Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: March 4, 2022

Are you in the mood to write? Perhaps you’re waiting for something. Perhaps you’re waiting for the right time, the right environment, the right words. But waiting isn’t writing. Pearl S. Buck said, “I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”

To help you get down to work, consider the articles in this week’s collection to help you move your project forward. Now is the time. Don’t wait. Happy writing!

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: January 1, 2021

As you turn the page on a new year today, reflect on your accomplishments in the year that was, dream of opportunities in the year ahead, and design a plan for action to move you forward each day. Take time to reflect, dream, and plan. Writing is a creative process that requires learning from what was in order to create what will be. In fact, Burton Rascoe once said, “A writer is working when he’s staring out of the window.”

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: December 11, 2020

John Steinbeck once said, “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” There’s much more to successful writing than ideas, though. We must be able to handle them.

In this week’s collection of posts from around the web, we found some ideas for handling ideas like focusing on process, a shared peer-review taxonomy, revising like a reader, fostering trust, getting confident with statistics, subscribing to open, and making the most of the time you have for writing.

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: July 31, 2020

This week’s collection of articles from around the web contains many strategies for writing that can make your writing process more effective and your results more powerful.

We begin our collection with misconceptions about being a writer, tips for reaching your writing goals, and being a trustworthy researcher. We continue with advice on writing what you want to know, writing imperfectly, organizing your writing, improving your essays, and reading to improve your writing. Finally, we explore revision strategies, tone, writing with a busy schedule, blogging, and fostering racial empathy through your reading and writing practices.

Feedback: Ah, just right

Undoubtedly, we all know the story of Goldilocks and Three Bears. The part I have in mind, is when Goldilocks seeks equilibrium: porridge neither too hot nor cold and a bed neither too soft nor too hard.

Many authors seek out feedback or opinions on their work before submission. Of course, peer review will yield comments and likely things to change or address. All this feedback has value, but it is important to cast it in the right light.