I love this, especially the “boring, hard work” part. It is so true.
Joyousness! I just right now finished the second full draft of my book manuscript. At 386 pages and 114,000 words, it is much longer than I had originally planned and almost double the size of the first draft that I did my line edits on back in May.
There is still much work to be done, but I have an incredible feeling of accomplishment right now. I am going out to buy myself a drink!
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it.
Anais Nin, writer (1903-1977)
A very nice little TED talk by Eat Pray Love author, Elizabeth Gilbert, on imagining creativity as something that is external to the individual creator. I especially like how she talks about the writer’s job is just to show up and do the work. I think this is useful for anyone doing any kind of sustained writing project and doubting their own abilities.
Writing Tips by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman & George Orwell
A wonderful collection of tips for aspiring writers of all genres, including ethnography.
9 months ago - 
8
8 
Perendination
There are only a few occasions when I feel justified in pulling out what Hemingway would refer to as a “ten-dollar” word. But my mental state over the last few days is best described by the verb “perendinate:” to put off until the day after tomorrow. This is procrastination senior.
I took a few days off to see a bit of Amsterdam, but now I feel like I have lost stamina on both of my book projects. I am also realizing how tedious and boring line edits can be. I have 113 pages of line edits on my first book project, a project that I am now referring to as “Book X” (as opposed to “Book Y,” the second book project about communist women in Bulgaria). I suppose it is normal take a break, but I fear that I will completely lose interest in a project if I let it sit unattended for too long. This morning, I found myself just staring at the pile of paper with all of my red scribbles. I had no inclination to work at all. The International Institute of Social History is closed on weekends so I can’t go to the archives. If I am going to work today, it has to be writing or editing. But I don’t feel like it.
So the question is: should I force myself to work? Should I just take another day off? I think my inclination is to sit down and push through. If I start, then even if I only end up doing ten pages, I am making some progress. But the sun is shining, and there is an outdoor concert starting in Vondelpark in about ten minutes.
To perendinate or not to perendinate? That is the question….
What Makes Something Ethnographic?
This is a thoughtful blog post on Savage Minds by Carole McGranahan on what makes an ethnography an ethnography. The user discussion below her post is also insightful.
(Special shout out to Professor McGranahan who was kind enough to include my book on her syllabus. Thank you!)
10 months ago - 8
8 
The view from the window of my apartment in Amsterdam
It is amazing how a a change of place can rev up the creative juices. I am hunkering down in Amsterdam for the summer. I will be working in the archives of the International Institute for Social History for my project on communist mass women’s organizations and their relations with progressive women’s movements in Africa. I have been doing “salvage ethnographic” interviews in Bulgaria for 2 years, and now I am trying to track down the names of key women in Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia.
I have a lot of research to do. I have a lot of writing to do. This is a challenging project because it is so much more historical than any other book I have written. But I am so excited about this research. There are wonderful stories to be told. I revel in every moment that I will spend discovering them.
