How Social Connections Can Positively Impact Writers

By Angelica Ribeiro, Ph.D.

As a writer, you have likely experienced negative emotions at some point. Whether it is receiving a rejection letter for your manuscript, facing criticism for your ideas, or getting stuck in your writing, it is normal to feel this way. The key is to learn how to cope with these emotions rather than trying to eliminate them.

Social connections can be a great tool for managing negative emotions like stress, frustration, and disappointment. Robert Waldinger, the leading author of The Good Life, explains how warm social connections can regulate your negative emotions:

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Be Good to Yourself

By John Bond

We have all read the stories about mental health over the past few years, particularly in the wake of COVID (not that it is gone). Whether articles about depression, anxiety, loneliness, or other challenges, mental health has been elevated in our national discourse. Thankfully.

All of that being said, mental health can have an effect on your writing, in both directions. Lack of progress, a false start, a problematic co-author, or movement in the wrong direction can hit a writer hard. It can cause one to question the work they are doing, or just stop.

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For Your Most Productive Writing Sessions, Nine Questions

By Noelle Sterne, PhD

When we’re in the middle of a writing project, scholarly or otherwise, it’s hard enough to start, much less continue. I’ve found that asking ourselves some important questions and acting on the answers helps us more easily sneak up on the current project and get started or continue, and even finish.

The questions and answers are completely between you and you, and you have the best and only answers. Whatever other advice you may have read or heard, or however loudly others swear theirs is the only way, it’s your own answers that matter.

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The Value of Continued Connections

By John Bond

Writing, to many, is solitary work. Research, as well, can connote time by yourself spent interpreting data, not to mention the time spent on the literature review. When it comes time to submit for publication, there are numerous hours of combing over your writing for accuracy and grammar. Then checking proofs prior to publication.

All of this adds up to time alone. Many academics, by nature, are solo people. Not all, but some. They understand the heavy lifting the individual has to do. Don’t get me wrong. I have met some big personalities in writing and publishing that love to talk. But they may not be, hmm, the rule.

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TAA Members Receive Discount on May Writing Retreat

TAA has partnered with TAA member Michelle Rivera-Clonch, Ph.D. to provide members with a discount on her 13th annual Writing in Depth: An Academic Writing Retreat, which will be held Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-26, 2024 at the Hope Springs Institute in Peebles, OH. The primarily self-directed retreat, open to faculty and graduate students, provides an environment for serious academic writing, reflecting on your writing practices, and establishing systems of accountability in regional working groups that will aid in your movement toward completing your writing project.

Gain space and support to reinvigorate your writing process and reconnect with a community of writers.

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The Power of Planning: Embrace Mindfulness and Prioritize With Ease

By Kimine Mayuzumi

In a world that seems to revolve around deadlines and outcomes, I’ve found myself immersed in enlightening dialogues with clients about the power of planning.

One question, in particular, lingers in my mind:

“How do you navigate planning when it tends to make you become outcome-oriented?”

Echoing the ethos of our “Be mindful, Trust the process, Let go of outcomes” philosophy, this query on planning is especially relevant in today’s fast-paced world, where time management is paramount, but so is the call to be present in our own lives.

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