Getting Started with a New (or Revived) Writing Project
November is Academic Writing Month (#AcWriMo)! It is a great time to start (or restart) your writing project.Getting started can be a challenge. We have to think through key questions about potential readers' needs and interests and clarify the purpose of the article or post, chapter or book. We need to be honest with ourselves about writing skills and habits-- and look for ways to improve. If the writing project involves a manuscript that has been languishing in the nether reaches of a back-up drive, we must re-imagine the contributions the finished piece might make and re-discover our enthusiasm. Here are some articles, chapters, and media pieces that might help:
- Do you need some exercises to warm up your writing muscles? Patricia Goodson wrote Becoming an Academic Writer 50 Exercises for Paced, Productive, and Powerful Writing to help writers develop good skills and habits. See: Chapter One: Get Ready to Practice and Chapter 2 Goodson_Becoming an Academic Writer 2e.
- Speaking of habits, see this post on the Textbook and Academic Authors Association blog: Harness the Power of Habits for Writing Productivity by Erin McTigue.
- Helen Kara discusses Writing Paralysis and Writer's Block in her blog posts.
- Lynn Nygaard wrote Writing for Scholars: A Practical Guide to Making Sense and Being Heard. In Chapter 1 she discusses ways to participate in the scholarly conversation. You can also learn from her collection of related videos.
- Are you thinking about writing a book? Learn from published authors with these short videos from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association:
- Go Organic! Growing Your Writing Process From Seed to Harvest (click for 30-sec clip)
- Confessions of a Reluctant Author: How to Write a Book When You Don’t Like to Write (click for 30-sec clip)
- Strategies to Make Your Textbook Workflow More Efficient (click for 30-sec clip)
- Textbook Authoring Basics, A Holistic Approach (click for 30-sec clip)
Over the course of the month, we will be sharing posts, Tweetchats, and open access resources from SAGE and other curated sources. Don't miss out! Join Methodspace to receive announcements, or follow @SAGE_Methods.