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The Real Problem

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Blogger Z is absolutely right: research is fun and writing is easy. Also, teaching is highly enjoyable and service, when done on one’s own terms and chosen wisely, is very rewarding.

The real bitch, at least for me, is submitting the piece I have written and waiting for a response. I will send out an article on Monday and already my hands are shaking, I’ve been hyperventilating on and off all day long, and I’m going to pour myself a huge drink after I finish writing this post.

And then there will be months of waking up and grabbing my phone to see if any responses to my submissions have arrived, knowing that if there is a rejection, I’ll be sick for weeks.

Yes, I know I have blogged about this before, but the problem isn’t going away, so I’ll keep writing about it until I figure out how to deal with this. And no, the solution to this will not have anything to do with growing a thicker skin, just like the solution to poverty has nothing to do with bootstrap pulling.

This is making me very irritable, so expect many angry posts. I’m going to go get that drink now.

10 responses to “The Real Problem”

  1. Z Avatar
    Z

    The solution is to write something else in the meantime.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      Yes, I think this is the only good strategy for the moment. When you write, it takes your mind off everything else.

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  2. Jennifer Frances Armstrong Avatar
    Jennifer Frances Armstrong

    When I was writing those things, I managed to analyse what used to bother me. It really wasn’t the possibility of receiving any sort of criticism, which I was already used to. Rather I feared having to go over what I’d written and consider it from an alien perspective and then decide the validity or otherwise of that alien perspective. I also feared that a lot of work would be required of me in revising.

    I also think that the clearer one is, in one’s own mind, about what one is saying, the less any sort of criticism seems to matter. Or rather, what would otherwise seem like confusing or destructive criticism can more easily be used constructively, or can be rejected at will, without feeling guilty about it.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      For me, it’s just the fact of rejection that is painful. Of course, there are rejections that are worded in such a mean and hurtful way that it makes things even worse.

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      1. llama Avatar
        llama

        You can ignore the rejections that are mean spirited they add no value.

        A good reviewer should be telling you what needs to be improved or why the idea is fatally flawed.

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  3. llama Avatar
    llama

    Z is spot on just keep working, assume that it won’t get published so the new piece is now the most important.

    Also you could try publishing more in conferences generally in my field you know if it has been accepted in 6 to 8 weeks.

    As for the criticisms mentioned by Jennifer, answering these should always be a part of the work anyway.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
      bloggerclarissa

      In one of the places, I’ve been waiting for decision since January. Thankfully, it’s January 2011. Now, if they ask for revisions, I won’t even be able to do them without going over the entire batch of readings I had done for it.

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      1. llama Avatar
        llama

        That is an awfully long time. I don’t know if you really want to build up a relationship with a publication that is so badly organised.

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        1. bloggerclarissa Avatar
          bloggerclarissa

          I know! If I’d had the slightest idea it would take this long I’d never have submitted there.

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          1. llama Avatar
            llama

            Well that is something you can add to the list. Ask around and find out how disorganised a journal is.

            Once you have done the work and submitted generally you have agreed not to submit elsewhere.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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