15-minute post...

Long story, which I won't get into (I know, hard to believe I can pass up the opportunity), but the short version is that I only have about 15 minutes in which to write this blog post. That may actually be more than enough, as I could pretty much simply ditto what I said yesterday. I'm chipping my way through the critical material, alternately working on the Critical Overview chapter (which mostly goes over the vast bulk of the critical material, all on one theme) and on the Annotated Bibliography (which goes over the few critical views that are about something else, or those that skip lightly over the novel and then move on). Occasionally, I add a little material to another chapter here or there, as I happen to run across a point or idea that belongs wherever--but I also am getting to the point where I have to make a decision: do I print out what I have and start organizing? Or do I just keep going and hope I don't do too much repeating of myself?

My inclination is toward the latter--though the thought that I may be reinventing the wheel (or restating the same thing over and over) does tend to cause brief spells of writer's block. But since my main anxiety has been that I'm not producing enough, I want to just keep producing and hope for the best.

I'm also close to finishing my reading of the critical material I happen to have in print here at home; pretty soon I'm going to have to face the bolus of downloaded material--which I just can't quite bring myself to print out. There's so much of it, so many pages, and I think about all the paper and ink that will be only briefly useful then end up in the recycling bin.... I'd rather avoid that, but on the other hand, in order to keep things straight, I may have to take more notes than I have been--maybe even (perish the thought) resort to the old-fashioned index cards thing, so when I think, "Now, where did I read that?" I can find it.

The problem with that system is that I invariably forget to write down the thing that suddenly falls into my head as being important, so I can't find it in my notes.

Scholarship, man, it just ain't pretty.

At the moment, I'm actively looking forward to getting away from the sabbatical project entirely and spending a day on psychology (specifically, formation and extinction of fear memory)--including an earlier-than-usual trip on the train so I can meet with the professor. That will be an interesting meeting, I imagine. I'll try to remember to say something about it in a future post.

But now, my 15 minutes are about up--and I just thought of 45 other things I'd like to do quickly, as long as I'm online (and know I'd better only do one or two of them as otherwise I'll be late), so, off I go into the tame, grey yonder.