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It came to me yesterday, as I downloaded the commented file that is to become my 9th draft of this paper (yes, this paper I'm writing that I hate with a fiery passion and can't wait to burn a hardcopy of, once it's accepted, as a demonstration to the science tiki gods that I WIN*), and took both my boss' verbal comments and her written ones, about how very, very much I really do appreciate my boss.
I mean, this WILL be my 9th draft. She's read (almost) every single one, commented, advised, and sent it back. She's complimented me on my thoughts, and critiqued my style. And she's done it repeatedly. She's deflected the harangues of our collaborators (notably one who's on my thesis committee who has no grad students of her own). My boss is being exceptionally patient.
I hate this paper, I hate this work, because I am unlearning just about everything I've ever learned about writing, and about writing well. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
grimfaire agreed, I've learned to write very well for the humanities, and for college professors who are (perhaps) jaded and bored and looking for some (maybe) shining diamond amongst the muck of undergraduate essayists.
Adjectives? Adverbs? Gone, zip, nada.
Varied sentence structure? Nuh-unh.
Present tense, active voice? What am I, nuts?
An expansive vocabulary? Please keep it down!
I'm writing something that's terminally boring and a chore to read. Why? Well, I can't answer that in particular (grimfaire says that this style suggests that most life scientists are staggeringly boring idiots... I can't disagree with his assessment of the style). Perhaps this is the least likely to be misinterpreted, and get my (our) view across most clearly and succinctly.
But my boss? She's doing a (pretty) good job holding my hand, guiding me to what she thinks will most likely get this paper accepted in as few submissions as possible. She's not harping on me, she gently nudges, she discusses, she critiques (not criticizes), and she's not breathing down my neck. I know of many other PI's in other labs who hassle their students, who stress them out to no end (I'm doing that to myself quite well, thank you very much), who cause ulcers. Umm, ulcers from stress, not from H. pylori (to-may-to, to-mah-to).
When all of this is said and done, I owe her one. Or several, as the case may be. Because she's trained other grad students before me (not here, at OSU), and she's still this patient and helpful.
So I say to myself: Face it. My boss rocks.
(alright, back to work, I want this draft out by this evening, dammit)
*WIN as defined by the fact that I got the paper finished, submitted, and accepted, without breaking down completely or going "I could live like this." Because, obviously, I sure as hell don't want to.
I mean, this WILL be my 9th draft. She's read (almost) every single one, commented, advised, and sent it back. She's complimented me on my thoughts, and critiqued my style. And she's done it repeatedly. She's deflected the harangues of our collaborators (notably one who's on my thesis committee who has no grad students of her own). My boss is being exceptionally patient.
I hate this paper, I hate this work, because I am unlearning just about everything I've ever learned about writing, and about writing well. As
grimfaire agreed, I've learned to write very well for the humanities, and for college professors who are (perhaps) jaded and bored and looking for some (maybe) shining diamond amongst the muck of undergraduate essayists.Adjectives? Adverbs? Gone, zip, nada.
Varied sentence structure? Nuh-unh.
Present tense, active voice? What am I, nuts?
An expansive vocabulary? Please keep it down!
I'm writing something that's terminally boring and a chore to read. Why? Well, I can't answer that in particular (
grimfaire says that this style suggests that most life scientists are staggeringly boring idiots... I can't disagree with his assessment of the style). Perhaps this is the least likely to be misinterpreted, and get my (our) view across most clearly and succinctly.But my boss? She's doing a (pretty) good job holding my hand, guiding me to what she thinks will most likely get this paper accepted in as few submissions as possible. She's not harping on me, she gently nudges, she discusses, she critiques (not criticizes), and she's not breathing down my neck. I know of many other PI's in other labs who hassle their students, who stress them out to no end (I'm doing that to myself quite well, thank you very much), who cause ulcers. Umm, ulcers from stress, not from H. pylori (to-may-to, to-mah-to).
When all of this is said and done, I owe her one. Or several, as the case may be. Because she's trained other grad students before me (not here, at OSU), and she's still this patient and helpful.
So I say to myself: Face it. My boss rocks.
(alright, back to work, I want this draft out by this evening, dammit)
*WIN as defined by the fact that I got the paper finished, submitted, and accepted, without breaking down completely or going "I could live like this." Because, obviously, I sure as hell don't want to.
