As we enter the season of spring and its principle of opening this month, let’s begin by using our ears, which are always open, to go beyond hearing those internal stories into listening to the larger world.
What motivates you to write?
What is the one thing you need when you sit down to write? I don’t mean the obvious pen and paper or computer, but that one other thing that you always have when you write? Maybe it’s a tall-soy-caramel-macchiato and a corner booth at the local coffee shop. Maybe it’s a stack of papers with all of your research, or an expanding file folder packed full, yet obsessively organized, with research material. Maybe it’s not even a physical thing or place. Maybe it’s nothing more than a seed of an idea or a spark of inspiration.
Creating balance through writing and nature
As a writing coach who works with academics, one of the stumbling blocks my clients come up against at a certain point in their career is what I call “path block.” This usually happens, ironically, after a big success: finishing the dissertation, getting a new job, or having a book published.
I understand this block and I have experienced it myself. Nature even gave me a literal experience of this block one day many years ago when I was walking in the woods behind my house and the briars and brambles around me stopped me in my tracks. I thought to myself, “It would be so much easier if I had a path.” I looked down and there on the ground was a hawk feather. I picked it up and realized I must make my own path.
Poll: Do you write your first drafts free hand or with a word-processing program?
While there are many electronic ways to get your thoughts down on paper, including voice-to-text options, does that in any way hamper your creative process? I find that when I am sitting down to write the first draft, I prefer to use paper and a pen. It allows me to be more free with my thoughts than when I use a word-processing program because I am not distracted by auto-correct or trying to get words in the correct format.
12 Week program inspires writing, research, teaching of women educators
TAA member Cassie Premo Steele contacted us today to tell us about a great new program for women academics she is offering called “The Feminar”. This 12-week program will inspire the writing, research and teaching of women educators and allow them to connect with women academics worldwide.
The program, which runs March 23-June 12, 2015, includes: