This is an excerpt from my book: The Scholarly Writing Process (A Short Guide). Designed to refer to whenever you get stuck, it breaks down the scholarly writing process into stages and provides both a description of that stage and writing prompts to help you get unstuck. Here’s the introduction and table of contents. Introduction […]
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A peek at my writing process, and a new book
Today is the publication date of the first in a series of Short Guides: The Scholarly Writing Process. It seems appropriate to tell you a bit about my own writing process and how this particular guide came to be. Beginnings Last spring I read a review of Liz Gilbert’s Big Magic in Open Letters Monthly […]
Read More »Balancing writing and student demands
Recently someone in the Academic Writing Studio asked me for advice about the conflict she is feeling between working on her own writing and writing student reference letters, reviewing thesis proposals, and whatnot. This is something everyone struggles with. Your writing isn’t more important than your students. But nor are your students more important than your […]
Read More »You get a lot done
Your to-do list is long. It never seems to get any shorter does it? And many of the things on your list are long term projects with lots of sub-projects and tasks and whatnot. It seems like some of those things have been on your to do list forever. Some people will tell you to […]
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Experienced writers vs novice writers
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Experienced writers vs novice writers Inspired by a conversation on Twitter: I’m sure @ProfessMoravec is not alone. In fact on the same day another friend shared something similar on Facebook, about that stage of the writing process where you go back to the abstract you submitted to see how […]
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Introducing That Selfish Bastard
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Introducing That Selfish Bastard A couple of recent client conversations renewed my motivation to write more about managing the number of things you are juggling. Those conversations made me realize that you want to say yes to things. You value community, collaboration, and collegiality. There’s just a lot more going […]
Read More »Sabbatical + book contract = overwhelm?
I received this query at the end of August: I’m writing you today because I’m looking for some coaching for writing my first academic book. I have a fall sabbatical and a book contract to write a book on the research that I did over the past two years. I’m feeling overwelmed by all the […]
Read More »Is your office inspiring?
I recently moved from Canada to the UK. After several months of temporary accommodation, I am now in the new house. Although we now live in a town, rather than out in the country, my office has a beautiful view of farmland. We are right on the edge of the Peak District. The town is in a […]
Read More »You aren’t trying to win an argument
For various reasons I’ve been thinking about what holds people back from submitting/publishing their work. Fear of criticism comes up a lot. As if somehow if someone doesn’t like it, or disagrees with it, it means you shouldn’t have published it, or the work was wasted or something. We are all searching for truth. That’s […]
Read More »Do good work!
How often have you been in this position? Unable to move a project forward because you want to do your best? Best is a distraction. Best is an abstract goal. It is impossible to meet because there are no concrete indicators. Furthermore, best is a moving target. Future You will be a better scholar and […]
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Surviving and thriving in uncertain times
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Surviving and Thriving in Uncertain Times Uncertainty is stressful. Things are always uncertain. We have limited control over the future. My approach to supporting academics focuses on identifying the things you can control, while being flexible enough to change track if necessary. The most important component of this approach is […]
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The role of journal editors in long review times
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The role of journal editors in long review times This is part of a short series addressing the frustration with how long peer review takes. Other posts in this series include The frustrations of peer review and How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process. […]
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