‘Tis the season for thinking (or struggling to think) of and giving the perfect gift to give the writer in your life. Luckily for you I have done the thinking for you and compiled a great list of gifts for any writer. Fair warning, the gifts below range from practical to wacky, but you’re sure to find at least one that the writer in your life will appreciate! Happy holidays!
Begin with what you don’t know: An end of year reflection and meditation for academics
W.S. Merwin, who was recently the Poet Laureate of the United States, grew up in New York City. As a child, he had a recurring nightmare of concrete covering all the green areas of the earth. His whole life, and all his poetry and writing, has had the aim of serving to make sure that this doesn’t happen.
We academics are an anxious group. Will my article be accepted? Will I get tenure? Will my department survive the next round of budget cuts? We can get stuck in endless cycles of worry.
Holiday strategies to honor your all-important academic project
The holidays can be wonderful times for reconnecting with family and friends, taking breathers from the daily-weekly-yearly chase of accomplishment, kindling or rekindling feelings of love, warmth, and generosity even to those who have published much more than you, and indulging in delectable seasonal goodies. But we academics often feel conflicted about how much time to “take off.” Maybe we’re feeling the pressure of having to participate in holiday events. Maybe we’re worried about being grilled by well-intentioned family or friends about the progress of our dissertation, article, or book. Maybe we’re very aware of the dangerous loss of momentum from our work. Maybe we just don’t like all those jolly gatherings.
Here, from clients who have suffered through such “maybes,” I suggest three holiday strategies you can apply, depending on the severity of your “maybes” and your fortitude. We don’t have to be at the mercy of the holidays!
How to build effective collaboration
As a graduate student or early career academic you likely have a packed schedule. Trying to get published can be a daunting task, especially when you feel you have to do it alone. But maybe you don’t have to. If you can find the right person or persons to collaborate with, say doctoral students Tracey S. Hodges and Katherine Landau Wright, you are less likely to be stressed, and more likely to be productive and on the path to publishing success. Hodges and Wright share the following advice for effective collaboration:
The most useful textbook & academic writing posts of the week: November 13, 2015
This week celebrated University Press Week. Even if you missed most of what this week offered, you can still join…
How to be an effective writing accountability partner
Has a colleague asked you to be their writing accountability partner? Accountability partners provide guidance, support, and motivation for a writer to forge ahead and stay on course with their writing. They also have a general interest in the writing success of the other person and can offer their own, different experiences, perspectives and ideas. All these things combined will help a writer overcome their challenges and barriers to writing success so they can be more productive, motivated, and able to reach their writing goals. To be an effective writing accountability partner, you need to be able to do these four things: