This post is part 2 of my 10-part series, in which I tackle one of the trickiest problems for first-time academic book authors: finding the time to write your book when the semester gets hectic. Next week, I’ll introduce you to the container routine–a simple planning strategy you can implement now, before the semester’s begun, to […]
Over the past year, I’ve committed myself to helping junior scholars in humanities and social sciences tackle their first book project. Many book-specific tasks trip these scholars up, especially getting a handle on their project as a whole and breaking it down into manageable chunks. But what first-time book authors struggle with more than anything
In previous posts, I show humanities faculty why and how to monitor negative writing behaviors and how to develop an action plan to develop better habits. But thoughts are just as much a part of your writing as the behaviors you exhibit. Curious about tips to be more productive? Monitoring and replacing just one thought pattern
How many times has this happened to you? You have been working on an article for months, and are just finally getting “on a roll.” Things are clicking in a way that they haven’t before, and you’re excited to get your new thoughts down on paper. You’re chugging along. And then it happens.
Here’s the setup. Researchers (Lowe and Crawford) wanted to test whether intuitions or further reflection proved more accurate. So, they gave students a test consisting only of true/false questions. All students had two passes at the exam. The only difference? Half of the students committed in writing to one answer the first time around before choosing a
You will likely fall into one of two camps. If you’re in the first, you might find yourself frustrated and disappointed about your productivity. You know you can write more (or “be more productive”), but it feels like something is wrong with you. “I don’t know how other people do it!” you tell yourself. Or,
Are you plagued by an inner editor? It can take many forms. First, there’s the critical voice that shouts: “This isn’t analytical enough! What are you even trying to say? This isn’t new.” There’s also the frustrated voice that points out the distance between your great idea and what appears on the page: “That sentence doesn’t really
It happened when you were up against a deadline, and you had no other option. You sat down and thought, “I don’t know what I’m saying! How can I write if I don’t know what I’m saying!” But with the looming deadline, you managed to temporarily push past your fear and just start.
So many junior scholars quickly find themselves in research “survival mode.” You might find yourself saying “I don’t have time to write, especially on teaching days! I barely have enough time to prep, teach, grade, eat and sleep!” Or, you might find yourself in an extreme cycle: you write intensely to meet a deadline, then
In previous posts, I outlined how to publish more articles by tracking your writing, how to use opening rituals to make each writing session productive, and how to use closing rituals to set yourself up for success in your next session. But those posts left out one key piece. How do you set actionable product-focused