Category Archives: editing

editing your writing – lessons from chefs?

You can pick up helpful ideas from the most unlikely places. Like cooking shows. Yes I watch cooking shows, it’s one of my guilty pleasures. I’m sure I’m not the only one, given their popularity. Sometimes they offer more than … Continue reading

Posted in citations, editing, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

twelve top tips for co-editing a book series

This post is co-written and simultaneously published with Helen Kara to coincide with the launch of the Insider Guides to Success in Academia book series.  Helen: It’s interesting to reflect on how we do this co-editing thing. We’ve been working together on this series … Continue reading

Posted in co-editing, editing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

2019 was…

… the year of the book series. So I thought a little end of year discussion about book series might be in order. Book series require a very particular kind of editorial work. Editors have to have a good analysis … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, book series, co-editing, editing, Helen Kara | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

writing a second edition is much harder than I realised

This is a guest post from Mark Carrigan. Mark is a sociologist in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. His research explores how the proliferation of digital platforms is reshaping education systems, with a particular focus on … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, book writing, editing, Mark Carrigan, social media | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

the challenges of revision

Maybe you have decided that the text you are writing doesn’t work. Or perhaps you have had feedback saying that you need to make some substantial changes to something that you thought was OK. Oh oh. It’s revision time. Revision … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, editing, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

tightening up your sentences – cut the bloat

We all know what bloat is. If something is bloated it is swollen, puffed up, flabby, distended, enlarged. Right now, we probably associate bloat with eating too much over the festive season. But bloat also happens in academic writing. A … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, bloat, editing, tightening up | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

#co-editing – a manuscript to publication checklist

Your book/special issue proposal is accepted. A brief party.  YAY.  Now to get the manuscript together. Now for the Really Hard Work. Questions about who does what, when and how, escalates as the actual book or journal issue is being … Continue reading

Posted in book proposal, co-editing, editing, editing a journal | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

#co-editing – getting the proposal together

I’ve had a look. it’s true. There is actually very little written about co-editing. So it’s not surprising that I’ve been asked to write something about it. Here goes. It might be helpful to begin with a few important basics … Continue reading

Posted in book proposal, co-editing, editing, editing a journal, publisher, special issue | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

book blog – our endgame revision and proofing

Barbara and I are now on final descent with our new writing book, Detox your writing. We’ll have it to the publisher sometime next week. Yippee. Our process of final revision and proof-reading has been in several stages. About three … Continue reading

Posted in Barbara Kamler, book writing, editing, proof-reading, revision | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

revision – it’s not just about cutting words

We’re all told that the essence of revision is rewriting. Write and then write again. Rewrite. And rewriting means cutting, getting rid of the excess verbage we poured onto the page as a ‘brain dump’. We’re also told that the … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, editing, revision, rewriting, William Zinsser | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments