An Academic, Writing

In the eight months I've been writing and working on this blog series, I've learned some important lessons about myself as an academic writer.

After many laborious revisions of the introduction to my dissertation-to-book, it was time to write the book proposal for the editor who had expressed intereret in my project.

I struggle with the hard work of improving my own writing. I want to be done and move on to the next thing.

I'm looking forward to beginning the academic year because I will have structure and routine again in my life.

Working with my coach, I have developed a vision for the final manuscript to help me focus and decide what stays, what goes, and what gets revised.

I am requesting an extension for my book submission and shifting my writing focus for the summer, to achieve some balance in my life. 

To sustain my productivity for the long term, I need to reach out and connect with a larger community of writers to share my experience.

Faced with the challenge of meeting an October 1 book deadline, I will start writing by 9:00 am and spend two hours in the Writing Room everyday. 

Rebooting is important. Summer is upon us, and it's time to reprioritize, to recommit, and to establish new or re-establish old routines.

Now that the semester is over, I find myself wanting to go back to the research, go back to the books, and go back to the writing.

When I picked up Laferrière’s novel, I didn't realize where the journey would lead. After ten years, I continue to search for the "deeper truth" of his work.

Should we write the book we want to write or the book we think people will publish, buy, and read?

I continue to struggle with how aware I should be of my audience and their expectations versus writing the book I want to write about Laferrière’s work.

One of the areas that I wanted to focus on during my coaching sessions was figuring out how to meaningfully revise my own work.

The deeper meanings of Laferrière’s imaginary trips to Japan and the importance of the Haiku serve as the foundation for revising my prior writings for my book.

Now that I've put together a good writing routine and silenced my negative inner voices, allow me to introduce my book and what it's about.

I'm nearing the halfway point in my 12-week coaching experience.  It's nice to look back and see how far I've come in a short time.

Creating a weekly schedule is proving to be a valuable tool to help me achieve work-life balance, providing time to write and to take care of myself.

I became unstuck when I gave myself permission to be authentic in my purpose and voice while writing this book.

Working with my coach and writing daily in the Writing Room have kept me focused not only on my writing, but on my writing practice as well.

I am setting aside an hour a day to connect with my project, and I am drafting and outlining to ensure that I stay on topic.

Accepting that I am not a failure has lead to a powerful shift in thinking that will help me advance my writing and focus on my priorities.

I am beginning to see the time I set aside to write as sacred time that I will guard and keep for myself and my written words.

Working with a coach makes a difference in the way I think about writing, especially my planning and time-management skills.

Among the first things I received from my Academic Coach were a series of questions that challenged me to think about my personal and professional identities.

My intention is to find what I want to focus my efforts and energies on. I spread myself a bit too thin last year.

By making writing more social, you provide yourself accountability, motivation, and the opportunity to break the silence around your negative feelings about writing.

 By remaining silent about your struggles, you may develop negative attitudes towards writing.

Without someone placing due dates in front of you, it is difficult to motivate yourself to sit down to do the writing that you need to do.

Challenges I face are setting aside regular writing times, overcoming the feeling that I need to read "everything" before I start writing, and avoiding perfectionist tendencies.

I will be blogging about the challenges facing academic writers and my experience with the ACW Virtual Writing Room and Academic Coaching Services.