Category Archives: academic writing voice

the dictionary is (sometimes) your friend – starting the PhD

Posted on September 5, 2022 by pat thomson

If you are doing a PhD it’s a good idea to buy, or find online, a good reliable dictionary.  Not only doctoral researchers a good dictionary. Most of us use a dictionary rather more than we let on. Just yesterday … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing voice, dictionary, Howard Becker, starting the PhD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

writing more than one thing at the same time – part three, managing

Posted on September 10, 2018 by pat thomson

Writing several things at once is often called multi-tasking. This is a term I try to avoid, as it focuses on an action – ‘tasking’. Tasking has two problems – first of all, it doesn’t really highlight the thinking involved … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, authority in writing, reflection, reflection on learning, time, writing and thinking, writing more then one thing at once, writing regularly | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

writing more than one thing at the same time – part two, authoring

Posted on September 3, 2018 by pat thomson

There are good reasons for writing alongside the thesis. Besides contributing to the work (see first post) and your cv, there are authoring benefits. These include: the chance to learn more about academic writing the opportunity to develop a scholarly … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, authority in writing, authorship, crafting writing, genre, good academic writing, writing more then one thing at once | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

what is author ‘voice’?

Posted on May 25, 2017 by pat thomson

Patter is on annual leave and is posting pre-prepared writings snatched from elsewhere. The term ‘voice’ is not as straightforward as it might first appear. Commonly used in relation to a number of art forms, it is highly ambiguous and slippery. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing voice, Peter Elbow, voice | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

thinking like an editor

Posted on April 6, 2017 by pat thomson

There is a lot of good information about academic writing and publishing that is now out of print. It’s generally still accessible if you peruse the outlets that sell second hand books or remainders, so do check out the ‘other … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, academic writing voice, book proposal, book writing, books, nonfiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

voice and thinkingwriting

Posted on February 2, 2017 by pat thomson

You have probably heard, or read, that writing is thinking. But what does writing is thinking really mean? Anything? Nothing? Well, it doesn’t mean that you have to write in order to think, because of course you can think without writing. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing voice, thinking, voice, writing and thinking | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

welcome to the archive of lost literatures papers

Posted on February 11, 2016 by pat thomson

Ah, you’ve arrived.  So good to see you. We don’t get nearly enough visitors.. We’ll start here. Over here in the corner. Yes, here. It’s a bit dark, but never mind. We always start here… with this filing cabinet of rejected papers. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, journal article, list, literature review, literatures paper | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

blogging helps academic writing

Posted on December 7, 2015 by pat thomson

Why do academics blog? What do academic bloggers get from blogging? Discussions about scholarly blogging most often centre on the need for we academics to write in ways that attract new audiences. If we write blogs, we are told, we … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing voice, blogging, blogging about blogging | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments