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 »Welcome to the Library
The Library is an archive of my writing about academic work since launching this website in 2009. The top section contains the most recent additions. If you are new here, scroll down to see a few suggestions for good posts to start with to get a sense of my general approach. The Spotlight section at the bottom highlights a series of posts on a specific topic, and is updated regularly.
Most of my writing is sent to Studio members or my newsletter before appearing here. Since 2020 I’ve been creating audio versions of most new posts. They are embedded here but you can also follow me on Soundcloud if you prefer to listen.
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Recent posts

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 […]
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Making Decisions about your writing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making decisions about writing This is a belated addition to the Making Decisions series that begins with Managing the energy you use to make decisions, published in August 2021. You might want to read the introductory post first. You can also find links to other posts in the series […]
Read More »Start Here
The posts in this category introduce you to some of the main principles that guide my approach to academic work and careers.

Hope works better than fear
I have cycled through a few tag lines in my attempt to succinctly capture what it is I do: “Love Your Academic Work” made way for “Transforming Academic Lives“. This latest iteration has the benefit of coming directly from something clients have said about working with me. An opinion piece about climate change reporting reminded me […]
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Juggling 101: Elements of a good plan
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Juggling 101: Elements of a Good Plan A good plan can reduce the stress and overwhelm that you experience when trying to juggle all your different responsibilities. This is why I have developed planning classes for members of the Academic Writing Studio. In this rather long post, I set […]
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Introducing: the Academic Writing Studio
The Beginning When I started A Meeting With Your Writing back in September 2011, I didn’t even know if it would work. All I knew was that virtual accountability and community was needed, and that I was prepared to facilitate something that might help. Now, it feels central to everything I do. Participants have told […]
Read More »Spotlight On: Saying No
This month’s Spotlight focuses on how and when to Say No to the right things so that you can reclaim your time and energy.
Click here to explore the whole Spotlight, or if you prefer to listen, you can find a playlist of the posts mentioned over on my Soundcloud.
Follow me on Twitter to see more real-time debates & discussion – and much more.
Enjoy your writing!