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The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations & Books
For anyone who has blanched at the uphill prospect of finishing a long piece of writing, this book holds out something more practical than hope: it offers a plan. The Clockwork Muse is designed to help prospective authors develop a workable timetable for completing long and often formidable projects.
The idea of dashing off a manuscript in a fit of manic inspiration may be romantic, but it is not particularly practical. Instead, Eviatar Zerubavel, a prolific and successful author, describes how to set up a writing schedule and regular work habits that will take most of the anxiety and procrastination out of long-term writing, and even make it enjoyable. The dreaded ‘writer’s block’ often turns out to be simply a need for a better grasp of the temporal organization of work.
The Clockwork Muse rethinks the writing process in terms of time and organization. It offers writers a simple yet comprehensive framework that considers such variables as when to write, for how long, and how often, while keeping a sense of momentum throughout the entire project. It shows how to set priorities, balance ideals against constraints, and find the ideal time to write. For all those whose writing has languished, waiting for the “right moment,” The Clockwork Muse announces that the moment has arrived.
The idea of dashing off a manuscript in a fit of manic inspiration may be romantic, but it is not particularly practical. Instead, Eviatar Zerubavel, a prolific and successful author, describes how to set up a writing schedule and regular work habits that will take most of the anxiety and procrastination out of long-term writing, and even make it enjoyable. The dreaded ‘writer’s block’ often turns out to be simply a need for a better grasp of the temporal organization of work.
The Clockwork Muse rethinks the writing process in terms of time and organization. It offers writers a simple yet comprehensive framework that considers such variables as when to write, for how long, and how often, while keeping a sense of momentum throughout the entire project. It shows how to set priorities, balance ideals against constraints, and find the ideal time to write. For all those whose writing has languished, waiting for the “right moment,” The Clockwork Muse announces that the moment has arrived.
124 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 1999
59 people are currently reading
730 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
July 29, 2013
With amazing reliability, I find that the most useful advice sounds (at least in retrospect) obvious. In the case of Eviatar Zerubavel’s The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books this advice can be succinctly summarized: to become an author, you must complete a manuscript. On paper, this looks painfully obvious. However, as a tenured sociology professor and author of ten, single-authored books, Zerubavel knows why it must be stated; over the course of his academic career, he’s maintained a steady commitment to writing by making strict completion deadlines paramount. Moreover, he’s watched countless colleagues and students fail at the same, evidence that, “in writing as in other professional activities, accomplishment has to do with more than just ability” (10). Thus, with completion in mind, Zerubavel guides his readers through the steps he takes to turn his ideas into books.
As a scholar who’s written extensively on the standardization of time, Zerubavel explains how romantic notions of writing as a fundamentally spontaneous practice are social constructs that impede the regular writing process large projects demand. In contrast, Zerubavel positions his advice as procedural rather than psychological in nature. He begins by detailing how writing sessions should be scheduled, and that writers should work hard to deduce the ideal length of a given session (neither too short to be at all productive nor too long to hit a point of diminishing returns). Next, Zerubavel counsels breaking a large project down into chapters and sections, noting that even a rough outline at early stages is better than no outline at all. From here, he offers advice based on how writers should integrate their segmented writing plan with their scheduled writing sessions. For him, page numbers are the easiest unit to work with when setting deadlines (I find word count equally useful), and he usefully cautions writers to keep in mind that not all pages are created equal. Rather, certain drafts or sections of a chapter will likely take longer than others, and deadlines should be allocated accordingly.
Of course, in scheduling his own writing, Zerubavel has the benefit of years of practice, and some of his advice may have to be implemented on a trial and error basis for more novice writers. However, in my own experience with completing a dissertation and working with dozens of graduate students doing the same, I have found that keeping track of writing progress over just a few weeks enables writers to get a sense of what they can accomplish during writing sessions of various durations. Moreover, I strongly heed Zerubavel’s counsel (and practice) of both overestimating the amount of work you have to do (e.g., setting the number pages in a section a couple higher than you actually anticipate the completed section will be) and underestimating your ability to do the work (e.g., setting the number of pages you will write in a given day slightly lower than you believe you can).
Divided into five chapters, The Clockwork Muse provides succinct, actionable advice. And while the details that Zerubavel provides about how he schedules his own deadlines may not work for everyone, the gist of his advice should resonate for anyone who struggles to complete or even fathom large-scale writing projects. More centrally, this brief manuscript took me just over an hour to read, making it the perfect advice book for the struggling academic writer who (if anything like me) is prone to put off writing in favor of reading. Providing only the briefest interlude away from writing, The Clockwork Muse will also motivate you to return to your writing with regularity and clarity.
As a scholar who’s written extensively on the standardization of time, Zerubavel explains how romantic notions of writing as a fundamentally spontaneous practice are social constructs that impede the regular writing process large projects demand. In contrast, Zerubavel positions his advice as procedural rather than psychological in nature. He begins by detailing how writing sessions should be scheduled, and that writers should work hard to deduce the ideal length of a given session (neither too short to be at all productive nor too long to hit a point of diminishing returns). Next, Zerubavel counsels breaking a large project down into chapters and sections, noting that even a rough outline at early stages is better than no outline at all. From here, he offers advice based on how writers should integrate their segmented writing plan with their scheduled writing sessions. For him, page numbers are the easiest unit to work with when setting deadlines (I find word count equally useful), and he usefully cautions writers to keep in mind that not all pages are created equal. Rather, certain drafts or sections of a chapter will likely take longer than others, and deadlines should be allocated accordingly.
Of course, in scheduling his own writing, Zerubavel has the benefit of years of practice, and some of his advice may have to be implemented on a trial and error basis for more novice writers. However, in my own experience with completing a dissertation and working with dozens of graduate students doing the same, I have found that keeping track of writing progress over just a few weeks enables writers to get a sense of what they can accomplish during writing sessions of various durations. Moreover, I strongly heed Zerubavel’s counsel (and practice) of both overestimating the amount of work you have to do (e.g., setting the number pages in a section a couple higher than you actually anticipate the completed section will be) and underestimating your ability to do the work (e.g., setting the number of pages you will write in a given day slightly lower than you believe you can).
Divided into five chapters, The Clockwork Muse provides succinct, actionable advice. And while the details that Zerubavel provides about how he schedules his own deadlines may not work for everyone, the gist of his advice should resonate for anyone who struggles to complete or even fathom large-scale writing projects. More centrally, this brief manuscript took me just over an hour to read, making it the perfect advice book for the struggling academic writer who (if anything like me) is prone to put off writing in favor of reading. Providing only the briefest interlude away from writing, The Clockwork Muse will also motivate you to return to your writing with regularity and clarity.
August 23, 2022
Very good. If only someone had made me read it at the uni.
This is not a book on how to do research but how to put it on paper: Outlining, drafting, redrafting, mechanics of writing, timetabling etc. It's similar to Sword's Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write. For a more methodological guide on the same, you should read Petre & Rugg's The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research.
This is not a book on how to do research but how to put it on paper: Outlining, drafting, redrafting, mechanics of writing, timetabling etc. It's similar to Sword's Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write. For a more methodological guide on the same, you should read Petre & Rugg's The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research.
October 30, 2023
Just me and the random books they make me read at uni this was shite outdated waffle
October 6, 2024
A practical guide for writing a PhD thesis. A helpful orientation to the entire process and key parts of the process.
September 13, 2012
As a graduate student who has just started work on a dissertation, I have become very interested in strategies for efficient writing. I don't want to be ABD forever!
Zerubavel's book has some excellent advice in it, although he admits in the introduction that not all of it will work for everyone (however, he does also imply that this might be due to personal failings among more schedule-averse readers). Overall, the idea of setting aside specific blocks of time for uninterrupted writing makes perfect sense. Zerubavel's suggestions for choosing reasonable blocks of time, both in terms of length and in terms of placement within an already packed schedule, are also very practical. I will be taking his advice on these issues.
However, Zerubavel's suggestions suffer from the fact that, aside from a few quotations from famous novelists like John Steinbeck, his plan is entirely based on his own experiences and preferences. Among the examples he provides are outlines of his own books, which are not clear to begin with and which are made more so by the fact that I am unfamiliar with his academic work. His description of the revision process is also unclear and probably could have used a separate section all its own. On the one hand, Zerubavel suggests that you produce an entire first draft, including all chapters, as quickly as possible. On the other, he also includes sections about sentence-by-sentence and paragraph-by-paragraph revision without specifying where that kind of work should fit into a timetable that is designed for productivity, not for getting caught up in painstaking revisions too quickly.
Zerubavel's book has some excellent advice in it, although he admits in the introduction that not all of it will work for everyone (however, he does also imply that this might be due to personal failings among more schedule-averse readers). Overall, the idea of setting aside specific blocks of time for uninterrupted writing makes perfect sense. Zerubavel's suggestions for choosing reasonable blocks of time, both in terms of length and in terms of placement within an already packed schedule, are also very practical. I will be taking his advice on these issues.
However, Zerubavel's suggestions suffer from the fact that, aside from a few quotations from famous novelists like John Steinbeck, his plan is entirely based on his own experiences and preferences. Among the examples he provides are outlines of his own books, which are not clear to begin with and which are made more so by the fact that I am unfamiliar with his academic work. His description of the revision process is also unclear and probably could have used a separate section all its own. On the one hand, Zerubavel suggests that you produce an entire first draft, including all chapters, as quickly as possible. On the other, he also includes sections about sentence-by-sentence and paragraph-by-paragraph revision without specifying where that kind of work should fit into a timetable that is designed for productivity, not for getting caught up in painstaking revisions too quickly.
January 27, 2014
The best thing about this book is that this guy is teaching you how to create the best situations in which to write really well, and his book is actually GORGEOUSLY written. So I'm going to be taking his advice, for sure, yeah.
April 5, 2014
A useful book on planning out your writing that you can read in little more than an hour. I think his strategies are worth trying. I have a short project to do, so I'll start there (the book is really about working on long projects, but the same principles would apply).
June 15, 2020
I guess I love to fantasize about self-discipline?
November 20, 2023
A very short little book on long writing projects. There is some good advice here, although nothing really new. Some of the best advice is the simplest: evaluate how much time you spend on writing (hours per week) compared to other commitments and reflect on how much of a relative priority writing is in your schedule. (Basically, if writing matters, do it more.)
The bulk of the recommendations relate to building out very detailed planned schedules for your writing projects – how many days will it take you to complete each subsection of your outlined project? Although some aspects of this strategy (like building extra time in your writing schedule to account for unforeseen disasters and slow-downs) are helpful, I doubt how reliable such a detailed and complicated writing schedule can really be. How accurately can we really estimate how long each section will take to write well in advance of working on it? Spending time developing an overly-detailed schedule feels like an opportunity for feel-good but unhelpful procrastination to me.
The framework of “A time” and “B time” (and even “C time”) was interesting, and a valuable vocabulary to have for thinking about how to plan your day. “A time” is devoted to more intensive tasks, like writing, which ideally happen during your peak productive hours. “B time” can be used for more brainless tasks, like checking references, and can be done during times when your energy or focus is not at its peak.
The footnote references were the strangest part of this book. At least a third of the references were self-citations, and in most cases, these were not even necessary (Zerubavel cites himself for the fact that there are 7 days in a week). The excessive self-citation gives the impression that either the author is trying to heavily promote his other books, or that he doesn’t consider any other authors in his of expertise to be worth citing. (The remaining two-thirds of the references were on a different topic: interviews with authors about their writing habits. These sources were all articles published in The Paris Review.) I hesitate to model my academic writing after the advice of an author whose bibliography consists entirely of “books I wrote and articles I read in a single magazine.”
The bulk of the recommendations relate to building out very detailed planned schedules for your writing projects – how many days will it take you to complete each subsection of your outlined project? Although some aspects of this strategy (like building extra time in your writing schedule to account for unforeseen disasters and slow-downs) are helpful, I doubt how reliable such a detailed and complicated writing schedule can really be. How accurately can we really estimate how long each section will take to write well in advance of working on it? Spending time developing an overly-detailed schedule feels like an opportunity for feel-good but unhelpful procrastination to me.
The framework of “A time” and “B time” (and even “C time”) was interesting, and a valuable vocabulary to have for thinking about how to plan your day. “A time” is devoted to more intensive tasks, like writing, which ideally happen during your peak productive hours. “B time” can be used for more brainless tasks, like checking references, and can be done during times when your energy or focus is not at its peak.
The footnote references were the strangest part of this book. At least a third of the references were self-citations, and in most cases, these were not even necessary (Zerubavel cites himself for the fact that there are 7 days in a week). The excessive self-citation gives the impression that either the author is trying to heavily promote his other books, or that he doesn’t consider any other authors in his of expertise to be worth citing. (The remaining two-thirds of the references were on a different topic: interviews with authors about their writing habits. These sources were all articles published in The Paris Review.) I hesitate to model my academic writing after the advice of an author whose bibliography consists entirely of “books I wrote and articles I read in a single magazine.”
February 6, 2022
This book is a gold mine of valuable information and reminders that counter the long pervasive myths that writing must come from inspiration. No, the key to success is commitment to routine, plans and deadline. I imagine I will come back to this book time and again throughout various lengthy writing projects. Above all, this books shows you that it is possible that have a TON going on and still complete a massive writing process, like a master’s thesis or dissertation. My favorite part is probably details of famous authors routines. I took from that though that it doesn’t matter what your routine is so long as it’s consistent. Now that I’m done with this book, the hardest part starts: writing the thesis.
September 5, 2022
This book is valuable for figuring out how to create a writing schedule and plan out longer writing projects. I read it because of a recommendation about the first chapter, which helps you plan out a realistic schedule that actually works with your life. The rest, though, is helpful in reframing the writing process in a way that feels doable so you can meet deadlines and create your best work.
January 21, 2021
A helpful read for anyone (such as myself) undertaking a gargantuan academic project, such as a PhD dissertation. A lot of useful tips, and easy to read/digest (I finished it in a few hours)
December 15, 2023
Eviatar says — you bitches need to get some god damn discipline!
January 8, 2015
This book is wonderful. I used it in writing a thesis.I read it some time ago but never wrote a review for it. The author begins by explaining that he is not going to teach the reader to write but how to set up a writing schedule and organize a large project like a master's thesis, doctoral dissertation, or even a book. He is an experienced writer and academic who has written all 3 so he knows what challenges we face in writing large projects.
He first offers help in setting a schedule for writing. All of us have things we have to do regularly such as work, committee meetings, volunteer activities, eat, sleep, commute, exercise, spend time with our spouse/kids/friends, etc. The author has us block out those times when we are absolutely not available for writing and that way we are more able to see when it is realistic to schedule our writing. Yes, we are to schedule our writing sessions just like appointments or a class or job so that it can be written down and adhered to. He reminds us that there will, of course, be unexpected events that crop up- accidents, sickness, a business trip, etc- we might have to work around.
Next, the author asks readers to consider when they work best. Some people work best in the morning while others prefer afternoons, evenings, or even late night. Some writers might have to write after work or when the kids go to bed. Some of us are night owls who just can't function let alone write in the mornings. He urges us to examine the time we feel freshest and most alert and when we can have the fewest distractions. This is very practical advice because many people don't consider their body rhythms, family life, activities, etc and just decide to sit down and write when they can. Too often "when it's convenient" or "when I can" never arrives and the deadline arrives and the thesis or dissertation is not completed or else the deadline looms ahead and the student panics and rushes off some sloppy work.
While planning the best times to write and scheduling it into your week is important, there is the matter of how many hours a day you will write. If you are doing a master's thesis, you may need to write 100 pages or more as I did for it to be accepted and a dissertation may require a 300 page book. This is vastly different than if you are choosing to write a nonfiction or novel because you want to and can set your own deadline. If you are in a master's thesis course or dissertation course, you will have a firm set deadline. I had 6 months for it to be researched, written, rewritten and edited, and finished. In an academic program, you will also have readers. I had to send each part and each chapter to 3 professors who made up my academic committee and get everyone's approval of it all. It then had to be approved by the dean of the college of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means writing anywhere from 4-6 hours a day. The author explains how to select the right number of hours for your project. My only complaint is that he seemed to think that master's and doctoral students can take years to write a thesis or dissertation and this is not really true.
Finally- and this might be the juiciest bit of info- the author shows how you can take stress off of yourself by dividing your huge project into short baby steps. He says it is like dividing a large piece of food into smaller manageable bites or climbing stairs and focusing on only one bite or step at a time. This lifts the pressure off of you. First you outline your project then divide each chapter into smaller segments and then divide them into bite sized bits. My project on Nazi camps from the viewpoint of those inside them from Nazi officers and soldiers to those imprisoned from different countries for different reasons and of different religions, etc was a huge undertaking and seemed overwhelming until broken like a loaf of bread into tiny pieces. This means that I don't have to brood about the whole project one week but instead focus on the art and poetry done by children imprisoned in one particular camp during 1941-1942. This is doable!
I highly recommend this book if you are working on a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation and even if you are writing a nonfiction book or a novel for any age level. As the author says, this book will help you personalize your writing habits for the project to suit your own special needs.
He first offers help in setting a schedule for writing. All of us have things we have to do regularly such as work, committee meetings, volunteer activities, eat, sleep, commute, exercise, spend time with our spouse/kids/friends, etc. The author has us block out those times when we are absolutely not available for writing and that way we are more able to see when it is realistic to schedule our writing. Yes, we are to schedule our writing sessions just like appointments or a class or job so that it can be written down and adhered to. He reminds us that there will, of course, be unexpected events that crop up- accidents, sickness, a business trip, etc- we might have to work around.
Next, the author asks readers to consider when they work best. Some people work best in the morning while others prefer afternoons, evenings, or even late night. Some writers might have to write after work or when the kids go to bed. Some of us are night owls who just can't function let alone write in the mornings. He urges us to examine the time we feel freshest and most alert and when we can have the fewest distractions. This is very practical advice because many people don't consider their body rhythms, family life, activities, etc and just decide to sit down and write when they can. Too often "when it's convenient" or "when I can" never arrives and the deadline arrives and the thesis or dissertation is not completed or else the deadline looms ahead and the student panics and rushes off some sloppy work.
While planning the best times to write and scheduling it into your week is important, there is the matter of how many hours a day you will write. If you are doing a master's thesis, you may need to write 100 pages or more as I did for it to be accepted and a dissertation may require a 300 page book. This is vastly different than if you are choosing to write a nonfiction or novel because you want to and can set your own deadline. If you are in a master's thesis course or dissertation course, you will have a firm set deadline. I had 6 months for it to be researched, written, rewritten and edited, and finished. In an academic program, you will also have readers. I had to send each part and each chapter to 3 professors who made up my academic committee and get everyone's approval of it all. It then had to be approved by the dean of the college of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means writing anywhere from 4-6 hours a day. The author explains how to select the right number of hours for your project. My only complaint is that he seemed to think that master's and doctoral students can take years to write a thesis or dissertation and this is not really true.
Finally- and this might be the juiciest bit of info- the author shows how you can take stress off of yourself by dividing your huge project into short baby steps. He says it is like dividing a large piece of food into smaller manageable bites or climbing stairs and focusing on only one bite or step at a time. This lifts the pressure off of you. First you outline your project then divide each chapter into smaller segments and then divide them into bite sized bits. My project on Nazi camps from the viewpoint of those inside them from Nazi officers and soldiers to those imprisoned from different countries for different reasons and of different religions, etc was a huge undertaking and seemed overwhelming until broken like a loaf of bread into tiny pieces. This means that I don't have to brood about the whole project one week but instead focus on the art and poetry done by children imprisoned in one particular camp during 1941-1942. This is doable!
I highly recommend this book if you are working on a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation and even if you are writing a nonfiction book or a novel for any age level. As the author says, this book will help you personalize your writing habits for the project to suit your own special needs.
July 25, 2016
While I don't think of myself as an aspiring author at this point in my life, I am faced with the dreadful task of writing my master's thesis and I thought, sure why not, I will read a manual, it might help. Even though thinking about writing gives me instant anxiety and thoughts of how nice it would be if I could sleep forever and never face the act of writing ever again.
But yeah anyway, I am sure this little book could be helpful to somebody who has never written a structured longer piece of anything, however I did have a class called "Academic Writing" where they taught us most of what the author suggests. So the following steps are important 1) make a schedule 2) divide what you have to write into units/chapters 3) set a timeline/deadlines 4) when you're not feeling inspired, revise what is written or work on your bibliography 5) make a couple of drafts (the author's preferred number is 4) 6) ask for feedback somewhere between the beginning when you're still not so attached to what you have written but also when you have plenty of room to add and change 7) have lots of notepads everywhere so you can jot down ideas instantaneously.
There is a quote in here I actually like, something apparently John Steinbeck said: "Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in the process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on."
And I also agree when the author says: "Working on any given project for too long can generate serious problems. Aside from the philosophical question of whether, as Anthony Burgess put it, "the writer can be the same person...over a long stretch of time," there is also the psychological problem that what may have once been a source of great pleasure and excitement can become a source of boredom and frustration, and writers who have been working on the same manuscript for too long often reach a point when they actually come to hate it."
Basically I completely agree with this statement because I hate my thesis topic to the core now and it has ruined many aspirations I had for the future :' (.
So yeah I'm sure there are some more but I don't think I need to get that much into detail here. It's a short book so anyone doing work on a longer, freelancy type thing (be it creative or not) could certainly benefit from it. I think the advice can be pretty useful even for painters and the like because a lot of the suggestions can adapted to other forms of creative expression.
I cannot give this book a higher rating however since it is a manual in my opinion, and I already knew plenty of things the author mentions but I'm sure someone who is new to this would find it much more helpful.
But yeah anyway, I am sure this little book could be helpful to somebody who has never written a structured longer piece of anything, however I did have a class called "Academic Writing" where they taught us most of what the author suggests. So the following steps are important 1) make a schedule 2) divide what you have to write into units/chapters 3) set a timeline/deadlines 4) when you're not feeling inspired, revise what is written or work on your bibliography 5) make a couple of drafts (the author's preferred number is 4) 6) ask for feedback somewhere between the beginning when you're still not so attached to what you have written but also when you have plenty of room to add and change 7) have lots of notepads everywhere so you can jot down ideas instantaneously.
There is a quote in here I actually like, something apparently John Steinbeck said: "Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in the process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on."
And I also agree when the author says: "Working on any given project for too long can generate serious problems. Aside from the philosophical question of whether, as Anthony Burgess put it, "the writer can be the same person...over a long stretch of time," there is also the psychological problem that what may have once been a source of great pleasure and excitement can become a source of boredom and frustration, and writers who have been working on the same manuscript for too long often reach a point when they actually come to hate it."
Basically I completely agree with this statement because I hate my thesis topic to the core now and it has ruined many aspirations I had for the future :' (.
So yeah I'm sure there are some more but I don't think I need to get that much into detail here. It's a short book so anyone doing work on a longer, freelancy type thing (be it creative or not) could certainly benefit from it. I think the advice can be pretty useful even for painters and the like because a lot of the suggestions can adapted to other forms of creative expression.
I cannot give this book a higher rating however since it is a manual in my opinion, and I already knew plenty of things the author mentions but I'm sure someone who is new to this would find it much more helpful.
June 21, 2015
I highly recommend this book for anyone bookshelf really. This book was spoke to me not at me and the author left the decision on what to do in the reader's hands. The suggestions he made to his reader were made so gently that it made it that much easier for me to take them but he also backed up those advice with examples and his own experiences. I am still rereading some sections, it's that good of a read.
January 2, 2023
Who is this book written for? If you are someone who did some sort of serious writing, none of these ideas will be new to you. If you haven't done any serious writing, you will not understand when or why any of these ideas would be useful. I guess if you are someone who wants other people to be good writers then you might like this book as it mentions things that you think are good ideas that you also have thought about. I do not know why others like this book.
Moreover, you will not find any nuance in the ideas the author presents. For him, if you write in circles, if you spend years into writing a draft, you must be stupid. If you had teachers who extended your deadlines, they were clearly wrong to do that. How can someone make such one-sided arguments and get tenure in any university? How can he hold himself from letting his reader know that the other side of being a clockwork muse is being a perfectionist and giving everything you have to write the perfect paper. There are thousands of dissertations not more than 2 people have read, how can the author at least entertain the idea that what we need to do is to work harder for the first draft? I think this book shows that those who do, do it, and those who can't, teach.
Finally this book assumes that research is a process of putting your reflections on paper, which is not the case for many of us who work day and night to formulate ideas with mathematical models or with experiments.
I wish I had the chance to confront the author face-to-face.
Moreover, you will not find any nuance in the ideas the author presents. For him, if you write in circles, if you spend years into writing a draft, you must be stupid. If you had teachers who extended your deadlines, they were clearly wrong to do that. How can someone make such one-sided arguments and get tenure in any university? How can he hold himself from letting his reader know that the other side of being a clockwork muse is being a perfectionist and giving everything you have to write the perfect paper. There are thousands of dissertations not more than 2 people have read, how can the author at least entertain the idea that what we need to do is to work harder for the first draft? I think this book shows that those who do, do it, and those who can't, teach.
Finally this book assumes that research is a process of putting your reflections on paper, which is not the case for many of us who work day and night to formulate ideas with mathematical models or with experiments.
I wish I had the chance to confront the author face-to-face.
June 19, 2025
Written by a sociologist of time, this short treatise on thinking through the writing process of a large project as matter of spacial and but more so temporal organization reads both intuitively and logically. Zerubavel packages practical wisdom in clear prose that demystifies the struggles of finding one's rhythm through trial, much error, and insufficient systematic reflection. I wish someone had suggested this book to me early in the PhD.
The Clockwork Muse was published in 1999 and thus does not reflect the technological acceleration and integration of the 21st century nor seismic changes in the higher education landscape that come to bear on both the temporal-politics of publishing and a researcher's time itself. To this point, some of the assumptions made read as outdated. Even so, the overarching strategy and tactical mechanisms Zerubavel outlines are the meat and potatoes of the book and what makes it still worth reading 25 years later.
The Clockwork Muse was published in 1999 and thus does not reflect the technological acceleration and integration of the 21st century nor seismic changes in the higher education landscape that come to bear on both the temporal-politics of publishing and a researcher's time itself. To this point, some of the assumptions made read as outdated. Even so, the overarching strategy and tactical mechanisms Zerubavel outlines are the meat and potatoes of the book and what makes it still worth reading 25 years later.
November 29, 2021
Zerubavel’s book is a wonderful read, especially given that it is essentially a How To manual — and also an inspirational punch in the arm for writers. I needed this. His obvious, but necessary insight is that the best scholar isn’t someone who has the best ideas, but the one who puts ideas methodically down on paper. How do we do that? From his history of the inventor of the timetable (St. Benedict) to his advice to make your project a “mountain with stairs”, his advice on taking time for writing is clear, soothing, and eminently practical. Even if you’ve already written a dissertation or a book, this is helpful. I found myself learning even why what I’d done in the last had succeeded, and where I didn’t realize I’m foundering.
July 22, 2021
This is a writer's self-help book. It is really easy to get overwhelmed when working on large writing projects and to keep waiting for inspiration to strike, or in other words, not get anything done. This book breaks the writing process down so that projects seem more managable.
I have several different writing projects coming up as part of grad school, so I am going to try to follow the author's advice on organizing my time, figuring out when to write each day, and measuring progress by pages per day instead of large sections. If anyone wants an update in a few months, I'll be happy to share my progress!
I have several different writing projects coming up as part of grad school, so I am going to try to follow the author's advice on organizing my time, figuring out when to write each day, and measuring progress by pages per day instead of large sections. If anyone wants an update in a few months, I'll be happy to share my progress!
March 24, 2025
Writing a dissertation was hands down the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. At one point, I genuinely thought I was going to lose my mind from all the stress and sleepless nights. That’s when my friends stepped in and suggested I get a little help from UK Writings ukwritings.com/dissertation-services. Honestly, that was the best decision I ever made! It took such a huge weight off my shoulders and let me focus on actually understanding my research instead of just drowning in deadlines. If you're struggling too, don’t hesitate to find support—it makes all the difference
February 19, 2018
Once again, read this as a homework assignment, but it was interesting and engaging enough that I'd thought I'd throw it up here. Zerubavel offers very practical, thorough advice on how to get a long piece of writing done, like a dissertation or a book. While I imagine his obsession with schedules and timetables is far more useful for academics working with more structured writing, there is possibly good advice for anyone wanting to write any genre here. I'll probably revisit this book before beginning my dissertation.
October 11, 2020
Short and really helps demystify the process of writing
As someone who has struggled in the past to write essay's at university and never got further than a couple of pages in writing stories (at least in my 'old' age) this book really helps get an idea of how to structure writing over a long period of time and what meaninful progress actually looks like, along with a detailed view of 'being in the weeds' of writing.
Really great, and wish I had read it a decade ago!
As someone who has struggled in the past to write essay's at university and never got further than a couple of pages in writing stories (at least in my 'old' age) this book really helps get an idea of how to structure writing over a long period of time and what meaninful progress actually looks like, along with a detailed view of 'being in the weeds' of writing.
Really great, and wish I had read it a decade ago!
January 18, 2020
Clear, concise, solid advice. Probably not the perfect plan for me to follow, but it gave me some ideas for the further development of my own processes and was a quick and inspirational read as I head into a big academic project.
March 12, 2021
Important resource
I had the good fortune of reading this when it first came out. I was in grad school then. Since that time, I return to this book for its critical insights. It always teaches me something new.
I had the good fortune of reading this when it first came out. I was in grad school then. Since that time, I return to this book for its critical insights. It always teaches me something new.
June 27, 2021
Good advice on planning large writing projects
The author presents a framework for breaking large writing projects down into manageable chunks, along with practical ways to schedule writing without those constant readjustments that can make things tedious.
The author presents a framework for breaking large writing projects down into manageable chunks, along with practical ways to schedule writing without those constant readjustments that can make things tedious.
May 12, 2022
Easy, quick read. It complements other academic time management tools/ books I’ve had access to. I do wish there were forms or pictures of what the author referred to. Especially stuff in the last chapter
March 25, 2018
I read this book about 15 years ago. I feel the need to reread it.
April 30, 2018
Some useful information for how to plan for writing a longer piece of academic writing - some of the information feels a little outdated but it gave me some good tips for planning my next project.
July 20, 2018
Practical advice on scheduling and writing a major work.
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