Make Space for Others
Usually conversations about writing and writing practices focus on the individual. We ask people how they can manipulate their schedules, how to say “no,” how to “protect their time,” and how to seek out opportunities on their own.
Rarely do we ever talk about the structural barriers to having a productive writing life. For instance, how does one tamp down on distractions if their workplace revolves around meetings and emails? How does one parent and write without childcare? How does one run a household – cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry – and make time to write? How does one engage with intellectual community if no one is talking about ideas? If conversation is limited to everything else on the job?
I cannot tackle all of these for lack of space, time, and, most importantly, expertise. But, I will focus on how I have sought to make space on my job for folks to write, especially as a tenured and promoted professor.
HINT: It does not involve taking on all the work myself.
First, we all need to be doing less. As a chair, I had a politics of refusal. This wasn’t just to be curmudgeonly, although I am sure it was understood as such, but it was to remind folks that we don’t need to take on every exciting project. Sometimes, it is enough to do what we do excellently and that requires focus. I wasn’t in a rush to sign up my academic unit for every single opportunity, because those putative opportunities involved more labor and not enough resources. If you are in a position of power, do less. Send fewer emails. Respect the ways that others have delegated tasks. Take the time to develop a vision at the beginning of a term and stick to it (with built in moments of assessment and revision).
Listen y’all, FOMO (fear of missing out) does not need to be an institutional stance. FOMO will fuck it all up.
Second, create space for folks to just write or respect folks’ writing times. When I realized that I needed accountability for my own writing, I asked a junior professor to be my writing buddy. This is partly selfish because the person is my friend, but it is also respecting the fact that they may need a set appointment to write just like I do. This also models some very specific behavior: If I say writing is crucial, let me make a way.
I should also mention that people will often refuse to meet because they are trying to protect their writing time. In those instances, I double check to see whether the meeting can be an email or whether the meeting can be rearranged. In many cases, I do not push. As someone who appreciates my own boundaries, I do try not to push others’ boundaries. That is, after all, the safest distance from which they can take care of both themselves and their responsibilities.
Third, advocate at an institutional level for resources. Many of the tasks that interfere with a writer’s time tend to be borne out of institutional needs for labor. Particularly during the pandemic, institutions called for pivoting, redirection, renewal, revitalization, and a whole bunch of other activities that required stressful turns away from what we knew to what we did not know. Seldom, if ever, did those institutions provide resources commensurate with the amount of labor needed. If you are in a position of power, use that position to lobby for the kinds of resources that allow folks to do great work. That resource could be anything from skilled staff, to faculty lines, to student support, to calendar reminders, to automated systems, to autonomy.
After my term as chair had ended, I realized that I had only the power of influence. That is a great deal of power to wield and it comes with an ethical imperative (as does institutional power). While I am in this position, I am consistently advocating for us to do less, distribute work equitably, create space for folks, and ask for resources (time, money, skills/expertise/knowledge).
I hope that you can think of at least one way to use your power (whatever you have, wherever you have it) to make space for someone to do their work well. Big or small, someone on the receiving end appreciates it. Also, I’d be happy to hear about it!