tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443722834139095121.post1454505299227935199..comments2016-05-12T09:39:35.961-07:00Comments on Economics of Reality: Writing ProcessGlenn Hubbard Econ 490 Fall 2015http://www.blogger.com/profile/16140673497561022154noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443722834139095121.post-58321629459123670302016-04-29T06:18:59.452-07:002016-04-29T06:18:59.452-07:00Here are a few snips, followed by a longer comment...Here are a few snips, followed by a longer comment.<br /><br />"This doesn’t mean more thinking. It means the same amount of thinking spread out over a longer time period." Why is that?<br /><br />I wonder why you think deliberating on a topic and prewriting are two different things.<br /><br />There is an Eisenhower quote that I like very much, which might help you in thinking about the prewriting.<br />"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."<br /><br />Your process discussion didn't get at the fundamental question - is writing a rehash of thinking that happened before or is thinking happening right through the writing activity? You did talk about sometimes realizing that you never thought about it that way before, but you said that in reference to your reading. Does that ever happen with the writing as well? <br /><br />Writing where there is some discovery has to allow for that in the process. So it is worth asking, what might one do to facilitate coming up with something novel in the process? You talked about getting distracted and trying to block that out but not succeeding. Might the distractions actually be a way to find something new in your subject matter?<br /><br />An experiment to try, perhaps a few times to see if there is anything to it, is to try to chronicle your distractions as well writing on your topic. Then you might ask whether any connection can be made between the two, apart from the sense that you are procrastinating. <br /><br />If one goal is to build connections you need practice in doing that. You may not see the writing or prewriting in that way, but talking about connecting disjoint things perhaps make discovery more concrete. (The connection is what you discover.) If you haven't previously been conscious about trying that, then as with any new skill it will take practice to do it with some proficiency. <br /><br />Now let me take on your very first sentence, where you used the expression "efficient way to write." The phrase seems to bias the writing task in the direction of rehashing prior thinking. Efficiency then might mean - least time to produce an adequate discussion. I am not sure whether efficiency is a useful concept when talking about making discovery, but I fear that often the problem is to expect immediate results and not put in sufficient time to work through the ideas. <br /><br />When things are new to you, if you try to make conclusions, you will do so without fully understanding your subject. As things get more familiar it is easier to make connections because you can then begin to see possibilities. Part of the writing process then may be on making new ideas more familiar. Writing and reading then become parts of something bigger. Conversation may help here too. It would be good for you to think through your own process for familiarizing yourself with something new when done outside of a course setting. Then ask yourself whether that is like your process with writing. Professor Arvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15256000730474030475noreply@blogger.com