I have a theory about writer’s block. It’s a theory that involves gremlins. You sit down to write. And then this gremlin turns up. Just as you are about to type something the gremlin says something from this list. What do you mean, you don’t know where this goes or what it’s going to be? […]
Read More »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.
Setting effective goals
My approach to planning is very process focused. I encourage you to make time to do the important work and to notice how your projects are moving forward. I do this because what I see happening when people set goals increases stress, leads to overwork, and doesn’t actually support their best work. Things like: negative self-talk […]
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Process vs Product
I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. I know they are important but I find setting specific goals with an output and a deadline stalls my work rather than motivating it. I see that a lot of you struggle with similar issues in your writing. This post uses a long analogy to my own process […]
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When another project is distracting you from this one
This post is part of a series on Optimizing Focus. Finding it hard to focus is normal. Self-flagellation does not work to improve your focus. Furthermore it takes time and energy that takes you away from your writing; it is another distraction. I firmly believe that you can approach your work compassionately rather than violently. […]
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Communicating manuscript edits
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Communicating manuscript edits I received a Tweet asking whether I had written anything about managing manuscript edits. I have a class available that helps with the emotional aspects of that process, and leads you through the process of making decisions (Dealing with Reviewer Comments, available in January for purchase, […]
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Managing Manuscript Edits
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Managing manuscript edits I received a Tweet asking whether I had written anything about managing manuscript edits. You need to figure out how to manage the work involved in revising the manuscript once you’ve made those decisions. And you’ll need to write a letter to the editor when you […]
Read More »Are you resisting routine?
During last Thursday’s Meeting, one participant commented that she’d noticed an interesting benefit of A Meeting With Your Writing. Like so many of us, J is prone to changing her schedule a lot. This means making decisions about whether to write now or to do some other thing on the big list of important stuff. A Meeting […]
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Turn Summer Writing Plans into Autumn Writing Plans
In the post about Summer Writing Plans I suggested that you don’t necessarily want to finish things in the summer, but rather get them to the point where what remains can be done during a busy term. One of my objectives in writing that post was to help you set yourself up for writing in term time, something […]
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Are you tempted to binge write for the last few weeks of the break?
I’ve written before about the mis-use of the term “binge writing”. I don’t just mean writing for long periods of time, which is what you’ve probably been doing all summer. I mean binging: Are you tempted to push yourself beyond what you know from experience is the optimum amount of writing you can do well […]
Read More »Are you taking long weekends?
We all get long weekends sometimes, though for different reasons. It seems that a lot of holidays that used to float are now observed on a Monday in order to make it a long weekend. I know a lot of academics have a hard time regularly taking 2-day weekends. I’m betting long weekends are even […]
Read More »Doing what you want to do
At the beginning of every session of A Meeting With Your Writing I used to ask participants to make a list of all the writing/research projects that they consider active. I then asked them which one of those they most want to work on during the next 90 minutes. It might be the one that would be most […]
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When your work doesn’t look like work
You’re tired of the popular misconception that academics get the whole summer off. Are you letting that public perception affect how you work? Are you working indoors at your desk? Are you working during “normal working hours”? Are you avoiding the hammock? The patio? The dock? Are you saving gardening, long walks in the woods, and […]
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