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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When Your Inner Editor Roars

By Noelle Sterne, PhD

You’re writing along like butter, and suddenly a thunderous voice in your head rebukes: “THAT’S THE WORST, MOST HORRIBLE PHRASE SINCE . . . .” And you’re in a hammerlock of immobilization.

Such a message doesn’t have to lay you flat on the mat in a full writing block. Recognize that voice: it’s your ever-present inner editor—often old programming, parental censures, or frustrated-poet English teachers’ decrees. And it proclaims that you’ll never be a writer and you should go sell burner phones (if you don’t already).

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Dissertation Proposals: When Stating Purpose of Study, Keep it Narrow, Focused, Practical

Dr. Laura Markos, owner, writing coach, and editor at WrittenHouse, and founder of Sage’s Journal of Transformative Education, shares the following advice for stating the purpose of the study in a dissertation proposal:

“When crafting the dissertation proposal, it’s important to focus, focus, focus on the research question(s) as narrowly as appropriate, but also on the statement of the purpose of the study, which has implications for both theory and practice. It can be tempting to overstate the purpose, to make the study sound like a larger potential contribution than one discrete, doable study.

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Writing is Thinking: Why It Should Be Integrated Early in the Process of Earning Your PhD

One discussion during a December 2023 TAA Conversation Circle on Writing a Dissertation centered on why writing should be integrated early in the process of earning a doctorate. Three academics who have earned their doctorates weighed in. Here are their thoughts.

Dr. Vernetta K. Mosley, a consultant and writing coach with Cultivate the Writer, explains that in her experience, students in non-writing intensive PhD programs tend to wait until the very end of the program to focus on writing, when it should be part of the process from the beginning.

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TAA Announces Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring

The Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring honors the life and work of mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan, a long-time TAA member who has authored or co-authored more than 120 mathematics textbooks, many of which have been published in multiple editions.

The Lecture series provides a forum for textbook and academic authors to learn from veteran textbook and academic authors and other academic and textbook authoring and publishing experts. It will feature an invited lecturer whose textbook or academic authoring accomplishments are prolific, award-winning, and highly engaging and inspiring, or whose experience in the textbook or academic authoring or publishing industry qualifies them as an expert. The lectureship was established in 2023 by a generous gift from Michael Sullivan.

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