I have 27 pages written, with a goal of 150 pages by the end of May 2010.

The maximum my program allows is 300 pages, but I hope to write no more than 200 pages. I figure if I set my sights on 150 (the minimum), I have room to expand if needed. I'm hoping this limit also will help discipline me. After all, most books I read could stand to be shorter (that is, better edited), not longer.

My current total of 27 pages includes a 5-page introduction, which I project will eventually become 10 pages, but it's almost impossible to fully write an introduction of a book I'm still in the process of writing. It is like trying to introduce someone you haven't met yet :) So, I'll settle for a inchoate half-intro for now.

The number 27 additionally includes 22 pages of my first chapter, which has four major sections, three of which are essentially complete. I hope to finish the final section (which will run 10-15 pages) in the next two days. But I'm not includes estimates from the final section at the moment because the draft is so rough (more of a "zero draft" than a first draft).

Then, I'll spend the rest of December (with breaks for Christmas and New Year's) tightening, making connections, weaving in thematic material, etc.

Hopefully in early January, I can transition into drafting, writing, and editing chapter two -- with the goal of starting chapter three by early February.

We'll see.

I haven't posted in almost two month principally because I've been transitioning from reading to outlining. Now I'm writing. The first section of my first chapter is drafted. My goal is a chapter/month. We'll see if I'm being realistic. Accordingly, I've change the title of my blog to "Will I finish writing my dissertation by the end of May 2010?" I hope to have a 150 page draft by then. Again, we'll see. Stay tuned.

So far it feels fairly reasonable to work through about one shelf (of a five-shelf bookcase) per day -- reviewing the pages I previously marked over the past year of reading, photocopying the salient passages, tagging the photocopies, and sorting them into a file folder for each respective chapter (or section of a chapter). The process is quite similar to the many long, research papers I have written in the past, except I'm working on a much larger canvas.

I am hopeful that I may even finish this major part of the sorting process by the end of next week, although that does not include sorting each of the individual folders into even more specific divisions within each chapter or section.

The sorting has begun.

I'm following a plan adapted from the book Destination Dissertation. So, I'm developing an outline, then I'll photocopy quotes I want to use and tag them based on my outline.

For now, I'm plowing through a bunch of notes I made for myself low these past few months. Now I have to organize them. I hope to emerge a week or two from now with a better map for moving forward.

I am essentially done reading, although I will, in reality, continue reading for my dissertation throughout the next year -- principally new books that will be released over the next year or so.

I'm, thus, in the process of shifting my focus from reading to outlining -- that is, directing my first and best energy toward outlining. I'm preaching this Sunday, but hopefully next week I'll be able to start outlining in earnest.

I finished Charles Taylor's breaktaking A Secular Age on Thursday, October 1, one day after my somewhat-arbitary, self-imposed deadline to finish reading by the end of September -- which is not too shabby since my original goal was to finish reading by the end of 2009.

Now I only have three books left, in addition to a few articles that I'm waiting to arrive from Interlibrary Loan. So, I hope to have most, if not all, of my outline done in October, so that I can start writing in November.

The end is drawing nigh. I've got approximately 6 books left to read as well as about 11 essays; however, I've got an inch of essays on my desk with notes on them that I need to follow-up on, so I may be adding a few more items to the list. Nevertheless, I can see the light at the end of the reading tunnel.

I doubt I'll finish by the end of September exactly. Maybe by the end of the week that starts on Monday, September 28 -- that is, by the week ending Sunday, October 3...we'll see. Stay tuned.

I haven't posted this week because I've been waiting to process a bunch of notes from the stack of books and articles on my desk, but I doubt I will get to the stack today...maybe tomorrow (too many unexpected duties have cropped up this week to get to paperwork). Will I finish reading by the end of September, or even by the end of the week that begins Monday, September 28? It's possible, but I'm not certain. Stay tuned.

I hope to, at minimum, finish in early October, and then perhaps be done by the end of October with an detailed outline, so that I can perhaps start writing in November.

14 books in 5 weeks = 3.5 books/week.

However, one of those 14 books is Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, which is massive, but also directly addresses many topics I'm interested in. His book may mean I do not finish my reading until the end of October, but that will allow time for all my interlibrary loan requests to arrive. I'm currently waiting on 8 books to arrive in addition to 26 chapters/articles.

17 books in 5 weeks = 3.4 books/week.

Now that the finish line of my year-long, mostly non-fiction reading marathon is almost in sight, it might be fun to actually read some fiction for fun on the weekends for a change, once I start writing on weekends.

16 books in 6 weeks = 2.67 books/week. The end (of reading) is in sight!

25 books in 7 weeks = 3.57 books/week. I need some used books to ship faster!

26 books in 8 weeks = 3.25 books/week. I'm feeling increasingly good about finishing the reading for my dissertation by the end of September. It's time to stop reading and start writing a book!

In light of my urge to start writing sooner rather than later, I've done some re-evaluating of my "to read" list, and I've thinned the books down to 32. Thus, if I try to finish reading by the end of October, I need to read 2.67 books/week. Or, if I try to finish by the end of September, I'll need to read 4 books/week.

I'm starting to feel like it is time to make the transition from reading to writing.

In the past, I've always felt like I had to stop researching prematurely due to an external deadline imposed by a professor. With my dissertation, I'm experiencing the opposite: an internal prompt to stop reading and start writing -- with the accompanying sense that continuing to read will result in decreasing marginal returns at this point.

To that end, my current count (although I need to process some recent notes that may result in some added books) is the following:

46 books in 18 weeks = 2.56 books/week.

Biking home yesterday I decided that I should commit to upping the ante and recalibrate to finish my dissertation reading by the end of November 2009, then use December to outline, so that I can start writing in January.

Here's the new data:

58 books in 19 weeks = 3.05 books/week.

Not too shabby.

59 books in 24 weeks = 2.46 books/week.

I'm pleased that the total numbers of books remaining has decreased steadily the past three weeks from 66 to 63 to 59.

I'm also hopeful that I'm going to get quite a bit read in the next two weeks.

63 books to go in 25 weeks = 2.52 bks/wk. I feel like I'm getting back on track again, and I'm excited to see where I'll be by the end of August (after which the fall schedule picks up again).

In the short run, I'm glad to be down three books from last week, which is my approximate goal these days: three books or so per week -- with, of course, the complicating factor of occasionally finding new books to add.

66 books to read in 26 weeks = 2.54 bks/wk.

I've just finished one of my busiest weeks this year (I think), so I expect to pick up the pace again soon.

66 books and 28 weeks = 2.36 books/week. I'm creeping upward, but I'm not too worried since I'd have to be up at 84 books/read to be back at 3 books/week.

67 books to go and 29 weeks to go = 2.31 books/week.  

72 books to go and 31 weeks = 2.32 books/week. I stayed up later than planned last night to finish a few books since I got off track last week writing my sermon for last Sunday.

75 books in 32 weeks = 2.34 books/week.  The total number of books is up somewhat markedly from the last few weeks.  In fact, I'm back where I was in late April as far as the total number of "books to read" is concerned -- which means I have the same number to read as I did then with a one month less time in which to do the reading).  However, I feel good about the current status. The books I'm reading -- as well as the ones I have recently added -- are excellent and seem important.  I slowed down a bit last week, but now feel like I'm getting back in the groove.  The prospect of reading approximately three books a weeks feels manageable at the moment. 

67 books in 33 weeks = 2.03 books/week, which is disappointly back over the 2.0 books/week threshold.   However, I'm in the midst of reading some particularly lengthy, though also helpful, books; so in a week or two I will hopefully be back below the 2.0 barrier.   

Being back over the 2.0 point has also prompted me to move some books into the "read if I have time" category -- because as 2009 is almost halfway over, I do not want to set myself up to have an unrealistic crunch at the end of the year.

34 weeks to go and 66 books = 1.94 books/week.  I'm up slightly from last week, but still under the 2 books/week threshold.  I hope to get the ratio down by this time next week.  I'd love to get below the 1 book/week level, but, for now, I'm grateful to still be under 2.0.

61 books to go in 35 weeks = 1.74 books/week.

I just spent quite a bit of time culling my "to read" list using a combination of Google Books and the "Search Inside this Book" feature of amazon.com.  Google Books, in particular, was incredibly helpful, and I'm grateful to my wife for encouraging me to use this resource more than I have in the past.  As a result of that search process, I was able to shift quite a few books from the "need to read the entire book" category to "just order a chapter on Interlibrary Loan."  That is good news on two fronts: less reading and less spending (because I don't have to buy the book).  Perhaps even more importantly, taking the time to at least look at the table of contents of every book on my "to read" list has given me a sense of relief that there seems to be less and less "landmines" ahead of me -- that is, discoveries of huge swaths of relevant literature of which I am currently unaware.

So, the upshot for this week, with 64 books to read and 36 weeks to go, is 1.78 books/week left to read.   And, as my total, again weighs in under the 2.0 books/week threshold, the question emerges of whether I can perhaps finish my reading well before December 2009 -- and thus potentially start writing my dissertation earlier than planned.  At minimum, it would be a huge step forward to have my dissertation outlined by the end of 2009.

74 books and 37 weeks = 2 books/week.  I read two books last week, but also added to new ones.  With a week less in 2009, I'm up to 2 books a week, now even with the 2.0 threshold.  I hope to knock out a number of shorter books this coming week, but we'll see what happens.  I also have a lot of meetings, etc.

74 books to go and 38 weeks = 1.90 books/week.

I've broken the 2 book/week barrier...kind of: the total continues to fluxuate as I add new books, whichI am only now hearing about related to my project (the number of which is thankfully decreasing in frequency), and subtract books, which I now see are not immediately relevant to my project.  

I am late posting this week (Friday instead of Monday) because I was hoping to get through a list of possible books that I may need to add from a book I read last week.  I wanted to take those potential books into account in this week's posting, but that discernment process will have to wait at least until tomorrow or latest because I haven't yet had time this week to focus on those books, between reading for my dissertation and addressing my primary job at church.

85 books to go and 39 weeks = 2.18 books/week.

I've moved some books to my amazon wish list in recognition that -- although these books are important and I plan to read them eventually -- they are not vital enough to my dissertation for me to commit to reading them in 2009.  I've also decided to not count some books in my "to read" list since I now know that I will likely just read the introduction or conclusion or selected chapters.  

So, reversing the trend of the total increasing each week -- or staying the same -- the last two weeks, the total has dropped around ten books/week.  I doubt that trend will continue, but those two precipitous drops do make me have more hope in my prospects of finishing the reading for my dissertation this calendar year: the goal this weekly blog is tracking.

40 weeks to go and 97 books to read = 2.43 books/week.

I was getting frustrated with the dynamic of adding books to my list faster than I can read them, so today I thinned the list.   Each week I have a better idea of which books are most immediately relevant to my current work and which books can be read another time.

41 weeks and 107 books makes for 2.61 books/week.  

Looking back over the last few weeks, I started with 106 books to read, dropped to 103, then crept back up to 108.  This week I have 107 left -- almost back to where I began despite reading far more than 3 books each week -- but I'm also considering whether I need to read  books by Chilton and Levenson, which could put me even higher than my original total.  This process of "three steps forward and six steps back" is frustrating, but I'm also trying to be thorough.

An additional factor in the reading process is that I'm becoming more discerning about whether to buy a book or order it on ILL as well as whether to study a book closely or skim quickly.   The principle furstration with books that I decide to ILL is waiting for them to arrive.

Today I have 108 books left.  I read way more than 3 books last week, but the books I read lead me to new books to add to my list.  I hope soon to get to the point -- since I am reading backwards chronologically -- that the rate at which I add new book will decrease consistently.  With 42 weeks to go -- including this week -- that puts me at 2.57 books/week.  That number is a bit disheartening; I'd like it to go down.  But at least it is under 3 books/week for now.

Andy Rowell writes, "Did your seminary work adequately prepare you for doctoral work? Yes seminary prepared me well and I bet your seminary prepared you fairly well.  But one needs to be passionate about the field they are interested in and to have read beyond seminary courses. Reading needs to be a barely-in-control-passion in your life.  :-) ."

Indeed.

For me, the week begins on Monday.  And, this week I have 103 books left on my list.  (I'm not even bothering to count all the essays and articles in the total; it's not worth it.)  With 43 weeks to go, including this one, those numbers means I have 2.4 books/week to read.  At this point, I won't read 3 books/week as long as the total doesn't top 129 books -- so I still have some cushion to read other books that I come across.  Also, since I have finished reading all of the 2008 and 2009 books, I am, each week, decreasingly likely to come across books and articles that I haven't already evaluated.  Soon I hope to be through all the 2007 books -- perhaps by the end of March.

The main problem with reading this aggressively is that, besides my work at the church, I do not have much time left over for any other activities.  In other words, if I'm not at the church, I'm reading.

I haven't posted on this blog in a LONG TIME.  One reason (which I can see now in retrospect) is that "letting go the ego" has not necessarily been aided by pursuing a dual degree program. Continuing education too easily can become "brandishing" the ego or "building" the ego.

So, with that dynamic in mind, I'm considering making this blog into 'truth in advertising' for a while and blogging about my progress toward completing my dissertation.  This process is most interesting for me to look back and have a record on my journey, but is this writing is live on the internet, perhaps someone else might  find it interesting.  

My current goal is to finish the reading for my dissertation by the end of 2009, and submit a draft -- approved by my advisor -- by December 1, 2010.

There are currently 44 weeks left in 2009, although it's about to be 43 since this week is almost over, and I have 106 books left on my "to read" list.  The trick, of course, is that I keep adding books to the list.  However, I'm reading in reverse order (starting with the most recently published book and working backward).  So, hopefully, the rate at which I'm adding books to my list will lessen each week as I read older and older book and are increasingly obsolete and, therefore decreasingly relevant to my topic.  

So, crunching the numbers, I need to read 2.41 books/week at this point to finish by the end of 2009.