Jun 02 2011

Comradde PhysioPhucke’s Theory Of Writing

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You do most of the hard work of writing when you don’t even realize it’s happening, and then if you just relax, the shitte fucken flows. If you think of writing as something that only happens when you are sitting in front of a blank screen/piece of paper, then by the time you actually get in front of a blank screen/piece of paper, you are all tensed up and nothing happens.

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12 comments

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1

Juniper Shoemaker

June 2, 2011 at 7:30 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

Oh, God.
2

ginger

June 3, 2011 at 2:15 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

This has nothing to do with recipes or grantwriting, but I’m confident you Statler-and-Waldorf sorts – my people – will have a rational answer.
I just got an e-mail off a listserv in my department for the early career researchers. The sender’s e-mail sig block includes her two latest publications, complete with hotlinks.
Has anyone else seen that? Is this a thing, now?
3

anonymous

June 3, 2011 at 4:47 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

Yes, what CPP says is almost always true. It actually happens to me when I am writing in Japanese. Very rarely when I use Turkish or German.
4

Comrade PhysioProf

June 3, 2011 at 6:00 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

Putting pubs in your sig is cringe-inducing. It’s a big neon sign flashing “I’M INSECURE!!!!”
5

Experienced PI

June 3, 2011 at 8:05 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

Were they Science or Nature publications?
6

Pharm Sci Grad

June 3, 2011 at 10:21 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

Thanks. I needed that reminder, seeing as how I’m busy with the writing part that doesn’t add to the page count.
7

SC (Salty Current)

June 3, 2011 at 10:38 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

The sender’s e-mail sig block includes her two latest publications, complete with hotlinks.

That made me laugh. (I hope no one I know starts doing it, but if they do, I’ll laugh some more.)
8

JackDanielsBlack

June 3, 2011 at 11:42 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

So, the CPP theory is that writing is like taking a crap. In his case, I am sure that the results are similar, too.
9

Nora

June 5, 2011 at 10:21 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment

The hotlinks in the sig file are indeed becoming the done thing nowadays. I think our Comrade’s analysis is right on the money. And also, I agree with the writing process thing. The hard work happens in your head while you are staring at the wall or running with the dogs. Not to even mention the part that goes on when you are actually doing the work you are writing about, whether that’s Big Science, reviewing the literature, or cooking delicious risotto. The typing and editing is but a fraction of what has to happen.
10

ginger

June 5, 2011 at 7:49 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

I really hope this doesn’t become a common thing, because it strikes me as insecure, untargeted pandering.

As to writing – yeah, the bulk of the work definitely happens when I’m standing in the shower staring into the middle distance. But I think the really hard part is getting it onto paper, because that’s where the pressure is – hence the “just relax”, but just as in your analogy, if you know it’s going to hurt, it’s hard to relax even to the inevitable.
11

cackleofradness

June 6, 2011 at 6:30 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

I seem to organize well in my sleep and in the shower.
12

missouri

June 6, 2011 at 8:25 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment

What a coincidence!. I do that too pretty well also in the bathtub