The need to write more, PhD plans & Shellac

Part of my work over the summer break from college has been to critique my study methods. This started in June when I was in Spain and was thinking about the issues raised by re-casting my work approach into the form of biographical writing. Other reading this summer has covered various issues related to PhD work. Most recently I have been reading Rowena Murray's How to Write a Thesis. This is not concerned with the thesis directly in the sense of study methods or content, etc, but instead is focused on the actual process of writing. And it has confirmed one thing I have come to feel which is that I don't write enough

Instead I spend too long reading stuff. Definitely not enough time writing notes and appraisals of what I have been reading. At anytime, my "read by not appraised" pile is simply huge. The main excuse not to write is that I have so much to read. But this just results in me not really using what I have read in the best way. Indeed I even have occasions when I start to read an article and its takes me a while to realise that I have read it already. Or even worse, to start to read something for, what I think is the first time, only to find my annotations all over it.

So I am planning a slightly new approach to work in September. Less focus on reading, more on writing. Hopefully write a couple of essays and maybe do a bit on my dissertation.

PhD plans are slowly developing. I am reviewing Oxford colleges and various other institutions, including King's, UCL, the Warburg Institute, and even LSE. Best to start the process now than leave it two or three months.

Morning listening was mainly the complete works of Shellac, Steve Albini's band. I have always been a great fan of his work, not just the unusual sound he has always used, but the somewhat uncompromising approach he has always held on various subjects. And on the subject of sound, this, according to GuitarGeek is Albini's sound setup!