Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You don’t need to find a “gap” in the literature Your research, and the publications based on that research, need to make an original contribution to knowledge. Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of ways academics, at every career stage, get in a bit of a […]
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.
Do you struggle to write for long periods of time?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you struggle to write for long enough? One of the members of the Academic Writing Studio asked about writing stamina in an Office Hours session, a regular group-coaching session I used to host for members. “You know, I have this ideal self that wakes up every day and […]
Read More »
Academic Writing & Publishing: A Discussion with Katherine Firth
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Academic Writing: An Interview with Katherine Firth This post is an edited transcript of my interview with Katherine Firth in October 2019 to celebrate the publication of my Short Guide on Peer Review. JoVE: Hello. So I am Jo Van Every, and this is Katherine Firth. [Katherine confirms]. […]
Read More »
What is Real Writing anyway?
At the beginning of every planning class in the Academic Writing Studio, I ask participants a set of questions about what they did in the previous period. We focus on writing, and I ask questions about how much time they protected, what they worked on, and how those projects advanced. I do this in the monthly […]
Read More »
Starting a new project
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 […]
Read More »
Optimizing Focus when your project brings up difficult emotions
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 […]
Read More »
What to do about a stalled book project
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 […]
Read More »
Spotlight On: Grading Season
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 […]
Read More »
Do you have to finish your grading before you can write?
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 […]
Read More »
Spotlight On: Optimizing Focus
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. […]
Read More »
Spotlight On: Writing & Resting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Writing & Resting 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 […]
Read More »
Why join the Studio in the summer?
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, […]
Read More »
