Form Over Substance

 As I was slogging over my PhD chapter today, it just occurred to me that I might be spending too much time making sure my writing "flows", and what I write reads well. Is that the journalist in me refusing to become an academic, prioritizing form over substance? Is this what is slowing me down? And, maybe I could work on the form later once I have the substantial part figured out? I don't know. One aspect of this issue is the philosophical debate about the relationship between form and substance. Does substance change when form changes and to what extent, etc. etc. But from a more practical perspective, ss someone who thinks through their writing, the act of typing, deleting, retyping and moving things around is central to my process. That is not just the way I write, it is also the way I think. At the risk of romanticizing academic writing, I do feel it is quite a bit like creative writing, as I wrote yesterday. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't have a fixed idea about how I work, and be open to try new approaches. To try to leave sections unfinished when I am stuck, and move on to other sections. To my credit, I have been open to trying out new things more out of necessity than out of an openness of spirit. When you consistently miss every deadline, and the project's progress defies every expectation, it is probably essential to be flexible. And, the elephant in the room is of course the pandemic and how it is affecting me personally as well as my working style.