Can a Checklist Make You a Better Writer?
I picked up The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande planning to read it for insights into working with my time management clients. What I found upon reading, however, is much to think about for academic writing and editing. In a nutshell, Gawande argues in this book that checklists are one way we make sense
What Can You Write in 20 Minutes?
A few weeks ago I conducted an informal Twitter poll asking if writers wrote every day. While most said no, a significant number of respondents said they wished that they did. When I speak to clients about writing, they express the same desire but declare that they don’t write daily because they don’t have enough time. Maintaining a
Stress Is Not an Accomplishment
It seems that on many occasions, people use their stress as a bragging right. Rather than simply acknowledging their stress, they display it as something to be admired or even emulated. Stress seems to afford a certain type of status. Colleagues, mentors, and friends expect that we “ought” to be stressed. And I use
Knowing When You’re Done
It’s hard to convince yourself that it’s time to send your manuscript out. Beyond the checklist of making sure you’ve done all the tasks associated with your writing, there is the matter of “feeling” as if you’re done. This feeling can be elusive. You’ll always think there is one more sentence you can rewrite,
The Summer Check-In
We are about 5 weeks into the academic summer (apologies if you’re on the quarter/trimester system – you’re summer is just starting). I’m sure many of you started the summer relieved to be done, and excited to start on your writing projects. I’m a big fan of constantly revisiting the goals you set for
The Emotions Driving Your Procrastination
You are most certainly under pressure to send things out. You’re aware of your deadlines, you know the consequences of not completing your manuscript, yet you still find reasons to avoid the work. Why? Procrastination is rarely a simple case of laziness. Instead, there is most likely a range of emotions you are feeling
Is Productivity a Waste of Time?
I recently read a blog post on paper versus digital to-do lists. There were quite a few useful suggestions in the article itself and in the comments concerning the benefits of different paper planners, apps, and so forth. I for one love a good to-do list. There is one by my computer every day
Five Mistakes You’re Making in Your Intro – and How to Fix Them
Writing an introduction well is one of the most important skills an academic writer can have. Most academic readers have a limited amount of time to consume a wealth of information. In order to make it through vast amounts of literature, they skim. This matters to you as an academic writer because you must
Is Writing Stressing You Out?
Do you feel excited about having time to write this summer, yet nervous that you won’t reach your goals? In my almost 2 years of working with clients as an editor, I’ve noticed one thing time and time again. Academic writers have great ideas; and when they have the opportunity to put those ideas to paper,
Making a Writing Schedule: How Much Time Do You Need?
Last week when I talked about creating a summer writing plan, I stated that you should ask yourself how long each writing/researching task would take. Well, estimating how long it will take you to complete any particular portion of a project is easier said than done. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible! By looking
Making a Writing Plan? Answer These Five Questions First
Writing plans are essential if you hope to complete projects without pulling your hair out. Yet, when I ask academic writers about their writing plans, I usually hear something along the lines of “finish this manuscript before the deadline.” While that’s an important goal, it certainly isn’t a plan. A writing plan requires much more
Get Into the Habit
Summer is around the corner and you probably are planning to get a lot of writing done. Away from the noise of teaching and administrative work (for the most part), you’re probably looking forward to long periods of time to work on manuscripts that haven’t received attention over the academic year. But going from
Making the Most of Monday
What’s the first thing you think when you wake up on a Friday morning? It’s the weekend, finally! Then you might think to yourself, “this weekend is not going to be long enough.” That’s no way to start your weekend. To avoid that feeling of dread, take some time on a Friday afternoon to
A Peek Into the Process
A Peek into the Process My work as a writing consultant is different from the work I do as an editor. When clients need writing consultation, it is usually because they are in the early stages of writing, and they would not be served well by copyediting or even substantive editing. They need an
Let It Burn
As of late, I have been working with a few clients who desire time management consulting or accountability coaching. It makes perfect sense – one of the most difficult aspects of writing is finding the time to do it. Over the course of doing such work, on more than one occasion I have heard
The Choice is Yours: Selecting the Best Journal for Your Work
Selecting a journal is a tough decision for all researchers, but especially for early career researchers. There are a seemingly endless variety of journals to choose from, and even when you narrow the selection down to those specific to your discipline or specialty, you are still left with quite a few choices. What should you
Getting Up Close: A Book Review of Reading Like a Writer
It’s no secret that here at Up In Consulting, I’m a fan of the close read. I talk about it in this blog post. One of the best explanations of the value of the close read that I have come across is in Francine Prose’s book, Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People
Are You Standing In Your Own Way?
Have you ever dreaded doing something that you thought would be hard, only to realize it wasn’t nearly as hard as you thought it would be? There are many reasons we claim that something is hard to do. For academics (and mostly everyone) thinking something is hard means believing it to be complicated, or
Self Care, All Day Everyday
Much of our self-care is relegated to the weekends. We think of sleeping a bit later, moving a bit slower, maybe even treating ourselves to some small indulgence. But during the week we just rush through the motions as we strive for peak productivity, thinking there is never any time to stop and take
Reading with Intention: The Benefits of a Close Read
We read for a lot of reasons. Sometimes we read an article because everyone else is reading and citing it. We might read an article or book because what we really wanted wasn’t available at the library (don’t claim you’ve never done it). Hopefully, most of our reading is done because we recognize the
Don’t Wait! Write Your Book Proposal
If you’re writing a book, you might think that you should hold off on writing your proposal until the manuscript is complete. Don’t! There are two reasons you should write the proposal earlier than you think. First, so you can give it the attention it deserves rather than treating is as an afterthought. Second,
Changes at Up In Consulting
If you look on the homepage of this website, you’ll notice that one of the services I offer is “diversity consulting.” This descriptor is admittedly vague, and has remained under-developed, as I have devoted most of my time to building my editing practice. I’d like for this to change. To be clear, I do
How to Write an Abstract
The deadline for paper submissions to the American Sociological Association Annual Conference is January 6th. The ASAs are a bit different than other conferences in that you are expected to submit your entire paper on January 6th, rather than just an abstract. That does not necessarily make the abstract any less important. Organizers