Sunday, August 12, 2007

Pre-Paris Plural Post

This is an unabashed filler post on a plurality of subjects because it's been over a month and a half since I posted anything here, and I'm not likely to post anything for another month. I have had all kinds of ideas for news-worthy posts over the past few months but have been enjoying summer too much to write them out.

I was going to write a chronicle of my two week trip to home province (880.8km on the rental car, which fortunately had unlimited km's because I basically circled the entire province in one week) followed by spa-like, relax-and-recharge time in the suburbs of major urban center. Much family drama was discussed and many litres of alcohol were consumed and it was all very wonderful, my best trip home ever (oddly emotionally fulfilling), and, well, major center is always a sure-fire hit.

I was going to write a theoretical post about presentism and my epiphany that I don't need to apologize anymore for not being a new historicist (even though every single blogger in early modern studies or Shakespeare on the entire web seems to be one!).

I was going to write a joyful post about my summer academic accomplishments, namely, finally finishing the first draft of my book proposal. I am so relieved to have a first draft written, and I have gotten positive feedback from the first of my three supervisors. Former supervisor #1 said that it's good enough to be sent off to the publisher now, and I spent the next 24 hours after that conversation on cloud nine. I am desperately eager to get feedback from the third supervisor, and eventually send the proposal to the editor, scratch it off my to-do list, and put it on my c.v. as "in submission" in time for job season. Unfortunately, even if I manage to do that, I still have to modify the form of this version substantially in order to send it out to my 2nd through 4th choices of presses, since each one wants the information presented in a different format. Plus, that initial joy at former supervisor #1's extremely positive and encouraging feedback has been deflated substantially by former supervisor #2's feedback which could be summed up as "your entire thesis is crap; start again from scratch". Supervisor #3's feedback, expected three weeks from now, will thus be determinate in whether or not the proposal gets submitted relatively "as is". I have zero desire to start again from scratch on the thesis of my diss/book and hold off on submitting my proposal before job season starts again.

So this is a mish-mash filler post before I jet off to Paris for a nice, long vacation while I'm on my way to England for a ridiculously short conference. I believe that conferences are like real estate: it's all about location, location, location! Not to mention stretching travel time as long as possible. I'm intending to post some (anonymous) photos of Paris when I get back...

3 Marginalia:

At 12/8/07 23:16, Blogger Hilaire said...

Hey, congrats on the good trip home and the upcoming trip to Paris! And the amazing feedback from one person on the proposal.

What the heck is this second person thinking? If they were on your dissertation committee, shouldn't they by definition *not* think your thesis is crap?? Good god! That's really bad.

So my fingers are crossed that the 3rd reader is going to love it!

Have a good vacation!

 
At 12/8/07 23:25, Blogger Pantagruelle said...

Supervisor #2 is my thesis supervisor actually! That's what makes it even more disheartening. Supervisor #1 was on my thesis committee and read the diss. Supervisor #3 is my current postdoc supervisor who hasn't read the entire diss but has read 3 articles that are part of it. Supervisor #2 says that it sounds too tired and familiar--but given that said person went through the whole diss process with me, isn't that normal? It's one thing to revise the diss for a book; it's another thing to scrap it and come up with an entirely new argument based on the same source material. Does that make sense, or am I being too inflexible by not wanting to start from scratch?

 
At 13/8/07 00:12, Blogger Hilaire said...

I absolutely think you're being perfectly reasonable! This is supposed to be a dissertation-turned-book, not a brand new book. Of course you're not going to make an entirely new argument.

I think you're right that this person probably thinks it sounds old and tired because they've been so close to it. If the last reader likes it, I'd go with the 2-1!

Good luck and keep us posted...

 

Scribble in my margins

<< Home