When you’re furrowed-brow deep in your academic project, if your partner suddenly blurts out “I never see you anymore!” it’s time to stop, look, and close your computer. After such outbursts, many of my academic clients with partners in my coaching and editing practice have found ways to manage the complaints and restore a harmonious home. Here are some of the major methods my clients have used as they pursue the (successful) productions of articles, presentations, chapters for a volume, and dissertations.
Textbook development tip: Aim for good expository writing
The best way to ensure clarity is to write well. When editors mark passages “Not Clear,” they are not being stupid but are basing their judgments both on the perceived needs of your target audience and on standards of good expository writing. All good writing for any audience at any educational level has the same basic qualities, including clarity, concision, unity, coherence, and emphasis. Wordiness is perhaps the greatest enemy of good writing.
Bringing textbooks to life: Strategies for improving student engagement
Educator, editor and author Michael Greer, of Development by Design, shares his philosophy behind, and strategies for, developing textbooks that enhance student engagement and learning.
TAA: As an educator, editor, and author, you are passionate about bringing textbooks to life to provide more effective and engaging student learning experiences. What inspired you to analyze and rethink content delivery for textbooks and other course materials?
The role writing environment plays in productivity
Q: What role does the writing work space and environment play in productivity?
A: Noelle Sterne, author, editor and writing consultant:
“As an academic and mainstream writer and editor, I firmly believe that one’s writing workspace and work environment tremendously influence productivity. To discover your best writing environment requires self-analysis and candid (if uncomfortable) answers to several important questions.
1) What is your optimal time for a work session?
An hour, three, fifteen minutes? My optimal session is about an hour and a half. But sometimes my brain bubbles like a hot spring, and I can work for three hours straight without hearing my stomach growl.
Join us 1/25 for the TAA webinar, ‘Six Strategies for Using Social Media to Promote Your Writing’
You can spend (and waste!) a lot of time on blogs and social media. Be strategic and use these tools to complement your academic writing, textbook authoring, and related consulting services.
Join us p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “Six Strategies for Using Social Media to Promote Your Writing,” when writer and blogger Janet Salmons will share six ways you can use blogs and social media, including: developing credibility, building a network, reaching new readers, sharing resources, encouraging textbook adoption, and disseminating findings outside of academia. She will help you evaluate whether you should start your own blog, page, or group, or contribute as a guest.
How to get your boss’s support for your dissertation
It’s not easy working full-time and writing a dissertation. A few fortunate doctoral students can quit work and devote themselves completely to the dissertation. But if you cannot quit, you can still make time for it—by meeting with your employer or supervisor.
Employers often encourage higher degrees, and some pay for them in whole or part. Your boss may be supportive of your academic pursuit and willing to give you released time and preferential schedules to meet the demands of graduate work. To gain what you need, you need a plan and rehearsal for the talk.