Tag Archives: Pat Thomson

book writing – an occasional post

Posted on April 22, 2019 by

I’m up against what is now a very tight deadline. It would have been OK if I hadn’t been away from broadband for all of January when I was at home in Australia. No wifi was an unforeseen glitch. It … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, book writing, deadline, time | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

proofreading tactics

Posted on April 15, 2019 by

I am the world’s worst proofreader of my own work. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I am not alone. Almost everyone has difficulty reading their own work for errors. Mark Twain apparently said in a letter … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, proofreading | Tagged , | 2 Comments

going to a huge conference

Posted on April 8, 2019 by

I’m at a conference. A huge, utterly ginormous, gobsmackingly giant North American conference. As only the North Americans can do. It takes up a whole downtown conference centre and the meeting rooms of two additional hotels. The five-day conference runs … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, conference, conference app, conference presentation, conference survival tips | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

revise and resubmit

Posted on March 25, 2019 by

Yep. Those dreaded words when you get the email back from the journal. R and R. Anything but Rest and Relaxation. Groan. In essence, the message says We have considered your paper and we have decided that – well it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, journal article, reviewer speak, revise and resubmit, revision | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

addressing ‘the gap’ in the field

Posted on March 11, 2019 by

One of the conventions of academic life is the work of justification. To justify. To say why we are going to do what we are going to do. We regularly have to justify why we want to research something and … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, deficit positioning, gap-spotting, next step, research warrant, stance, thesis warrant, warrant, what if | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

mapping a text

Posted on March 4, 2019 by

I love a good map. I’m not talking about the satnav you have in your car, or its predecessor the street directory. Nor am I talking about the underground map I occasionally have to consult when I’m down in London. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, book writing, mapping, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

choosing images for slideshows

Posted on February 18, 2019 by

Most of us have to make slideshows at some point – for teaching maybe, or for a conference. We all know that there is a lot of terrible slide practice and we don’t want that to be us. But there … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, image, powerpoint, slideshow | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment