If you’re writing an academic book, you’ve probably spent some thinking about the type of book you want to write. You’ve also likely heard a lot of opinions — some solicited, some not — concerning the “right” way to write an academic book. Many academics — especially junior scholars — are pressured to write
A few days ago, I was working with a client on revising a section of their manuscript. The draft required some re-thinking, and as we discussed the reorganization, I could hear the hesitation in their voice. The revisions would be challenging, but that wasn’t what was giving this writer pause. Instead, it was the prospect
Have you ever sat down to work on an academic manuscript and just started writing…and writing… and writing? Not necessarily in one writing session. I’m talking about the academic manuscript that gets ahead of you, that starts with one observation or argument but turns into a piece of writing that’s twice as long as it
If you’re writing a book, it’s important to create a system for receiving feedback. That system might include feedback from close friends, colleagues in your discipline, mentors, and experts in your subject area. It can also include working with a developmental editor. For that feedback to be effective it’s important to know what type you
Writing a book is really freakin’ hard. With summer starting, some writers will want to turn their attention to their books – especially after this beast of a semester where much of your time was focused on teaching via Zoom, Canvas, and whatever other digital tools your university (and your kid’s school) threw at you
This is the fourth entry in my mini-series on how to start writing a book. To read earlier entries in this series, you can click here, here, and here. You have what seems like a million decisions to make when you start writing a book. How will you structure the chapters? Should you use
Writing a book is one of the most overwhelming, intimidating projects a junior scholar can undertake. Many writers quite logically look for resources on how to write a proposal, what should go in an academic book, developing a timeline for writing it, and so forth. There’s some excellent advice out there – in books, blogs,
Book writers face two obstacles. First, they plan to write their book as if they aren’t working on anything else. Second, they work on everything else at the expense of writing their book. Here’s what I mean: You’re writing a six-chapter book, and you give yourself nine months to complete it, from start to
Imagine walking through a bookstore and browsing the section on writing guides. You come across a title, How to Write Your Book in 90 Days: A Writer’s Manual. You roll your eyes and laugh. “What a ridiculous idea,” you think to yourself, “nobody can write a book in such a short amount of time.” A
Writing an academic book proposal is no joke. After spending countless hours thinking about your book and beginning the writing process, you have to distill the best ideas from your book into a document that is likely five percent of the length of your book (if you’re lucky). On top of that, you have to