Category Archives: writing

you can’t always write what you want

I seem to spend a lot of time these days writing things that I don’t much like, things that I don’t want to write now, or perhaps ever. This writing feels like a chore, an obligation, a duty, a necessity. … Continue reading

Posted in writer's block, writing, writing as work | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

book blogging, second interlude, negotiations with the publisher

Sometime ago Barbara and I had a week in Kuala Lumpur working on our new writing book for doctoral researchers. I blogged about it at the time. Barbara is currently in the UK for five days before going on holiday … Continue reading

Posted in book title, book writing, publisher, writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

seven reasons why journals reject papers

I’ve written about rejections several times, and most of this is scattered throughout the blog, so I thought it might be helpful to amalgamate the most important points together. All in one place. There are some very common reasons why … Continue reading

Posted in journal, premature publication, publishing, refereeing, rejection, writing, writing research | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

should you, could you, would you… co-write with your supervisor?

It’s not hard to find a horror story or two about the PhD researcher who wrote something with their supervisor only to find when it was published that they weren’t given credit for the work. The supervisor put their name … Continue reading

Posted in co-writing, journal, supervision, theft, writing, writing research | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

writing by speaking – enter the Dragon

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

a lit review thinking tool – christmas present two

Working with literatures is a complex task. It is one of the places where doctoral and early career researchers come unstuck. One of the very many reasons that it’s problematic is, in my view, because there is not sufficient discussion … Continue reading

Posted in literature mapping, literature review, literature themes, note-taking, scholarly primitives, thinking tool, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

just write – then plan, and write again – in #acwrimo and beyond

Someone asked me the other day whether I thought ‘just write’ was a good idea. It is something that I support, although always with the caveat that it doesn’t work for everyone. I call this ‘writing along the way’ because … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, acwrimo, just write, Peter Elbow, writer's block, writing, writing research | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

what do words want?

In writing workshops I often come across people with conference and nearly final draft papers that they do not seem able to finish. The prospect of sending them out for review and possible publication just seems too hard, perhaps it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Margaret Atwood, reader, readership, reading, text, the page, words, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

writing the thesis from day one is risky

I was reading a final draft of a thesis written by one of the doctoral researchers I was working with. I’d just started and the text was going along very nicely indeed until I reached the end of the first … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, dissertation, identity, literature review, thesis, voice, writing | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

finished your first draft? now it’s cut and come again

One of the crunch points for writers comes right after the first draft. It’s commonly understood that once the first draft is done what is needed is some editing. This is most usually thought of as minor rewriting and fiddling … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, editing, revision, rewriting, words, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments