Overcoming a fear of writing
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Overcoming a fear of writing
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Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#2I fear writing; a result of my perfectionism. The prospect of defective prose frightens me, so I don't try. A thought I put to paper last month:
"I am imprisoned within my lack of clarity and lack of style. Fucking failure. Chained to a quiet and passive existence.
I want to express; I want to free my ideas; I want to communicate my message; but I fucking can’t. I can’t clear this painful fog."
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#3I'm often faced with the following choice: write a paper about Algorithm 1.0, or try to figure out Algorithm 1.1? Or perhaps tweak the code to make it cleaner/faster/more general?
Writing the paper usually loses.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#4I fear writing; a result of my perfectionism. The prospect of defective prose frightens me, so I don't try. A thought I put to paper last month: "I am imprisoned within my lack of clarity and lack of style. Fucking failure. Chained to a quiet and passive existence. I want to express; I want to free my ideas; I want to communicate my message; but I fucking can’t. I can’t clear this painful fog."
I just decided to write a lot. Even if it doesn't make sense (http://blog.uncool.in/2009/03/26/episode-1-perspective-shift...). I suppose after a month or so of writing crap, I'll be able to loosen up my rusty writing skills a bit and my writing will become more natural.
You might want to try that.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#5Rudolf Flesch recommended
http://www.amazon.com/Write-Speak-Think-More-Effectively/dp/...
choosing someone whom you'd like to write to and who would write back (a parent or a grandparent, perhaps?) and then writing that person a letter with lots of description of what you're thinking about and doing once a week. After a year of that, you'll write a lot better.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#6I'm often faced with the following choice: write a paper about Algorithm 1.0, or try to figure out Algorithm 1.1? Or perhaps tweak the code to make it cleaner/faster/more general? Writing the paper usually loses.
This is why deadlines can be good things.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#7I fear writing; a result of my perfectionism. The prospect of defective prose frightens me, so I don't try. A thought I put to paper last month: "I am imprisoned within my lack of clarity and lack of style. Fucking failure. Chained to a quiet and passive existence. I want to express; I want to free my ideas; I want to communicate my message; but I fucking can’t. I can’t clear this painful fog."
I just decided to write a lot. Even if it doesn't make sense ( http://blog.uncool.in/2009/03/26/episode-1-perspective-shift... ). I suppose after a month or so of writing crap, I'll be able to loosen up my rusty writing skills a bit and my writing will become more natural. You might want to try that.
I agree. Commit to writing 3 pages a day, even if it is just repetitive nonsense and ramblings. Feel free to burn the notebook at the end of the month. After a few months of this, you just may find you have loosened things up a bit in terms of the old "the best is the enemy of the good" problem.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#8I'm often faced with the following choice: write a paper about Algorithm 1.0, or try to figure out Algorithm 1.1? Or perhaps tweak the code to make it cleaner/faster/more general? Writing the paper usually loses.
Write paper 1.0. Then work on 1.1. Then, instead of having one paper, you have two, and are that much closer to tenure. :)
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#9I'm often faced with the following choice: write a paper about Algorithm 1.0, or try to figure out Algorithm 1.1? Or perhaps tweak the code to make it cleaner/faster/more general? Writing the paper usually loses.
Write paper 1.0. Then work on 1.1. Then, instead of having one paper, you have two, and are that much closer to tenure. :)
In theory, that is the optimal procedure. But writing code is so much more interesting right now.
It's my most productive form of procrastination.
Re: Overcoming a fear of writing
#10I fear writing; a result of my perfectionism. The prospect of defective prose frightens me, so I don't try. A thought I put to paper last month: "I am imprisoned within my lack of clarity and lack of style. Fucking failure. Chained to a quiet and passive existence. I want to express; I want to free my ideas; I want to communicate my message; but I fucking can’t. I can’t clear this painful fog."
I just decided to write a lot. Even if it doesn't make sense ( http://blog.uncool.in/2009/03/26/episode-1-perspective-shift... ). I suppose after a month or so of writing crap, I'll be able to loosen up my rusty writing skills a bit and my writing will become more natural. You might want to try that.
I have undertaken that same task; working at it for about a month. It gets easier. (http://dailymis.com/?p=55)