Writing Stage Fright

Still in the transcription dungeon from my oral history interviews, I came up with a new (possible) solution. Actually, it wasn't my idea, it was my oral history narrator's idea. He asked me if I was writing, and I said that no, I was still spending all of my time (approx. 3 hours 4-5 days a week) working on transcriptions. His response: Sometimes you just have to stop.

So I thought about it. What if I finish up the transcriptions from two more important interviews (approximately 3 hours of tape or 12 hours worth of work) and then just quit for awhile and write the proposal? I can still continue to "check in" with my narrator, but as I develop material for the dissertation it will be more helpful to talk to him and make sure that I'm on the right track, don't have gaps, and have correctly interpreted his words.

So I tried this today - pulled out my now seemingly ancient from a couple of months ago proposal outline, and started to try to put onto paper the beginning of the proposal I had come up with last night.

Nada. Stage fright. And then people came to my office, we joked around, etc. Now that it's quiet again... I think I'm actually scared!

Alright, buck up. Time to work. Let's see if I can go go go!