Posted in 2016
Getting Unstuck in Writing for Research
- 14 May 2016
I was recently contacted by another graduate student for advice on how to deal with feeling bogged down by theoretical and mathematical detail while working on a journal paper. This is a problem that I have a lot actually, I don’t think I’ve gotten it all solved, but I have developed a number of strategies for getting through it.
The most general one is somewhat circular, but more proactive. I’ve put significant effort toward learning to be a better researcher, learner, writer, and generally productive person. I’ve read some books and countless articles on these types of matters. This of course isn’t the best in the moment before a deadline solution, to try to consume all of these materials at once and then magically be able to get your work done, but slowly working through these materials over the course of time has made me lose less time and get less worried when I face these struggles. I maybe face them less often or maybe with about the same frequency, but lose less time with each occurrence and I do more complex and more theoretical work than I did at the beginning of graduate school. This strategy can help a little immediately as well. When I get really stuck I pause and spend 20-30 minutes reading whatever’s next on my ‘get better at x’ list or the book I’m currently working through. After a few minutes of a productive feeling distraction, I often have a better idea of how to proceed. This used to be my first strategy, I’d spend a few minutes reading and learning about things I could try until I found one that sounded like a good strategy to try. Recently this has fallen lower on my list, because the ones below get me back on track. I think this is the most important strategy and that it should the first one I mention here, because even though the strategies below help me they may not help you so learning about as many strategies and trying them out until you settle into your own toolbox of strategies is the most important.