Tag Archives: academic writing

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Academic writing tips from Stephen King

One of my favorite things to do to improve my writing is to read books on writing. I particularly try to read about writing when I’m struggling with it. Lately, I’ve been transitioning between two large writing projects and my writing has suffered as a result. To help get my writing chops back, I re-read Stephen King’s wonderful book “On Writing:  A Memoir of the Craft.” In his unique style, King packs a tremendous amount of writing advice in a couple of hundred pages. For today’s post, I want to share academic writing tips from Stephen King that will help you get your writing going again too.

Photo credit: Stephanie Lawton
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The Power of a Writing Routine

Routines can be powerful drivers of human behavior. When we do certain things the same way every time, we are able to save our focus and brain power for the things that really need our attention. Moreover, a routine helps prepare you for engaging in a certain activity. In today’s post, I want to explore the power of a writing routine to help supercharge your writing activities.

the power of a writing routine

Photo credit: thespyglass

One of my favorite ways to think about academic work is to learn about the daily habits and processes of experts. My goal isn’t to copy what these experts do verbatim, but to think about how their process can inform my own.

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How to create a reverse outline

Writing a manuscript of any length is hard, but writing a longer piece presents special challenges. Whether you’re like me and have been writing for a while or a graduate student just getting started, writing longer manuscripts present special challenges. In particular, I believe longer manuscripts present challenges in staying focused, having a strong logical flow, and keeping your reader engaged.  In today’s post, I want to describe how to create a reverse outline to improve your writing.

Typically, we think of outlines as something to be completed prior to beginning the writing process.

Reverse outlines are completed after the first draft of a piece of writing.

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Practitioners need to learn scholarly writing

My entire career has been spent teaching and working with graduate students who are also practitioners. I’ve worked with college presidents and vice presidents far along in their careers as well as new master’s students just starting theirs. During this time, I’ve had many conversations with colleagues and students regarding how to best prepare practitioners in practice not focusing on research . Common questions include the necessity of theory, teaching technical skills, and the value of case studies for offering a glimpse into “real life.” One of the most common questions that come up in these discussions is the role of scholarly writing. Do students need to write a dissertation? What should that look like for practitioners versus future scholars? Should class assignments mirror real life problems or the abstract world of scholarship. In today’s post, I want to explain why I think practitioners need to learn scholarly writing.

Photo credit: A. Birkan Caghan

Scholarly writing is hard. It is easy to say some students can do it and other can’t. This simply isn’t true.

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Separate Writing from Editing

Peanut butter and jelly. Milk and cookies. Whip cream and, well, anything! Some things are just meant to go together. Plenty of other things should stay separate. Oil and water. Donald Trump and a microphone. You just shouldn’t mix some things– don’t do it! Unfortunately, many writers and especially graduate students make the mistake of mixing writing and editing. In today’s post, I will share why it is so important to separate writing from editing.

Photo credit: Flickr Anne

On the surface, it seems like it makes sense to combine writing and editing.