Three Years of Hell to Become the Devil: Over. Done. Brain Fried.

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Over. Done. Brain Fried.

Well, the Note's done. I've handed it in. And it's a bit bittersweet.

I mean, I know it's not finished. If I wanted to get it into "publishable" form, which I might, there'd be several months of revising it into a very narrow piece of scholarship. Some sections would have to be ruthlessly trimmed. Others would have to be polished so that their points shined brightly.

But really, that's not what I'd like to do. What I'd like to do is post it somewhere so that my peers could look at it. I'd like to hear what folks in Michigan, or California, or London had to say about the piece. And I'd like to take those recommendations, weed through the good points, the bad points, and the points I'm obviously not explaining enough, in order to come up with an argument that I was really satisfied with.

Sadly, it's not to be. But at least it's done.

Posted by Anthony on February 1, 2005 10:54 PM | Permalink

Comments

Publishing it here is a non-starter then?

Posted by: martin | February 2, 2005 5:36 AM

Congratulations! I also felt like I needed lots of feedback, and my strategy has been to send copies of the current somewhat grotty draft to (at this point) six other people. I've already gotten some great constructive substantive comments ("I like this part, this part needs more doctrinal heft, I have no idea what you're talking about here") which made me more excited about continuing to work on it. (Desperately needed, because finishing drafts, as you note = fried brain.) I vigorously support the idea of sending it (not posting it, which has its own problems) to people whose opinions/writing style you trust and/or think would provide valuable counterpoints to what you've done.

Posted by: Heidi | February 2, 2005 8:40 AM

Congratulations! We can expect you back in the world of the living shortly then?

Posted by: Deborah | February 2, 2005 9:31 AM

Heidi: Thanks. I actually sent the draft to a friend for comments, and I need to hand this one to my faculty advisor today (after I give it some post-deadline polish). Martin: It's a Law Review rule thing: they essentially have a right of first refusal, and if they decide to pick it up, they own the copyright. As such, they'd probably be a bit less than pleased if I were to publish the draft here. There's actually an interesting debate here about the value of gatekeepers, peer-review, etc., but frankly, my brain's a rot right now, so I won't get into it...

Posted by: A. Rickey | February 2, 2005 9:34 AM

Deb: Yep. 24 hours of zombification/catching up with the week's work, and I should be a human being again. Thanks!

Posted by: A. Rickey | February 2, 2005 9:39 AM

Congrats, dude. I'm in the process of beefing up my footnotes right now, so I copmletely understand the fried brain feeling. Honestly, I say hold onto it and, if it doesn't go in now, maybe work it into that major piece of scholarship you want it to be. There's no rule saying that you can't publish elsewhere than your own Law Review... But, for now, get some sleep. Sounds like you earned it.

Posted by: Adam | February 2, 2005 3:04 PM

Congratulations! And the Review regularly publishes pieces that are "published" in working-paper form on a prof's home site or wherever. I don't know if that's in error, but it certainly happens. Enough to go on to permit at least asking the WRE.

Posted by: Tony the Pony | February 3, 2005 11:30 PM

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