Litigious virtue; or, preparing the book manuscript

The two hardest parts of writing a book for me has been project design and the daily starting line.[1] The design for the book’s research question was a fraught process that took nearly two years of graduate school. It is in this aspect that I think the Sciences have a leg-up on the Humanities in that they are explicit about the intentionality of scope.[2]

But this post is not about the woes of graduate education or the difficulty of getting started. I mention these two as the most difficult because they seem unavoidable. I cultivate morning routines, budget and set aside specific times to write, and make it a priority, but its inherent difficulty always proves a psychological impediment to launch, even if a small one. No, this post is about how to do yourself favors along the way of the writing process. Or really, how to do yourself one particular kind of favor.

Buckingham Palace guards move to the forecourt every ten minutes or so to ensure they can complete their two-hour tour. London, July 2019.
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