Why Is It so Hard to Make Progress on Your Publication?
It’s very rare that when you write a publication, it’s the only thing you are working on. Perhaps, you are working on your Dissertation, doing research, writing other papers, or taking care of your family.
When there are so many things vying for your attention, your paper will just go to the back-burner. “I will work on it Mon-Wed-Fri for an hour in the evenings,” you tell yourself.
Except, you don’t. Or, at least, not consistently.
Consistency with writing is the key to submitting and publishing your paper. But, consistency is hard to achieve when you doubt yourself as a researcher, writer, and there is always something calling your attention.
Some of my students follow my advice of blocking time and every day to work on their paper. Depending on what else they have going on, it might be just 20 minutes a day.
For some students blocking out this time works, and for others it doesn’t. What’s the difference?
How come when one student blocks of 20 minutes a day they make progress on their paper, while others don’t?
One possibility is that the first student has better data, or they are further along with the writing process. While that s a possibility, it’s not the whole story.
A major barrier to progress (regardless of how much time you have) is the little negative voice inside your head.
You know, the one who has been bugging you forever. This little voice will keep talking regardless of how good your data is or how many paper you have already published.
Yvonne’s Publication Story
After finishing her PhD in Biology, Yvonne moved to the other side of the country to do a postdoc. The paper she had submitted in graduate school had been rejected. Based on the feedback from reviewers, Yvonne knew that she had to collect more data to resubmit to another journal. But, how could she collect more data if she wasn’t physically present at her old university?
She discussed the problem with her PhD supervisor and he agreed to ask his lab manager to collect the data. For the next few months, Yvonne, her PhD supervisor, and the lab manager worked together on the paper and submitted it to another journal. Yvonne’s paper was rejected again. On her third try, Yvonne’s paper was accepted to another journal with major revisions.
When Yvonne’s paper was finally accepted (a year and a half after her original submission) she could hardly believe how much work had gone into this single publication.
During this process Yvonne uncovered a simple, yet powerful principle behind getting your paper published: you need to overcome one obstacle at a time, and keep going.
There were times when publishing her paper seemed impossible. Yet, by clarifying one obstacle at a time, and working on her paper daily, she was able to solve one problem at a time.
Have a Safe Space For Writing Your Publication
When you embark writing your publication, you will encounter challenges that you had not foreseen: missing data, inconsistencies in your analyses, and gaps in your argument.
This is why it is so important to block off time and view it as a “container.”
I like this word because it’s neutral, and encompasses a variety of tasks that you need to do to get your paper published. Yes, you use this time for writing, but it can be: editing, free-writing, copying the Methods section from another document etc. It’s just a time for moving your paper forward.
Use your “container” of time to move your publication forward in some way.
Academic writing is a process of exploration.
When you are writing, you are exploring ideas and you are defining problems as much as you are solving them.
This is why writing can be scary. When yo finally sit down to write, you uncover how much you don’t know, and that can be discouraging.
You may be tempted to take a pause from writing when it gets “scary”, but that’s when you need the most courage to keep writing.
That’s when you need to just show up during that container of time that you set aside.
There is no judgement during that time. It’s a safe space where you can put words on the paper.
There is magic in putting words on the paper. As soon as you define the problem and where you are stuck, you are a step closer to finding a solution.
My publications finally picked up momentum when I started free-writing about why I was stuck, angry or frustrated.
Yes, you can use your writing time for writing about your feelings on your paper – how cool is that?
Use your “safe” writing time to move your paper forward in any way that you can: whether it’s editing, free-writing, analysis, or creating new content.
Should you read during the time you are writing your publication?
I don’t recommend reading during your “safe” writing time, because that will just give more power to your negative voice who will compare you to those other authors. The more you read, the more you realize you don’t know.
Even if you don’t make progress on your actual publication during this time, it’s much more valuable to use your writing time to define the problem, than to overwhelm yourself with even more info.
Write first. Read later.
Use your “safe” writing time solely for writing. Any kind of writing related to your paper will do: creating, editing, or free-writing.