The Holding Pen

There's a first time for everything.

I now have a 'holding pen'.

I've finally created a workable structure for the thesis, via telling myself it isn't some kind of mystical intellectual thing into which I must squish everything I have learned; it's just a book for academics - and I've written books before.

I have an archive folder for past versions and things no longer needed for the thesis but that are worth preserving.

I have a folder for each section of the thesis. Most of the previous files have moved either into one of these sections or the archive or been deleted. In a couple of instances, I have emailed information to someone before deleting the file because it seems of value (just not to me) or I love it and can't let go but know I need to relinquish it in order to free my brain for completing the thesis. After all, finding a structure that works is often a case of rearranging the furniture and consigning some to the charity shop, some to the tip and gifting some things you love to someone who will appreciate them more than you. It's rarely a case of going to Ikea* and buying new furniture from scratch.
[*In the interests of balanced blogging, other places do exist for buying furniture - or so I'm told - but they don't have the meatball experience]

I have a new kind of folder which I am calling my holding pen.

This is a folder of things I have written or papers I have downloaded that don't have an obvious role in the new structure but as the writing of the thesis develops it may turn out that they hold useful, even vital, thoughts or citations or pieces of text. They are sat in a liminal space, neither part of the thesis nor ejected from the thesis.

I like the concept of a holding pen. It has a dynamic feel. I can imagine the sheep at market, jostling around, waiting to be moved to their destination, neither belonging to their previous owner nor their new owner but in that moment of suspense between the two.

I've used a Pending folder in the past. But that, to me, implies pressure to deal (and risks a visit from its demoralising sibling of 'failure to have dealt' when anything languishes in pending too long).  It's like the 'in tray' or 'to do list' that stares accusingly at you.

I'm excited for this new stage of thesis production. I'm excited and I confess sometimes intimidated by the scale of the task ahead. I think I'd be less intimidated if I could focus all my attention on the thesis - and if I had somewhere better than the crowded family breakfast table to work. But every doctoral student has their own sources of intimidation, and I will find my way through mine.

At least creating a holding pen has removed the intimidation of the pending folder.