Category Archives: crafting writing

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

#holidayreading – air & light & time & space

Posted on July 31, 2017 by pat thomson

I read a lot of books about writing and research. That’s not surprising, as I write them too and I always want to see what others are writing. And today…  Helen Sword has followed up Stylish academic writing with a … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, crafting writing, free-writing, good academic writing, Helen Sword | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

writing by speaking – enter the Dragon

Posted on February 4, 2013 by pat thomson

I’ve recently been fiddling about with voice recognition software. Not surprisingly, it’s made me very self-conscious about the actual process of writing. I’ve been writing on a computer for a long time. I made the shift more than twenty years … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting writing, speaking, voice recognition software, writing | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

why read about writing?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by pat thomson

Academics are very concerned with getting the writing done and getting the stuff out there. After all, it’s the out there that counts for jobs, careers, bids and for audit purposes. Writing advice therefore often focuses on how to get … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, Ann Lamott, crafting writing, procrastination, Steven King, vocabulary, voice | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

academic writing – learning from practice

Posted on August 20, 2012 by pat thomson

I’ve been thinking recently that one of the problems with writing is that, by and large, we can all do it – and we all DO do it. Being in a literate society means that writing is a bit like … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, academic writing, crafting writing, doctoral education, literature review, Pat Thomson, practice | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

can you write about mess in your thesis and if so how? part two

Posted on July 16, 2012 by pat thomson

Peter Matthews continues his post about writing about the messy bits of his research. In my previous post I reported the “positive story” of my fieldwork – reflecting on that feeling of “connection” with my research participants in the narrative … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting writing, Dr, informants, publishing, reflection, research methods, rules of engagement, snowball sample, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

am i a ‘writer’?

Posted on November 5, 2011 by pat thomson

The other day I was listening to an interview with the novelist Victoria Hislop. When asked if she thought of herself as a writer, she said no. The interviewer was incredulous. How could someone who had written three novels, the … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, crafting writing, reading, voice | Tagged | 7 Comments

writer’s block – can’t write/won’t write

Posted on September 24, 2011 by pat thomson

Many researchers see writing as a chore, as something to be done after the fun part of generating and analysing data. Even though they know that putting analysis into words and a textual genre is part of the process of … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, crafting writing, writer's block | Tagged | 11 Comments

‘signposting’ your journal articles and chapters

Posted on September 18, 2011 by pat thomson

Many early journal writers are asked to put more signposting into their articles. Indeed, journal editors often list lack of signposting as a reason for requesting revisions.   So what is signposting and why is it needed? Signposting is the … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, crafting writing, journal, signposts | 8 Comments

three stages of empirical analysis

Posted on August 28, 2011 by pat thomson

It is often helpful to think about data analysis as needing at least two – and often three – stages.   Stage One: Descriptive.  What is there here? A summary of the data is generated – for example through thematisation of interview transcripts … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, crafting writing, empirical analysis | 1 Comment