Ask the Author: Dave Harris
Answered Questions (4)
Dave Harris
Practice can help me find inspiration. Or at least it can help me manifest inspiration. For me, there is no lack of material to write about--I may lack confidence in what I can say about that material, but I have plenty to say. Many writers with whom I have worked have struggled with having too much to say: what they perceive as not having anything to write about often turns out to be related to having so many different things to say that they're blocked trying to choose among the many ideas. As I write this, I realize that I have a lot to say about what "inspiration" means--is it finding an idea? Or is it finding motivation? Or both? Or are both intertwined? One serendipitous outcome of my practice of writing this answer is that I realize I have material and purpose--inspiration, if you will--to write a blog post about inspiration.
Dave Harris
There is a famous joke about Carnegie Hall:
A tourist, seeing a man carrying a violin case, asks "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The musician answers "Practice, practice."
In the case of Carnegie Hall, of course, there is a double meaning of "how do you get to…", because Carnegie Hall is both a literal location and a figurative goal. With a book, dissertation, or other writing project, there is no concrete location at which you need to arrive, so no one would ask "how do you get to your book?" But if the question is about the figurative goal--"how do you get your book to completion"--then the answer is the same: "Practice."
A tourist, seeing a man carrying a violin case, asks "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The musician answers "Practice, practice."
In the case of Carnegie Hall, of course, there is a double meaning of "how do you get to…", because Carnegie Hall is both a literal location and a figurative goal. With a book, dissertation, or other writing project, there is no concrete location at which you need to arrive, so no one would ask "how do you get to your book?" But if the question is about the figurative goal--"how do you get your book to completion"--then the answer is the same: "Practice."
Dave Harris
Practice--the right kind of practice--is my best answer for how to deal with writing block (though "writing block" is a terribly general description of a wide range of problems that all manifest with the same basic symptom--not writing, and not being able to write). The right kind of practices can help a writer become more comfortable in the writing process, which can alleviate many of the anxieties that can interfere with writing. And, as I suggested above, practice can help in finding inspiration, which is another cause of not writing/experiencing writing block.
Dave Harris
My book grew out of my work. About seven years ago I was keeping a regular blog writing about issues with writing, often turning a response to a specific question from a single person into a more general statement about how to approach research writing. I was also reading a lot of books on writing and dissertation writing seeking insights that I could use to help the writers with whom I worked. It became clear to me that I had ideas that were useful and that weren't appearing in the books that I read. And from that observation grew my book "Getting the Best of Your Dissertation," as well as two other books that are currently in draft form.
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