On Research Strategies

I've been giving some thought to this set of research strategies from Marcus Arvan at Philosopher's Cocoon. I thought it was a very useful discussion, particularly given my own recent struggles with writing. I do a lot of this stuff already, but some of my habits represent a significant variation on the theme, and some of my habits are sort of like the opposite of its counterpart on Arvan's list. (To be clear, I'm not trying to argue with Arvan. I like his list. I'm just using the list as a way of thinking about my own work habits.) If you haven't read Arvan's post, go do it and then come back.

Arvan says,

2. Write first thing in the morning, without any form of self-censorship, setting a firm 3-5 page requirment for yourself, which you assiduously keep to and do not go over.

I kind of do this. I don't write in the morning, but I try to do a certain amount of writing-related work every day. However, I don't draft every day--some days I'm editing, revising, rewriting, or polishing; some days I'm researching and just making notes; some days I'm reorganizing. Sometimes I'm just not in a position to do any drafting. And on those non-drafting days it doesn't make much sense to think about my output in terms of pages. I just focus on doing as much as I can until it's time to go home.

3. Give yourself a couple hours a day of "alone time" outside away from the computer if you can.

I don't do this every day, but I try to do it a couple times a week.

 4. Send stuff out; don't sit on your work.

I like to sit on my work a little. I find that it really helps to let a paper rest for a little while and then come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. When I come back to it, I find that I notice things I wouldn't have noticed before--often, this is when I notice unclear or obscure passages, or places where something has been left implicit that needs to be made explicit, or places where the way things are organized or the order in which things are presented is messed up.

But I make an effort to send stuff out as soon as it's ready, and if I'm going to err, I err on the side of sending stuff out too soon.

5. When your work gets rejected, send it out again immediately.

I do this unless the rejection was accompanied by a set of helpful comments--which it generally is not. And if it's not, I try to send it back out that same day.

8. The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.

I try to do that, but I don't do the thing that Arvan does. I write an informal outline where I reconstruct the argument or view or whatever I'm engaging with, remind myself what the relevant literature is, and sketch out what my take is going to be. I do this whenever the need/desire arises. Then, when I finish a project and send it out, and am in a position to start something new, I go through these documents and see what jumps out.

I also try to read a lot, and go to conferences a lot, and when I do, I make an effort go to papers that are outside my immediate areas of interest. I find that a good way to get new ideas is to expose myself to other people's new ideas.

9. Only work on weekdays--take weekends off.

I generally do this. I try to devote my evenings and weekends to my family. Doesn't always happen, but I almost always try.

--Mr. Zero