The Emotional Arc of Research and Writing

It was great hearing about all of your research projects in conference this week.  With few exceptions, everyone is working hard (when they can) on their research.  The problems, when there are any, have mostly to do with refining the inquiry question.  This is no surprise, especially if you're writing about something you know little about.

Prior knowledge about a research topic is a huge advantage:  you know what the conversation is about the subject--the key concepts, the words people use to talk about it, the experts involved, the schools of thought, and so on.  But when you're just entering the conversation as a relative novice, you have to listen in first before you dare to say anything.  This is a listening in week.

Next week, you'll develop a more focused knowledge on your topics, and there will be moments when you start to believe that, yes, you may have something to say about it.  You'll hopefully find your own "Where's Waldo?" question, and this will help you to know what information you don't need to look at (along with the information you need to look at).  This is fun.  At the same time, though, you may find your motivation start to sag. There's an emotional arc to the research and writing process (isn't this true of anything that's hard?) and it's important to be honest about it.  I have some theories about this emotional journey of research, and I'd love to hear this week and next how you're experiencing the process.