Life in Thesis-land : writing space

Want to get away from it all? Postgrad Writing Retreat applications now open.

Karen.Hall — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:35:00 GMT

The Graduate Research School is calling for applications for the Postgraduate Writing Retreat to be held in 2008. The writing retreat will take place on 4-8 February, at UWA’s Albany Centre, and includes both time for individual writing as well as opportunities to develop writing skills and receive feedback. 16 places are available for students, with costs for the retreat, accommodation, and transport to be covered by the Graduate Research School. Students wishing to participate must apply by Monday 10 December. Further details, including application forms, are available at
http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/events/writing_retreat

That's the official blurb: unofficially, I just like to point out that the writing retreat means

getting out of Perth to somewhere cooler in the middle of summer
having a whole building - including a ghost - to set up for your writing space
time to write without everyday interference
access to people whose job it is to help you write better
did I mention the getting out of Perth?

The applications aren't that scary. We basically want to know that you would make the most of the time and opportunity to make progress on your thesis. Don't promise anything unrealistic, like writing the whole thing in a week, but work out a clearly defined goal that fits the scope of the retreat. You're also asked to get a statement of support form your supervisor - this is so that they can support your goal-setting and shows that they won't report us for kidnapping you or anything! If you have any queries, comment here or contact me.

Good Habits

Karen.Hall — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:47:00 GMT

In the quest to find some way to balance the job-thing and finishing-thesis-thing while maintaining some shreds of sanity (don't laugh!) I've decided that the key is good habits. There is no point in pretending that I can manage to live on sugar and caffiene for the next five months, just writing and not sleeping, and doing well at either of the things. So I am aiming for sustainable but solid work practices and balance. So here are my new habits:

Going to the gym again. Having fallen into a gym slump in the absence of my gym buddy - because gossip can motivate me to get out of bed, but machines of torture aka circuit and pump classes cannot - I'm trying to reverse the trend and get to the gym 3 times a week.
Restricted TV watching. As some of my previous frivolous posts might have shown, bad TV has to get pretty bad indeed to stop me watching it. My current scheme requires me to register with Housemate Sister a weekly roster of shows I am allowed to watch, while she has total control of the remote and permission to be Official TV Doorbitch.
A tidy study desk, with all the resources I need on hand. Any junk that tries to move onto the desk has to go to a proper home or the bin.
Blocks of time. Thesis writing time is two hours each weekday evening. That means the two hours have to be done, but also that once they are done I can switch off the computer and go to bed.
Rolling Things To Do List. All the steps that need to be taken to get the thesis done get written down, and eventually crossed off. At the end of each evening's writing time, I select that tasks for the next day from the list. For example, tonight is two paragraphs of writing for Chapter 5, where I've blocked in the topic but haven't written the content, and one paragraph for Chapter 6. Small steps and attainable goals, that's my mantra.
And in a confession of potential New-Age wackiness, I've found that using an oil burner at my desk can help me get into writing headspace. I guess it is a sensory signal to myself to get to work, plus having the candle burning makes me feel like I shouldn't leave the room.

Moving

Karen.Hall — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:07:00 GMT

This week I returned to my working space in the library - a carrel overloaded with book stacks and with years of accumulated posters, pictures and postcards on the walls. This has meant saying farewell to my temporary office in the Arts Building and transporting three filled box loads of accumulated stuff back.

While my carrel is cluttered with piles of photocopies and overloaded shelves, it is colourful and comforting in the way created by a sense of being surrounded by your own things. The downside is, of course, claustro(carrel)phobia and the background annoyance of people passing and working closely nearby.

I find that moving is fundamentally unsettling. Beyond the time and energy required by the actual move, you (or atleast, I) feel off-balance, uncentred, unsure of my place and this feeling has spread out to encompass the rest of my life this week.

But with Aragorn keeping an eye on me, I'm sure things can only get better!