Category Archives: writing/editing
With a Little Help from my (Writing Group) Friends
I finished up the emergency chapter draft on Sunday of last week, hooray! 5200 words in less than a week was one heck of a challenge. Now I’m editing after conferring with my co-author but I’m also moving onto the … Continue reading
Filed under writing/editing
Writing Midterm
Not writing a midterm exam, but writing in the midst of a term. I have a new and urgent project to complete this week so it’s nose to the grindstone and all that. Three observations as an academic author: Though … Continue reading
Filed under writing/editing
Fear of Feedback
Now that another chapter’s out the door, I can confess: I’m afraid to look at feedback on my written work. When I get a chapter back from my editor or comments on a proposal for a conference, my adrenaline surges … Continue reading
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Return of the Term
It’s ba-ack! The term, that is. Run and hide in fear! Actually, this term isn’t half so bad as last term. Half the classes, pretty much, and nearly down by half the enrollments. One class is brand-spanking new: a seminar … Continue reading
Filed under academe, teaching, writing/editing
Home Stretch
I’m at that stage with a chapter draft that the decent resolution is so close that I can taste it. It’s revising time and I’m pushing everything else to the back burner over the next few days so I can … Continue reading
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Filed under writing/editing
Ideals and Realities
This has been reading week: a break from teaching at the U. Ideally, all of the hours freed up by that (and we’re talking a buttload of hours since I’m teaching three undergrad classes, one grad seminar and a graduate … Continue reading
Filed under personal, writing/editing
Grading Peeves
I’ve often thought about handing out my students a list of expressions and mistakes to particularly avoid in their essays. You know, those bits that jump out and inspire a pained wince as well as a swift circling with the … Continue reading
Filed under teaching, writing/editing
Maintenance
Tomorrow the nice fellow from the heating contractors comes to sell us a new furnace. Necessary maintenance moved up in our scheme of things when this year’s routine service required two further follow-ups with no resolution of the underlying problem. … Continue reading
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Filed under personal, teaching, writing/editing
10,000 hours
While Malcolm Gladwell may be an annoying gadfly at times, in his assessment of the importance of practice in mastery, he’s dead on. Ten thousand hours, he explained in Outliers, is the amount of time believed needed to achieve true … Continue reading
Filed under academe, pop culture, writing/editing
Could Be Worse
Could be dead, or stabbed. Or it could be midweek! But it’s Friday and I’m whole and hearty. Bonus! Made it to the weekend and neither the meeting with the dean nor my burgeoning workload managed to bring me down. … Continue reading
Filed under academe, writing/editing
