Flourish
August 2005
vol. 1, no. 6
A
friend is wrapping up her book on the history of a genetic
disease before sending it to her university publisher next
month. She has found herself thinking a lot about how the
book is put together as a whole. “In each chapter, I keep
asking myself, what's the big news here? How do I keep the
main arguments in focus? I'm afraid that I've fallen in
love with my data.” Since she is a historian, this is an
occupational hazard. It can take so much time to get one
piece of information that you want to make it fit no matter
what. Her publisher has already warned her about having
too many endnotes, so she can't just bury the extra information
there. So, she keeps on going through the revising process
and the drafts are piling up. In telling our writing group
about these thoughts, she talked about her numbering system
for drafts. “I get up to 25 drafts, and then I start a new
series, so now it's Chapter 1, Draft 5, New Series 6.” Someone
else responded, “Hey, you're pretty organized, my drafts
look like this: Chapter 1 Final, Chapter 1 Final Final,
Chapter 1 Final Final Final, Chapter 1 Final Final Final
No Really.” Half the writing group laughed hysterically,
the other half looked puzzled. I was one of those, cough,
laughing. What's your numbering system for drafts?
Quote, Unquote
We
should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a
thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration
seldom generates action.
--From
Frank Tibolt, A Touch of Greatness (San Dimas,
CA: Mushtaq Publishers, 1999). Sent in by subscriber, poet,
and critic Harryette Mullen.
The Horror, the
Horror
Some Useful Research
Phrases and Their Translations:
It
has long been known… (I didn't look up the original reference.)
A
definite trend is evident... (These data are practically
meaningless.)
Of
great theoretical and practical importance... (Interesting
to me.)
The
most reliable results are those obtained by Jones... (He
was my graduate assistant.)
It
is believed that... (I think.)
It
is generally believed that... (A couple of other people
think so too.)
It
is clear that much additional work will be required before
a complete understanding of the phenomenon occurs... (I
don't understand it.)
Correct
within an order of magnitude... (Wrong.)
Thanks
are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experiment
and to George Frink for valuable discussions... (Blotz did
the work and Frink explained to me what it meant.)
A
careful analysis of obtainable data... (Three pages of notes
were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.)
--Allegedly
from Graham, Jr., C. D., “A Dictionary of Useful Research
Phrases,” Metal Progress 71, no. 5 (May 1957).
News from the
Editor
I
don't often get much writing done in July and August, because
I am teaching forty students to write academic articles,
but I have been able to get a little time in every week
this month. It helps when busy to work on a piece of writing
that I am excited about, that I have a clear outline for,
and that is fairly descriptive. I can then make good progress.
Meanwhile, I've been thinking about surveying faculty members
about their writing habits and advice for students. I may
have to table that idea until next year, but the few professors
I had fill out a test version gave such interesting answers
that I am eager to get on to that project as well
