As it stands now, I have the first 15 (of 31) pages of the whale chapter edited to my content, but the second half poses more of a challenge. Much of the first half is historical narrative, which pretty much writes itself. I can get creative with my prose but I generally don't have to "think" about what I'm doing so much as tell a story.
The second half, by contrast, is more about "how we know what we say we know." It is much more difficult to edit because there are no parameters for what I'm doing. There are several ways in which I could organize my arguments, but I want to make sure I have made the most effective case that I can. The body of evidence will still be the same; it is just a matter of connecting it in a way that is both compelling and makes sense.
My feelings about the book are different every time I sit down to work on it. I sometimes feel proud of what I have done so far, like I am writing something refreshing and unique. At other times I can't believe some of the horrible tangles of words I managed to create and have doubts about whether it is ever actually going to be published. I will persevere and finish the work, I have no doubt about that, but as I bring the project nearer to completion I find myself simultaneously proud and anxious.
Here is the latest Wordle;
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I found myself echoing your sentiments in the third paragraph above, for my own work... I know that the work I am doing is going to be worthwhile in the end, but sometimes there is that feeling that it will be mocked by all those who read it as useless and boring. At least I'm getting something out of it in educating myself about etymology.
I finally done my own Wordle for the work in progress and was quite impressed by what I found, a lot of lizards and mice! I've already done all of the dinosaurs, so that explains the lizards, and finished the rodents only this week... see The Disillusioned Taxonomist if you're interested.
Hey, y'know, the sooner you get the book done, the sooner they can make it into a TV documentary. . . :-)
Yup. Sounds like writing. When (if) you hit the stage when you know every word is crap, know that you're nothing like alone.
In regards to the way you write, have you taken a look at Dr. George D. Gopen's (Duke University Professor) book Expectations: Writing from the Reader's Perspective? It's definitely worth a look-see from interlibrary loan.