Get the damn thing done

When I was a junior (a/k/a third year student) in university, I was struggling with an abstract of my honors thesis. I had angst. The thesis was to be my grand work and the capstone of my undergraduate academic career. I faced a year of research and writing that would culminate in a 90-page tome on Vietnam in Film and History. I had built the thing up so much in my mind that I was paralyzed. My fingers could not push the keys on the keyboard.

I went to my major advisor and told him I was having problems. Being the wise and seasoned historian he was, my advisor looked at me, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and said, "I'm going to tell you what my wife tells me whenever I have a writing project: just get the damn thing done."

So, on Friday I had 14 pages of my Poverty Law research paper down. 11-16 more to go. As I stared at the stacks of law review articles, cases, newspaper features and, of course, my trusty Bluebook*, I called to memory Prof. X's advice from years ago. I worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday and got the damn thing done. Mostly. Revisions and citation formatting to follow. But the bones of the paper are there and it came in at around 25 pages. Revision and addition is sure to add 3-5 to that. All-in-all, not too bad.

If you've read any other blogs from southern Wisconsin, you'll no doubt know that the weather has been amazing here. Friday and Saturday allowed just enough time for a couple of great bike rides. I think I need a wider saddle, though, because my sit bones are majorly unhappy. Like you needed to know, I know.

*For the non-law types out there, the Bluebook is the guide to citation format for legal writers (practitioners and scholars).