Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics PDF
Preview Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics
Write No Matter What ......................................................... Tricks of the Trade Howard S. Becker Writing for Social Scientists Howard S. Becker The Craft of Research Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald From Dissertation to Book William Germano Getting It Published William Germano From Notes to Narrative Kristen Ghodsee Writing Science in Plain English Anne E. Greene The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers Jane E. Miller The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science Scott L. Montgomery Going Public Arlene Stein and Jessie Daniels The Writer’s Diet Helen Sword A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations Kate L. Turabian Write No Matter What ......................................................... A d v i c e f o r A c a d e m i c s ......................................................... Joli Jensen The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2017 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Published 2017 Printed in the United States of America 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 46167- 0 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 46170- 0 (paper) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 46184- 7 (e- book) DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226461847.001.0001 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Jensen, Joli, author. Title: Write no matter what : advice for academics / Joli Jensen. Other titles: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing. Description: Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2017. | Series: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016048009 | ISBN 9780226461670 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226461700 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226461847 (e- book) Subjects: LCSH: Academic writing. Classification: LCC LB2369 .J46 2017 | DDC 808.02—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn .loc .gov/ 2016048009 ♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper). In memory of my father, Donald D. Jensen (1930– 2003) Contents ......................................................... Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Part I. Writing in Academe 1 1 Letting Go of the Dream 3 2 Demystifying Academic Writing 7 3 Craftsman Attitude 10 Part II. Using Tools That Work 15 4 Three Taming Techniques 17 5 Securing Time 22 6 Securing Space 27 7 Securing Energy 32 Part III. Challenging Writing Myths 39 8 Draining the Drama 41 9 Demons In for Tea 43 10 The Magnum Opus Myth 47 11 The Impostor Syndrome 52 12 The Cleared- Deck Fantasy 56 13 The Hostile Reader Fear 60 14 Compared with X 63 15 The Perfect First Sentence 67 16 One More Source 71 Part IV. Maintaining Momentum 75 17 Follow the Lilt 77 18 Beginnings and Endings 82 19 Finding the Lost Trail 86 20 Effective Feedback 93 21 Handling Revisions and Rejections 97 22 Working with Stalls 105 23 Relinquishing Toxic Projects 109 24 Back- Burner Projects 114 25 Breaks, Summers, and Sabbaticals 121 Part V. Building Writing Support 129 26 Overcoming Isolation 131 27 Creating Faculty Writing Groups 137 28 Building Campus Writing Support 142 Conclusion 149 Afterword: Writing for the Public 151 Bibliography 159 Index 163 viii Acknowledgments ......................................................... The University of Tulsa has given me the institutional support I needed to create and direct the TU Faculty Writing Program. In par- ticular, I want to thank Denise Dutton, director of the Henneke Center for Academic Fulfillment, for her encouragement, advice, and admin- istrative skills, as well as Provost Roger Blais, Dean Kalpana Misra, Lauren Wagner, and Janet Cairns. My departmental colleagues Mark Brewin, John Coward, and Ben Peters have graciously accepted my increasing commitment to faculty writing, and Ben’s enthusiasm for this project has been particularly encouraging. The seeds of this book go way back. I thank the graduate students I worked with in the Radio- TV- Film Department at the University of Texas, as well as undergraduate students in the TU Honors Program, for sharing their writing struggles with me. This book began thanks to a passing remark from historian Ed Linenthal, visiting from Indiana University. He told me I should turn a class handout called “Myths We Stall By” into a book. Never underestimate the power of an en- couraging word. I have received many encouraging words during the writing of this book. In particular I want to thank my TU colleagues Jennifer Airey, Susan Chase, Lynn Clutter, Lars Engle, Eduardo Faingold, Randy Fuller, Al Harkness, Brian Hosmer, Jennie Ikuta, Holly Laird, Peggy Lisenbee, Lee Anne Nichols, Kristen Oertel, Kirsten Olds, Teresa Valero, Kate Waits, and Helen Zhang for their support, along with the TU colleagues I consulted with in confidence. Outside of TU, Rabbi Marc Boone Fitzerman, CSU Writes! founder Kristina Quynn, Ray Blanton, Karen Christensen, David D. Perlmutter, and Sue Redwood have offered valued encouragement. Thanks also go to Vitae, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s online career hub, especially to editor Gabriela Montell, for the chance to circulate some of these ideas in essay form. The University of Chicago Press has been an ideal home for this ix
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