Category Archives: Writing

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How to Write a Scholarly Introduction

One of the biggest challenges that my students face is how to write a scholarly introduction to their papers and assignments. I’m not entirely sure of the reasons that students struggle with writing introductions, but it is the area that I find myself often providing help. There are many excellence resources on how to write a scholarly introduction and my personal favorite is Wendy Belcher’s Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing. In today’s post, I’m going to modify some of Belcher’s advice with my own to provide five easy steps for writing a scholarly introduction.

Photo credit: Norlando Pobre

Fundamentally, the role of an introduction is to provide the necessary information for your reader to understand your argument. This sets up your argument for your reader.

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7 Tips for Collaborating on a Research Project

Research can be a solitary and even lonely experience. You spent hours collecting data and pouring over results. Many hours more involve writing up results in isolation. Even for an introvert, it can be a process devoid of interaction. Moreover, a researcher working alone loses the additional experience and perspectives to be gained by working in a research team. In today’s post, I want to offer 7 tips for collaborating on a research project. I’ve been fortunate to have more positive than negative experiences working with colleagues. I hope these tips will provide you with some advice on how to improve your collaboration not only on research, but any work you might undertake.

Photo credit: U.S. Army

I am one of those rare Southerners that doesn’t enjoy NASCAR racing. It just has never been my thing. Yet, I’ve always been fascinated by the work of the pit crew. There is such a system in place that allows an amazing amount of work to be done in just a few seconds.

I think of research collaborations in the same way. You can do so much more, better, and faster in a research team than you can working in isolation. In many disciplines and in different methodological approaches, teamwork is common. As a qualitative higher education researcher, I often have the option to work on my own on a project or to work with a colleague.

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What I Like Most About Using a Standing Desk

As I discussed in my last post, there are many benefits to using a standing desk. I’ve been using my standing desk for the past six weeks. Honestly, I was skeptical about the standing desk fad (at least I thought it was a fad). I was eventually persuaded by the variety of benefits that I kept reading about standing desk. Although I’m quick to jump in on the latest tech idea (can’t wait for my Apple Watch), no one would mistake me as New Age or hip. I don’t meditate and I don’t do yoga. In my mind, that’s the category I put a standing desk. Having taken the plunge, I’m a convert now. In today’s post, I want to describe my personal setup and what I like most about using a standing desk.

The image above is of my standing desk in my campus office.

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How to Actually Write Every Day

Is there anything scarier than a blank page? If we’re being honest, the power and potential of the blinking cursor at the top of a blank page can be terrifying.

Photo credit: meesh

In my last post, I suggested one of the keys to accomplishing your writing goals is to write every day. I suspect I’m not the first person that has suggested that to you. I know I’ve heard that advice since I started graduate school. This always frustrated me because I thought there is no way I can sit down and tackle that blank page every day.

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3 Simple Tips to Help You Get More Writing Done

Writing is one of the most important things you can do to improve your career, particularly in higher education.  Whether you’re a doctoral student working on a dissertation or a faculty member doing research to get tenure, writing is crucial for success.  However, finding the time to write proves problematic for nearly everyone.

Photo credit: Pedro Ribeiro Simoes

In today’s post, I have 3 simple tips to help you get more writing done.

There are many great books out there on how to write more (and I have read almost all of them).  Yet, these three simple tips are the most important to make sure you get your writing goals accomplished.

1.  Write every day.  In his landmark study, Robert Boice found that faculty who write every day produce nearly 10 times the amount of typical faculty.  Writers (and you need to start to think of yourself as a writer) write every day.

My goal is to write 5 out of every 7 days.  I consider this my writing work week.  Building up the habit and practice of writing every day provides great benefits.

One of the best benefits is that it builds up your writing muscles.  If you want to train for a marathon, do you just start running?  Of course not.  You practice and slowly build up endurance.  Writing every day does the same thing for your writing ability.

2.  Schedule writing time as an appointment.  If you’re anything like me, what gets scheduled gets done.  If it isn’t on my calendar, the odds of completing a task aren’t good.

You have to schedule your writing time and hold yourself to this appointment.  If someone asks to meet with you at this time, you can’t.  You already have a meeting.

I often used to tell my dissertation advisees to continue the same schedule that they used for taking classes.  For example, your friends and family are already used to you being gone a couple of nights a week for class.  Keep the same mentality for your writing.  If you wouldn’t skip class for another engagement, don’t skip your writing session either.

Writing is just as important– if not more so– than any other appointment you may have so treat it that way.

3.  Don’t write more than 2 hours at a time.  Raise your hand if you’ve ever done this.  You’re up against a deadline and as a result you sit down and write for hours to finish the assignment.  You finish the project, but it isn’t your best work and you’re exhausted.  There are other writing projects that need your attention, but you can’t stand the thought of sitting down to work on them.

If we’re being honest, we probably all have our hands up.  This is the normal way of writing.  And it just plain sucks.  It is a horrible cycle that leaves us tired, bitter, and leads to procrastination.  This is binge writing and it may be the worst kind of writing.

Not only does binge writing limit our ability to work on our current project, but it keeps us from starting our next one too.  Instead, I suggest you do not ever write for more than two hours at a time.  Preferably, I don’t want you to write more than one hour in a single sitting.

It is difficult to be productive and produce high quality writing for longer than this.  And if you’re following my first two tips, there is no need to binge write.  Think about it, you could write for 10 hours one day or for 2 hours a day for 5 days.  Which do you believe would leave you more relaxed and productive?

Many of us have picked up horrible writing habits over the years of all nighters and last minute binge writing.

It is no wonder that writing causes so much stress.  However, my 3 simple tips to help you get more writing done can help.

Writing is critically important to your success.  Start these tips today and you’ll be amazed at how much more progress you will make and how much less stress you will experience.

Happy writing!