Spring writing challenge!

[bigkidsdidit]

Hello everyone!

Due to overwhelming demand ( one email ) I thought I would start up another writing challenge. Post your writing targets, large or small, to be completed before Easter (31 March).

All welcome!

[bigkidsdidit]

The end of 2017 did not go well for me - a paper was rejected five times and it knocked all the stuffing out of me. Picked myself up and my spring targets are:

• submit HEA fellowship (deadline 1 march) - five short essays to go
  
• large ethics app - unstarted
  
• paper of death rewritten and resubmitted
  
• paper 2 (a little one) fully drafted and sent to co authors

[Marasme]

soooo many to tackle :/

1. I will complete paper which needs a second revision [99% there]
   
2. I will finish draft 1 of the collaborative draft that I left to die a death
   
3. I will complete all revision of paper of pain-in-the-arse PhD student, to be submitted to a special issue - this will appease him and get him out of my hair.

[bigkidsdidit]

Good list - that sounds like it will clear some space in your brain?

God everyone in my office is doing so well. Must not get downhearted

[Marasme]

the awful office benchmarking bingo...

I'd rather never go back in than hear about everyone's revolutionary successes - my colleagues are show-boaters... I am usually happy for them, but it makes me feel inadequate regarding my current lack of enthusiasm and drive at work.

[purplepandas]

I am not going to set my targets too high as I just fail and feel bad! In the next 4 months I would like to:

1. Submit a very tiny grant (next week)
   

2, Submit a larger but still small grant

1. Revise rejected paper and resubmit
   
2. Write a draft of the book chapter from hell (I should have said no!)
   
3. Submit another paper that does not need too much work but that I feel out of touch and love with.

[ghislaine]

So little progress made it's frustrating. Gah. These were my Christmas targets:

1. Finish and submit article with co-author by Christmas - STILL waiting for co-author to complete his bits. Paper now 2 years old.....
   

1. Finish book chapter by Christmas
   

Done

1. Do any revisions required to article currently out for peer review.
   

Peer review not done yet - article has been out for 4 months

So this term I hope that 1 and 3 will finally get done (although of course now too late to be included on any promotion application). I will also be working on a book proposal - almost ready to submit but we'll see what CUP comes back with.

If I feel in any way inclined/inspired, I'll start the reading and initial drafting of an article that's been kicking around in embryo for a couple of years now.

Good writing vibes to everyone!

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Thanks bigkids.

I'm sorry about your paper - hope things take an upward turn now.

I mostly met my targets last time, so I am hoping this will help again. I have this term clear to write so the plan is:

• book intro (big job; it's chapter-length and has to be methodologically quite complicated because the book is interdisciplinary).
  
• finishing drafts of chapters 2, 3 and 4.
  
• minor tweaks to chapters 1, 5 and 6.
  
• conclusion.
  
• conference paper (in a few days time).
  
• inevitable job applications
  
• a draft of a non-book-related journal article (which I think I have ideas towards)
  

• I would like to say apply for some kind of fellowship/grant. It's a big hole in my CV that I've never got one of these and I am terrible about applying for them. So even just managing to find one I'm eligible for and to apply would be progress!
  

Good luck to everyone else with targets.

[Yogafire]

I'm still finishing off the autumn writing challenge! Hoping to submit monograph by end of this month. Working every minute of every day gahhhhh
My spring writing challenge will be to plan a paper and grant project in tandem. That is plenty after last few months. I really just want to play with the kids and coast for a month or two. What heresy!

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Conference paper is done!

I also have a very tentative idea about another book, or maybe an article at least.

[MedSchoolRat]

I don't have any. :(
My challenge list would be all about getting other people to make decisions so we can do the research to generate the results to write about (or determine what will go in the ethics app, etc).

Writing is flipping easy compared to getting folk to make decisions.

[bigkidsdidit]

Well done LRD! I have done 1.5 of my HEA articles, a tiny bit of restructuring of a paper, and set some collaborations up for the grant.

[purplepandas]

Go bigkids and LRD. Made some headway on a grant today. Have too many deadlines atm re smallish grants and exam marking looming so feeling like I am not doing anything well. Small steps. More grant writing tomorrow and I will reassess where I am.

The paper of doom is still haunting me.

[bigkidsdidit]

My paper of doom is haunting me too. At work 12 hours today ONLY working on that fucking paper. I hate it.

[purplepandas]

Go bigkids. How was the paper writing? Still haunting me but made a serious dent in a grant (at grant writing retreat thing today and yest).

[worstofbothworlds]

Here's what I posted on the duplicate thread:

I have to finish

1. paper to finish that ex-PhD student 1 started which just needs a few references to be "officially finished", myself and Other Supervisor can get that done without bothering to track down PhD Student 1.
   
2. paper to rewrite (but mainly a hatchet job to get rid of half of it) for a special issue that colleague has kindly altered me to.
   
3. final chapter of manual I've been writing, YOU CAN DO THIS.
   

Things to keep going on

1. More work on next grant application - must nudge colleagues who have it at the moment.
   
2. Paper I've only just started on work done by ex-PhD student 2.
   

And if the pigs start revving up

1. Revisions of review paper that I asked ex-PhD Student 1 to finish but he keeps going AWOL (see 1).

[bigkidsdidit]

YOU CAN DO IT worlds

I'm so fed up with this paper. 5 rejections and each has been massive reformatting. I want to cry. I just want it off my desk.

[Marasme]

bigkid I now sacrifice all multi-rejected papers to the altar of the god of peer-review, by sending them to predatory open access journals. Better out there than on my desk.

[worstofbothworlds]

Really near the end with no 1 especially helpful to randomly insert references I think may be relevant without reading them I find.

[bigkidsdidit]

Marasme what do you mean about peer review? Are some not reviewed?

We are still at the upper half of impact so need to keep going. My nerves are shredded, though

[Marasme]

all still reviewed - sometimes / most often aggressively - but open access journals less often go by the criteria of "hotness", "uber novelty", "pimped research on steroid".

The compromise is
1 - you pay
2 - the IF is a bit crapper

The advantages
1 - it s off your desk and you can spend time on other more worthy papers
2 - open access often means good visibility/citations

[tinymeteor]

I'm late to this party but can I join in? Goals are:

Edit and submit PhD thesis (updates to lit review, new conclusion, refs still to do)

Write 8k research paper (paid consultancy work based on primary research that's already done).

Both by mid March.

If I can manage that I can go ahead and have baby no.2, due end March. If not I'll just have to cross my legs and hope she's overdue. Should be fine, right???

[Yogafire]

Are you working full time on those goals tiny? If so manageable but definitely challenging in late pregnancy! Good luck

My goal: write conclusion to monograph by thurs (I'm starting tomorrow and working all day but can't work tues)

Finish filling gaps in monograph end on jan

Im not that confident I'll manage but need to keep pace up 😩

[bigkidsdidit]

I had two hours in work this morning, in the lab then mapping out a tutorial. Just home for a community action group then I'll do another hour on the tutorial prep - and try to write it up as a piece for the HEA fellowship - two birds one stone.

Aiming to get paper of death to other authors by Thursday.

[tinymeteor]

Yes, working full time, evenings, weekends... exhaustion permitting anyway. Had a very productive weekend then a useless Monday. Back to it today. Good luck everyone, keep writing...

[bigkidsdidit]

Hi all

One month down, two to go

My paper 1 has been sent back to all authors
One HEA assignment to go

Ethics rough draft done but no more

Nothing on paper 2

How are you all getting on?