Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Imperfect notes for perfectionists One of the Academic Writing Studio team told me about a great book they’d read that they thought might be helpful for many of our people. Jeanette has been part of the team for a long time. Perfectionism is something many academics struggle with. You […]
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Motivating yourself to finish the damned book!
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Motivating yourself to finish the damned book Do you have a book project that’s been in progress for a long time? You are not alone. Over the years I’ve helped several mid to late career scholars who are weighted down by the unfinished projects they have lying around. Like […]
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How do I know when my book is ready to submit?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How do I know when my book is ready to submit? You are almost finished with your book! You plan to submit it to your publisher in a couple of months. You’ve been working on it for a long time. You’ve not only got a full draft but you’ve […]
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Creating A Satisfying Academic Career – Part 2
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Creating A Satisfying Academic Career This post is Part 2 of a series on Creating a Satisfying Academic Career. In Part 1, I introduced the idea of “creating” a career based on the opportunities available and provided some reflection prompts to help you figure out what is important to […]
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Creating A Satisfying Academic Career – Part 1
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Creating A Satisfying Academic Career It is not an exaggeration to describe the current context in higher education as dystopian. Whether you are already employed in academia, permanently or precariously, or whether you are seeking academic employment, the situation is distressing. Is it possible to have a satisfying academic […]
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Spotlight On: Burnout.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Burnout I published my first post with “burnout” in the title, “Burnout is real”, in 2022. We were just coming out of the most intense phase of the COVID pandemic disruptions. The term was familiar to people, but the idea that it might be a real diagnosable […]
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Burnout – A personal experience
This post is a different format than usual. Typically I write something and then record an audio version. However, when I invited Myriam Houssay-Holzschuch to share something about her experience of burnout, she preferred an interview. The text is an edited transcript of the interview. The audio has also been edited. Myriam and I talked […]
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You’re coping, until you aren’t.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You’re coping until you aren’t I’ve written about burnout before. It is a real thing: severe exhaustion, physical and cognitive. It is serious. It often takes years to recover and may change you forever. I suspect the term is being used interchangeably with exhaustion that is somewhat less severe. […]
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How to make your argument clear
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How to make your argument clear I’ve invited Lisa Munro to write about the craft of writing and she’s chosen to focus on the central element of all scholarly writing: the argument. Boldly stating your argument requires confidence! That’s not always easy. I particularly like how she provides a […]
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You can get better at resting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can get better at resting As I return from a week of annual leave, I have a few thoughts on rest I’d like to share. I talk about rest a lot, not just because it’s necessary but also because it is objectively difficult. I hope these musings help. […]
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You don’t have to start with an abstract
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You don’t have to start with an abstract Do you use conferences as a way to start new writing projects? In my experience it’s a pretty common practice. You are working on some research. You need to transition into the writing phase. A conference offers an impetus to make […]
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Spotlight On: Confidence
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Confidence Confidence is another thing a lot of people struggle with. It is related to Imposter Syndrome but is not quite the same thing. And, like Imposter Syndrome, lack of confidence isn’t an issue that will ever go away completely. It’s normal to lack confidence (sometimes). It’s […]
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