8 [MORE!] Academic writing blogs you should be following

The original, 8 Academic writing blogs you should be following, was so popular (and continues to be) it seemed fitting to bring you a second addition—not to mention the fact that the blogs below are worthy of being followed! In no particular order, here are eight academic writing blogs that offer superb advice on everything academic writing and publishing related, plus life as an academic:

The most useful textbook & academic writing posts of the week: Holiday Edition, Part 1

This week’s most useful blog post takes a look at some of the most popular articles featured in this weekly series. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Next week will also focus on popular posts from this past year that were featured here. I hope you have a wonderful holiday spent with loved ones, eggnog and cookies, and writing that flows easily on to the page! For more wishes for writers this holiday season, read this and this.

How to prepare for your (shudder) doctoral dissertation defense

Most universities require a final doctoral defense of your precious work. Almost everyone who has a doctorate has a final defense story. Often they are the worst horror stories one can imagine, short of a bedroom intruder, and emblazoned on the mind of the teller forever.

For example . . . A friend of mine was obviously pregnant at her defense. After she successfully passed, her chair, staring at her bulk, informed her with a tone of incontrovertibility that her entire graduate education had been a “waste.” Outrageous, I know. I’m very glad to say she proved the chair wrong. Later, with two kids, she became an award-winning professor at Brandeis.