Write More, Publish More, Stress Less!

Five Key Principles for a Creative and Sustainable Scholarly Practice

Dannelle D. Stevens

• Publisher: Stylus Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781620365199
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Développement professionnel

"Stevens delivers again! Following the pattern established in her previous books on rubrics and journal keeping, this text is extremely useful, immensely practical, and carefully grounded in sound scholarship. From the topics covered — such as how to foster creativity in academic writing or how to structure writing groups — to the numerous templates provided — for introducing an argument or for analyzing the structure of a text — Stevens' book is a treasure trove, which stands to become a classic in the academic writing genre. A 'must try' toolkit!"--Patricia Goodson, Department of Health & Kinesiology, Director POWER Services, Texas A&M University

CHAPTER 1

Know Yourself as a Writer

Scene: I started high school in a new suburban California school built around aging oak trees. As a member of the second graduating class and proud of creating the history for our school, I was enthusiastic about the school, my classes, and the future. My friends and family often asked me, “What will be your college major?” I kept thinking about what subject was my strength. English was a possibility. Then, again, I vividly recall this scene from my freshman English class:

Miss Cullen: “A few days ago, I asked you all to write an essay about a toy or object from childhood that meant something to you. Dannelle, would you please read your essay about your little red wagon?”

Dannelle: “Sure . . .”

Miss Cullen: “Thank you. I hoped others could see what a good job you did.”

A bit embarrassed, I looked down at my A and thought, “I will never major in English.”

You might think an A would encourage me to consider a college major in the subject. However, my only thought was, “Whatever I put into that essay was a miracle. I could never major in English. I do not know how to consistently perform miracles.”

Following those early high school years, I was expected to write, of course. I majored in the social sciences and wrote my fair share of essays and research papers. The feedback I got was minimal, vague, often contradictory, as well as confusing. Undeterred, I plugged on. On the way to where I am now as a full professor, I majored in educational psychology and fulfilled the expectations to conduct research and write and publish frequently enough to be promoted. I always had a vague sense that my own research articles were examples of describing a problem in the world and showing how my research sought to explain or address the problem. That was where I started writing. I knew little else. I have written many journal articles and five books and have received several large grants. It is ironic that, even though the adage “publish or perish” is alive and well in academe, I never received any formal training in academic writing. As Cameron, Nairn, and Higgins (2009) and Dankoski and colleagues (2012) note, I am not alone.

Because of the publishing expectations for new professors, I realized I had just better get on with it: Write and hope for the best. Then, I had a revelation: Why not study academic writing? After all, I knew how to study something. I just needed to study academic writing like I studied anything else. I needed to make a place in my library for academic writing books. I needed to reflect on my successes and challenges and find strategies that gave me more confidence. My writing practice changed and became more about reflection, awareness, and intentional practice rather than just facing the blank page and hoping for the best. I savored the challenge of figuring out how to write consistently as well as how to communicate with as few words as possible. The more I learned about writing, the more I began to get encouraged that I could write and share my ideas, perspectives, and insights with others. I knew I had many skills as a scholar. Yet, to write and publish more, I realized I needed to use my analytical and reflective skills to build a sustainable academic writing practice. Over time, it seeped into my consciousness that academic writing requires a complex skill set infused with insight, the ability to take risks, and curiosity, and, best of all, by studying it, I could consistently perform my own kind of miracles.

As I was beginning to know more about my own writing practice, I started to share my work with others in different disciplines and in different venues. I learned that, no matter our discipline, to advance in our careers it is essential that we write and publish our work in peer-reviewed journals. While this may not be the case for all colleges and universities, it is certainly true for many. In fact, the current campus climate demands faculty members not only write but also jump in and publish more than they used to (Dickson-Swift et al., 2009; Harman, 2005). On the path to promotion, the dean and faculty committees review our files and, as one colleague said, “Many deans and committees don’t read, but they can surely count.” Therefore, given this pressure, I realized that I have to figure out how to put the writing and publishing part of my career at the top of my to-do list to ensure that I do not perish.

To not perish, we obviously must have command of our disciplinary knowledge. Yet, disciplinary knowledge is not enough. Academic writing includes more: a host of dispositions, such as persistence and patience, and behaviors, such as organizational skills and time management practices, which can be called on to help us maintain momentum when faced with a plethora of competing demands. As Antoniou and Moriarty (2008) observe,

Writing, of whatever genre, involves all aspects of the self: intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual. Thus, our approach to teaching writing is holistic. We advocate stepping back from the mechanics of writing and inviting writers to examine questions such as: Who am I? What are my values? What are my passions? What is my own experience of the creative process? What does writing mean for me? And only after that: What do I have to say and how do I want to say it? (p. 159)

Antoniou and Moriarty (2008) suggest that we start with knowing more about our feelings that affect our identities as writers.

In the work I have done over the last 15 years with academic writers in the United States and international settings, I have learned that both novices and experienced writers across all disciplines grapple with meeting writing challenges. Some feel embarrassed that they have not figured out how to do this “obvious endeavor” that their colleagues seem to take for granted. Others feel frustrated and discouraged when articles are rejected. Some experience stronger feelings such as fear, anxiety, and self-doubt, so that even starting a manuscript is difficult. Needless to say, writing seems to call up many emotions that can, at times, be self-defeating (Devlin & Radloff, 2014; Lee & Boud, 2003). The trick is to not let these negative emotions chip away at our confidence, lower our productivity, and deaden our desire to write. One way to tackle these emotions is to become better acquainted with ourselves as writers.

By exploring more about ourselves as writers, thinkers, and creators we open the door to writing more and publishing more. Therefore, our work is more widely distributed and can play a part in influencing the world around us. As writers, we leave our own unique tracks on the path for future generations to contemplate and to improve the human endeavors on this small planet.

In this chapter, I offer several exercises designed to help you learn more about the writer in you. In the first section, the writing prompts lead you to explore your history as a writer. In the second section, you complete a self-assessment on writing blocks. At the conclusion of the chapter, you can select some other strategies to heighten awareness of your current practice and boost your confidence. Not all the suggested strategies may appeal to you. Just pick and choose those that make sense. The overall purpose in this first chapter is for you to know more about your feelings and experiences associated with writing so that they don’t undermine your writing practice. In the end, this is the path to publishing more and stressing less so that you, too, can become a student of writing.

Principle one: Knowing more about yourself as a writer leads to greater insight; awareness; and positive, sustainable changes in your academic writing practice.

Exploring Past Writing Experiences

To begin the journey of knowing more about yourself as a writer, you need to get a firm grip on the wheel of your experience as a writer. You are already a writer. You write all the time. Think about student and peer recommendations; syllabi; assignment descriptions; committee reports; annual reports; reviews of journal articles; committee work; feedback to students; and, let us not forget, e-mails. While these kinds of writings are different from the skills and habits you need to mobilize to write book reviews, conference proposals, journal articles, and books, you are still writing every day. Don’t ever forget that you are a writer. As such, you have many feelings about and experiences with ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Write More, Publish More, Stress Less!
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Boxes, Exercises, Sidebars, Figures, and Tables
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 Know Yourself As a Writer
• 2 Understand The Genre of Academic Writing
• 3 Be Strategic To Build a Sustainable Writing Practice
• 4 Be Social
• 5 Explore Creative Elements in Academic Writing
• 6 Keep a Writing or Research Journal
• 7 Write Book Reviews
• 8 Prepare Conference Proposals and Presentations
• 9 Write and Submit Journal Articles
• 10 Write a Book
• 11 Handle A Revise-and-Resubmit Decision on Your Manuscript
• 12 Create A Campus-Wide Faculty Writing Program
• References
• Appendix A Text Structure Analysis (TSA) Journal Article
• Appendix B Description and Purpose of Common Text Features for Journal Articles In a Text Structure Analysis (TSA)*
• Appendix C Methods Structure Analysis
• Appendix D Functionalities of Zotero, A Citation Management System
• Appendix E Word Count Log
• Appendix F Writing Time Log
• Appendix G Daily Writing Goals Log
• Appendix H Writing Group Weekly Goals Log
• Index
• Also Available from Stylus
• Backcover