Tag Archives: writing

Turn off email, put your phone into airplane mode, and write

Turn off email, put your phone into airplane mode, and write

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I am currently writing this in the final “pomodoro” of a one-day writing retreat. Earlier in the year, and from Twitter, I had seen that my friend John Flood was on a two-day writing retreat with his Griffith University Law School colleagues. It looked fun, and, and perhaps more importantly, like he (and his colleagues) […] … learn more→

Writer’s block

Writer’s block

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Today I bring you a fab little vimeo, a mash up of various films showing writers in difficulty. It’s by Ivan Kander and Ben Watts. Tap tap tap  on the keyboard the writers go. Pace, pace around the room. Waste bin filling up, filling up … So that made you feel better right? Nothing like seeing other people having […] … learn more→

Writing in College: Best tips and tools to teach it

Writing in College: Best tips and tools to teach it

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It is a recurring problem in college campuses across America: nearly half of incoming freshmen are not prepared to write at a college level. Many have never written a 5-page paper. Throughout high school, they have repeatedly been asked to write short essays. But give them an assignment to develop an idea and carry it […] … learn more→

#acwri know how, know what – and know who

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Some people talk about academic writing as a skill. A skill is the ability to do something with a high level of expertise. Fair enough – we are all expected to ‘do’ academic writing with high levels of expertise. However, a skill is often associated with technique… But achieving expertise is not simply a matter of technique […] … learn more→

On getting out of a stuck place

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I’ve recently completed the first draft of (what will appear to the outside world to be) my second book this year. In reality, it’s a book that has been three years in the writing. It’s about the use of a particular social theory in one field of scholarship. There is a lot of work already […] … learn more→

Writing to get unstuck – #phdknowhow

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Sometimes, in the middle of the PhD, you feel stuck. You feel as if you’re losing focus. Perhaps your research question is slipping away. Perhaps your research question no longer feels as if it quite fits. You may be analyzing data and suddenly feel as if you don’t know where it’s going. These times can […] … learn more→

You want to write for a popular audience? Really?

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At a recent job interview, I explained to the committee that I was trying to write a book for a popular audience. One of them smirked, but at least had the grace to try to hide it behind her hand. The self-described maverick of the team — you know, the one who couldn’t be bothered […] … learn more→

Writing in the middle

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Academics don’t often talk about how they write. By how, I mean the nitty-gritty how. Sure, you may set up your laptop in a coffee shop and open up a Word document, but how do you go from blank page to finished thesis? One strategy is to write blog posts. Many academics are wary of […] … learn more→

Writing, hand writing and pens

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It seems that lots of us are fascinated by writers and how they do what they do. There was for instance a memorable photographic series in the Guardian about writer’s rooms that many of us loved. And there is a ready market for books written by authors about their own writing (for example here), and […] … learn more→