I finished my first article that is officially part of my dissertation.¹ I’m delighted that I don’t have to write a whole book (yet). That one article really stretched my patience. The writing part took me around three months and one more for editing. But, I started working on the dataset early this year and invested far too much time in that activity. Doing that, I learned two things.

1. All datasets are dirty
2. No amount of work can clean up that mess²

Trying to focus on writing the paper, but doing way to many other things, I got reminded once more about not saying yes to everything that sounds interesting and tempting.

It’s a great feeling to be at the other end of the tunnel, after the text is written and handed over to the publisher.³ Articles are objects that hardly anybody else cherishes that much, as the authors themselves, I guess.

Some takeaways, for myself, might not apply to anybody else.

• The Timeline and Process: Start writing as soon as possible. A lot of it will be dumped again, but writing is thinking, and thinking makes you aware of what is missing.
• Dataset Challenges: I invested a lot of thought into my initial dataset, and I was just not feasible to produce. Instead, I grabbed an already existing collection and expanded on that, inclusive reflection on bias.
• Time Management: Never say yes to anything that doesn’t concern your dissertation. Be greedy with your own time.
• The Writing Process: Writing needs neither talent nor craft. It’s work, that’s all. And the longer you do it, the better you get at it.
• Publishing Experience: Like all administrative processes, journal publishing systems come directly from hell.

Writing this first paper felt grindy. But I enjoyed working on something for that long of a time. I also learned a lot, again.