Friends – How to keep them but keep them away when you need academic immersion

Note: This is the first of two posts on how to handle your friends so you maintain their friendship but hold them off when you need most of your time for your academic project.

The piercing voice of Kathryn’s best friend on the other end of the phone threatened to puncture her eardrum. Penny screamed, “You’re never around anymore! Why is this damn project so important to you anyway? You think you’re too good for me!”

Kathryn mumbled an excuse about the doorbell ringing, hung up, and started to sob. For 18 years, Penny was her best friend, confidante, and supporter.

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Call for Proposals: Textbook and academic authoring conference

TAA’s 31st Annual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference will be held at La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe, NM, June 15-16, 2018. The conference is attended by authors and aspiring authors of textbooks, journal articles, and other academic works, as well as by industry professionals from across the country.

TAA invites the submission of presentations relevant to authoring and publishing textbooks and academic works (journal articles, books, and monographs).

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7 steps to creating a new writing habit

es when we try to create a habit or a change in behavior, we try and create or change too much at once. Unfortunately this overreach is often not sustainable and we crash and burn in failure.

Fall is a great time to start fresh and focus on forming new behaviors. With the right steps to follow, along with determination and commitment, you can work to create a new writing habit that sticks.

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How to field those horrible questions about your academic project

Whether you’re writing your dissertation or post-dissertation, sweating through the first article from it, a book chapter, or an entire book, at least one person always turns up among your family or friends who shamelessly asks those questions that make you squirm. They’re right up there with the in-your-face “How come you’re still single?” or “When are you going to have kids?”

To help you field the equivalent questions about your academic project, maintain your self-respect, and even jab a little in return, here are several of the most common questions, and variations. I’ve collected these from my academic coaching clients who are agonizing through writing their dissertations, articles, and books.

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Give your faculty authors a boost: Host a TAA sponsored writing workshop at your institution

During the 2017-18 academic year, TAA will help sponsor a limited number of faculty writing workshops at universities and colleges across the country. TAA’s sponsorship covers the majority of the cost of bringing a presenter to your institution. The host institution is responsible for a fee of $1,650, which includes up to 75 TAA faculty memberships, available to faculty whether or not they attend the workshop. TAA provides an online institutional membership application process that makes joining TAA easy for both the institution and faculty.

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Kick-off your summer writing with these posts from the blogosphere

When summer rolls around, it can seem almost impossible to get work done. With the beautiful weather, neighborhood barbeques, and days poolside, our desks begin to sound like one of the last places we would like to spend the day. But, believe it or not, summer can also bring new inspiration and a breath of fresh air for your writing. A new season brings new ideas and perspectives perfect for fighting off writer’s block and beating procrastination. Even as I am sitting out on my back porch writing this, I feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle each project that comes my way. Here I’ve shared posts that can help you tackle some projects of your own and stay on track this summer season.

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