And Now, to Write the Thing...While on the Market

So, I am very excited to have something accepted for publication, yes? Except now I'm stressing. This is the first thing I will have written without my advisor sort of overseeing the project. The co-editors e-mailed to let me know that they deadline for essays is January 31st. Is this a good amount of time? Shorter than usual? Longer? I have no idea what normal is here. I don't think there will be any problem meeting the deadline, but I just feel the pressure of knowing this essay needs to be perfect: well written, well researched, innovative, and provocative. It's been a while since I've been in the research/drafting mode, so I'm still trying to figure out a realistic schedule...like 3-4 pages a week plus the researching that needs to be done as I write....and send out job materials.

Yes, the MLA job list came out last week, and I had to laugh out loud at some of the positions. Were they in my field? Sure. But, will schools like Georgetown, Cornell, Columbia, and Dartmouth hire me? I doubt it. Of course, I'll apply anyway because I'm crazy like that. My advisor says they are "possibles." Meh. There's actually a job at a very good state school, an R1, where I know one of the department faculty who's in my field pretty well. I've worked with her before, and I adore her and her work. She's brilliant, productive, and very supportive of junior scholars. I'm hoping that it will help to know someone on the inside, though it may not count for anything at all. I'm also hoping that the MLA list gets much longer very soon. Right now, there are about 23 jobs for which I'm applying (only 2 of those are generalist positions, and 1 is a postdoc). I'm also hoping that some smaller schools start placing ads in my area because the ones that are hiring now would be really long-shots for me.