Writing Project Runway

Last night I was sad to see Mondo not win Project Runway. Earlier in the season I had actually liked some of Gretchen's designs and I always pull for folks from Portland, OR, but Mondo one me over with his personal quirkiness, his feelings of insecurity and, well, his designs. (Besides Gretchen, as she was portrayed, seemed so pretentious.)

As I was watching the season finale and not working on one of my various writing projects, I couldn't help but think about the similarities between the writing process and Project Runway. The different challenges parallel the different types of writing projects we do: We have the "team challenge," which involves working with collaborators and all that entails; the "making a couture gown out of garbage challenge," which might parallel revising a chapter from the dissertation into an article; we have the "design a cocktail dress for a regular gal" challenge, which might be like writing a piece for a popular audience or an audience outside of your field; there is always "design a garment for a celebrity," which reminds me of writing a piece for that eminent scholar or journal . . . even when the project might be a bit out of your league at the moment. Rarely, do the contestants get to design something completely on their own terms. The closest they probably come is at the end, when they design their own line . . . but even then there are expectations set by others. Likewise, those of us at the beginning of our careers often have projects that respond to the needs and conform to the rules of others. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course. At least for me, it's how it has been.

Watching the show, I also thought about how the contestants evolve and grow over the show. It takes them time to get used to working under pressure and in their new surroundings--"the workroom." Similarly, I guess I should have anticipated that moving from grad school into a full time job might also take some adjustment, but I'm not sure if really could have anticipated how much time it has taken to start getting used to "the challenges." In other words, some of my early writing pieces or projects have been hits and some have probably been misses, although I can definitely see my work evolve. Also, I can also tell that I'm starting to develop a style. Not only do my writing projects revolve around similar themes and questions (kind of like designing for a particular "type" of client), but I'm getting a sense of my voice . . . the colors and patterns that I'm most comfortable working with. In fact, putting together my tenure file last fall helped me see some of this progress and development--a good thing to see within the midst of the tenure process. (Thankfully, it was a successful process.)

Returning to Gretchen's win and Mondo's "not-win" (I can't call it a loss), I was struck by the fact that even though Mondo didn't come out on top the judges were still confident about him being a successful designer. The same with Andy and even Michael C. Wow. What a novel concept, winning isn't everything. Hopefully, I can translate that into my writing/ academic life!