TAA member Katy Peplin is the Founder of Thrive PhD and is an academic author in the media studies writing discipline.

Her most recent publication is her second academic publication, Ford Films and Ford Viewers: Examining “Non-Theatrical” Films in the Theaters and Beyond forthcoming (Jan 1, 2020) in the collection The Institutionalization of Educational Cinema: North America and Europe in the 1910s and 1920s (eds. Marina Dahlquist and Joel Frykholm).

What are you currently working on?
A variety of courses around the “life skills” of graduate school – writing, reading, mentorship, career paths, and more – that students can access for a low cost when they need them!

Share a recent accomplishment.
Just celebrated two years of self-employment supporting graduate students and early career researchers!

What is your favorite textbook writing tip or strategy?
I love the “one pom” rule – I set a timer for 25 minutes and the rule is: you have to try and work on this task for the whole 25 minutes. You can either sit in the chair and think about it, or freewrite, or start working on it directly, but no email, or Twitter. If after 25 minutes it still feels impossible, you can move on to something else. You’d be surprised how boring staring at a screen can get, and often, that 25 minutes is just enough to get me over the resistance and into the work.

What is your best TAA experience so far?
I loved being at the 2019 conference in Philadelphia as a mentor! It was an honor to support writers at so many different stages in their journeys.