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Jo VanEvery

You are here: Home / Archives for Writing / Writing

Developing a Practice: Writing

Writing is central to your scholarly work and identity. And yet, you struggle to find time and motivation to do it. Posts in this category focus on the process of writing as a whole. They will help you establish an effective writing practice that enables you to pursue your curiosity, create knowledge, and communicate that knowledge through publications.

You Need a Writing Practice is a good place to start.

Using all 3 types of writing time will help you imagine how you can fit writing in even when you are also juggling teaching, meetings, and so on. It also helps you understand how your writing practice may shift with the seasons of the academic year.

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Starting a new project

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Starting a new project Once you’ve found and protected time for writing, your next challenge is to decide what to work on in that time. In Making Decisions About Your Writing, I talked about prioritizing amongst multiple projects. In this post, I want to talk about starting a new project […]

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Optimizing Focus when your project brings up difficult emotions

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Optimizing focus when your project brings up difficult emotions At the end of A Meeting With Your Writing one day, a participant shared how she’d managed her focus on a project that brings up difficult emotions. I’ve been dealing with one thing that was very hard … with some […]

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What to do about a stalled book project

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What to do about a stalled book project Are you *not* writing a book? Maybe it’s your “thesis book”. Maybe it’s something else. You might have a contract for it. You might not have started it, but think you should have by now. You might have a lot of […]

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Spotlight On: Grading Season

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Grading Season Grading is one of those things that many academics struggle to find meaningful or enjoyable, but is required by your employer. Grading is often constrained by policies you have little influence over and deadlines you don’t control. My work is focused on helping academics find […]

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Do you have to finish your grading before you can write?

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you have to finish the grading before you can write? It’s already difficult to keep writing while you are teaching and doing all the other things that need to be done in the main part of the academic year. You probably look forward to the end of teaching […]

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Spotlight On: Optimizing Focus

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Optimizing Focus Over the years I have written a lot about focus and distraction because it is a perennial issue for academics at all stages of career. As I pulled them together for this spotlight, I deepened my understanding of the issue and how I approach it. […]

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Spotlight On: Writing & Resting

Posted on July 16, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

One of the main challenges you face in the summer is juggling writing and rest. The first step is to resist the urge to Write All The Things!. I’ve used a hiking metaphor to explain how your summer writing fits with the writing you do in the rest of the year to help you decide […]

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Why join the Studio in the summer?

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

You probably think of summer as the easiest time of year to focus on research and writing. You’ve probably been looking forward to it for months because of that. So why would you want to join the Studio? Some people who attend A Meeting With Your Writing regularly during the main part of the year, […]

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Planning in uncertain times

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Planning in Uncertain Times None of us are any good at predicting the future. On one level we are always planning for uncertainty. The level of uncertainty varies though and has been very high for the past year or so, both generally and in relation to your academic work […]

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Spotlight On: Just Enough Structure

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Just Enough Structure Too much, or too little? Structure is a constant struggle for me. With no structure, I drift without focus and don’t accomplish much of anything. Too much structure and I resist. I spend more time fighting the structure than doing the thing I need […]

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A calendar notebook is open on July 2021 with a pen in shot, upon a distressed white wooden table. A vase of sunflowers sits towering over the calendar.

Starting your academic writing year in mid-summer

Posted on May 19, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Starting your academic year in mid-summer When do academics celebrate the new year? This is a serious question for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, where the beginning of the calendar year in January is more like the middle of the academic year. It seems like […]

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A flatlay photo of a white desk surface displaying a few items. A black rope noticeboard with walnut frame reads: "Things to do: 1. own today. 2. [empty space] 3. [empty space]. A pair of bright neon turquoise wired headphones, a laptop, turquoise notebook, black coffee in white mug and grey cable knit jumper sleeve decorate the image edges.

Motivation and accomplishment in your writing practice

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

 Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Motivation & accomplishment in your writing practice Given how hard it is for most academics to find time to work on their writing, and how difficult it is to know how long some stages of the process will take, I advocate establishing a regular writing practice and trusting […]

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