Between bouts of hating what we write, we may secretly admire our creations. And we’re entitled to. But there’s a difference between admiration and excessive love of our own words. Such love blinds us to editorial blunders, judicious cutting, faults in logic, and any other revision, and reduces the possibilities of publication. [Read more…]
Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: August 7, 2020
August 7, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Textbook and academic writing is hard work. It’s a tiring endeavor. It stretches the individual and the discipline with each new publication. To be successful, though, we need to consider the words of David Goggins who said, “Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.”
Whether you are starting a literature review, attempting to describe theoretical, conceptual, or analytical frameworks, editing a book, or simply editing your work for your reader, our collection of articles this week has some advice to keep you moving forward in your efforts to reach your goal. We have also included articles on promoting research through social media, entrepreneurial pursuits, Journal Impact Factors, the pandemic’s impact on open access, and how working from home has affected US publishing.
Whatever your current role and goal as an academic author, no matter how tired you may be in the process, move forward this week. And don’t stop until you’re done. Happy writing! [Read more…]
Strategies for revising and editing
June 23, 2020 By Leave a Comment
During our last #AcWriChat Tweetchat event on June 12th, we discussed the difference between revision and editing in addition to strategies for completing both of these essential elements of the academic writing process. Chat participants Marc Ouellette and Sonal Mehta added their perspectives to the discussion.
Below is a summary of the ideas and resources presented during the event. [Read more…]
Can I help you in any way? Revisions and editing
May 17, 2019 By Leave a Comment
“Hello, thank you for visiting. Can I help you in any way?” If you’ve browsed our TAA website, you’ve likely seen those words in the chat box that appears on the screen. We’re often asked by visitors if we’re “real”. Then those who realize that we are, and that we are there to help, ask questions that you may have as well.
In this series of “Can I help you in any way?” posts, we’ll highlight some of the questions people have asked through the TAA Live Chat feature of our site and the responses we have for those questions. In this post, we’re focused on a question about academic principles for revisions. [Read more…]
Self-editing: Making your work its best possible self
May 9, 2019 By Leave a Comment
The thought of editing your work evokes many responses. While some people do enjoy refining their writing, some people view it as a chore. Others feel insecure about their ability to edit anything, let alone their own work.
Here are some self-editing best practices to smooth the tasks ahead: [Read more…]
Editing: Going it alone or with a guide
March 14, 2019 By Leave a Comment
You have a vision of the work you want to write. You’ve laid out a plan for a textbook or monograph (or article). You might have a book contract, or you may be doing the work prospectively. The writing is done. You breathe a sigh. But how about the editing?
Many writers and academics feel comfortable with the content creation, that is the writing. But they may feel less qualified with that pesky editing. Split infinitives, that or which, ending a sentence in a preposition, and a thousand other archine rules haunt some writers and sap their confidence about their work. [Read more…]
Three unmistakable signs you need to revise
October 4, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Between bouts of hating what we write, we may secretly admire our creations. And we’re entitled to. But there’s a difference between these feelings and excessive love of our own words. Such love blinds us to editorial blunders, judicious cutting, and revision, and reduces the possibilities of publication. [Read more…]
Join us 11/3 for the TAA webinar, ‘Plan, Propose & Publish an Edited Book’
October 24, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Want to publish a book, but lack the content for a full manuscript? Consider creating an edited book! You can include your own material, as well as chapters by other scholars.
Join us Thursday, November 3 from 3-4 p.m. ET for this one-hour webinar, “Plan, Propose & Publish an Edited Book”. Writer and editor Janet Salmons will share strategies she learned by creating edited books, contributing chapters to numerous edited books, and serving on editorial review boards. She will provide an overview of the entire process, from proposal through final review.
[Read more…]
5 Web tools to help you manage and organize citations
July 21, 2016 By Leave a Comment
When it comes to academic writing, it is important to be diligent about collecting and organizing sources that will support your statements. The success of the overall project is often determined by the organizational skills you show during the research stage, and if you lose track of the sources of your ideas, you may also end up inadvertently committing plagiarism.
The following five tools can help you manage your sources and organize citations in accordance with whichever citation format you follow. [Read more…]
5 Key principles to building clear text transitions
February 16, 2016 By Leave a Comment
A common weakness in novice academic writing is a 
lack of flow; for readers, this lack of flow means they can’t easily see how one thought follows from another. To combat this problem, we need to learn how to make effective transitions between sentences. Such transitions are usually managed in one of two ways: through transition words or through evident links in the text. Both strategies have a role to play, but novice writers, unfortunately, often see transition words as their main way of moving from sentence to sentence. [Read more…]
