Tag Archives: advice

starting the doctorate – finding good advice

Posted on July 25, 2022 by pat thomson

It’s that time of year. Across the world potential new Doctors have rejoiced. They’ve been accepted by the university of their choice. They are now getting their heads and lives geared up for a new intellectual adventure. I usually write … Continue reading →

writing advice – caveat emptor

Posted on March 2, 2020 by pat thomson

Advice. Loads of it. Coming out of our ears. And on every possible topic, including research and writing. Advice needs readers. But we readers also need to be, as Ernest Hemingway put it, “crap detectors”. Howard Rheingold has worked up … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, advice, crap detection, Howard Rheingold, poor advice | Tagged advice, crap detection, Howard Rheingold | 2 Comments

bad writing advice

Posted on April 23, 2018 by pat thomson

There’s some very bad writing advice out there. Most of it is well-intentioned. Most doesn’t aim to make profit from anxious writers. But unfortunately readily available writing advice is not uniformly good. Does this matter? Caveat emptor perhaps? Well, there’s … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, advice, poor advice, research, writing research | Tagged academic writing research, advice, Bad Ideas About Writing, Pat Thomson | 5 Comments

have I got “advice” for you…

Posted on May 14, 2015 by pat thomson

I want you to imagine that you are going to build a fence. You have a wide choice of potential materials and style. Well and good. But you haven’t build a fence before, so where do you go for some … Continue reading →