there is a lot of talk in the academic writing communities about maintaining a publication pipeline. the idea is that at anyone one time, you have multiple projects in various stages of completion so that you never have a lull in your publishing output. if you’re currently working hard on drafting one publication, another one is out for review, and you’re starting to research or collect data for the third. advice definitely varies by field and discipline as to how many manuscripts you should have in each stage, but everyone agrees - everyone needs to have multiple projects working all the time!!!
and it’s not that i disagree - from every professional standpoint, but i find that the idea of a pipeline really stresses the productivity aspect. you have to keep the pipeline full! never let your well of material run dry! always have something on the go so that you always have something coming out!
instead, i prefer to think about it as a garden. there are some plants that are new seeds, freshly tucked into the soil, there are some that need some pruning, or weeding, to thrive, and there are still some others that are ready to be harvested and shared.
now, practically speaking, that isn’t much of a difference, but i do think that the framing matters here. when things are in a pipeline, it’s easy to see yourself as needing to spend equal amounts of time on all the various pieces - six projects, six writing sessions! or to otherwise need to keep things full because you can’t let it run dry!!
but if it’s a garden, you’re doing it to nourish yourself. you’re respecting that some things take time to grow - you may only need to water your seeds once a week, but you have to do some active weeding in your cucumber patch as it’s really growing. you are hopefully growing things to share - but some things can be just for you, too,. sometimes people drop by to work on a plot with you! but it’s a practice - you are attentive to both the process and the product.
so in this schema, here are my categories for a writing garden, to mix, match, and remix for yourself as you see fit!
seed catalog - these are the ideas! you keep a notebook with all the things you could write about - all the projects you could do that need to have some planning to bring them into existence. i recommend that everyone keep some sort of record of these ideas when the happen upon you - you never know when you might need to answer a question like “what are you thinking about working on next?”
planting/seedlings - these are the projects that are in their first phase- you’re figuring out the requirements! how much time will they need? how much research? what kind of support? a very important phase that’s easy to shortcut or underestimate - but the more planning and nurturing you do in this stage, the better! the right match between project and resources is essential for it to thrive.
growing - these projects are on their way! in different fields, this can have different action steps - maybe you’re collecting data! maybe you’re drafting! maybe you’re in an archive - but the idea is that you’re putting in the time - regular waterings! weeding every tuesday! these take the majority of your attention - but each project needs something a little different. and anyone who has started TOO many gardening projects in the the early part of the season, only to be overwhelmed by labor in the late summer knows that it’s important to keep some constraints - not everything can be getting all your attention all the time.
harvest - projects that are getting ready to share. these could be publications you’re getting feedback on, or polishing yourself - it’s sort of like looking at a bushel of tomatoes and deciding whether to make sauce, or a lot of tomato sandwiches. sometimes you do all that work to grow something, only to need to change the outcome. but making sure that you’re putting what you’ve done to work - sharing, cutting up and distributing into other projects, teaching, important lesson for yourself - it all has value.
fallow - sometimes, a project has a fallow time. you could be waiting after submitting to a journal, or blocked by a problem in the data, or waiting on some research. letting a plot lay fallow is a purposeful time of regeneration, even if it doesn’t look like much. having some areas, some ideas, some skills, or some projects that are resting can be really useful - and essential if you want your garden to be sustainable over the long term. you can’t just plant and plant and plant in the soil and expect that everything will grow equally well - you need to give back in terms of nutrients, and rest.
a pipeline implies that there’s a product and that’s the main goal - but a garden is an ecosystem, the way you take care of it matters. the season matters. the amount of time, and light, and water - it all makes a difference. and matching up your resources with your goals is the most surefire way i know to make sure that your writing practice becomes something you can do sustainably, and that is one way to make sure that your garden, so to speak, serves you (and your community!) season after season.