500 words.
I'll double check that these goals are working for me as the month rolls on, and increase the word limit per day if necessary. So wish me luck! Or better still, wish me perseverance, determination... and fun!
1. Write 500 words per working day on my first paper (but if I'm in the mood to keep writing, I can keep going over this limit).
2. Analyse the data for my first paper only after having written 500 words.
I'll double check that these goals are working for me as the month rolls on, and increase the word limit per day if necessary. So wish me luck! Or better still, wish me perseverance, determination... and fun!
