The Scholarly Writing Process

Short Guides #1

by Jo VanEvery

Getting stuck is a normal part of the writing process, even for experienced writers. My aim in publishing this Short Guide is to help you generate new writing projects, keep your writing projects moving forward, and ensure that your writing process results in publications.

A Short Guide to the Scholarly Writing Process focuses on writing as a process, from your initial curiosity about a topic or question, through the development of arguments, the identification of potential readers, the specification of a product, and the refinement of your writing for publication in a specific form. Advice about each stage of the process is accompanied by writing prompts to help you apply that advice in your own particular circumstances.

I suggest reading through the Guide once to get a sense of how the whole thing fits together. Then leave it somewhere accessible. Whenever you are stuck with a writing project, go to the part that speaks to what you need in that moment. Use the questions in that section to get things moving.

I encourage you to actually write out answers to the questions. You are a writer. Writing is how you process your thoughts. Depending on where you are stuck, it might even be appropriate to write your answers in your project document.

Keep this guide close by and refer to it whenever you need to. Enjoy your writing!

Genres: Writing

64 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2016

About the author

I provide support to academics as an Academic Career Guide through the Academic Writing Studio with a focus writing, publishing, juggling myriad responsibilities, and career planning to prioritise effectively. My Short Guides series is intended to complement this work, providing the general principles and practical advice to help you get unstuck and make decisions that will help you achieve your goals.

Save the Guides for later here on Goodreads, or head over to Bookshop.org to purchase.

Before starting my own business and publishing, I earned a PhD in Sociology from the University of Essex and worked as both a Lecturer in Sociology, then later a programme officer and policy analyst for a research funding agency.

As a reader, I mainly enjoy romance fiction for the escapism (but not typically Regency).

I'm not a fan of rankings. I default to 5 stars knowing that it helps search algorithms. I figure anything worth only 1 or 2 stars is not worth finishing. Whether or not I've written a review is mostly about time and inclination. So don't rely on my stars, but feel free to read anyway.>

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide to help you get unstuck and back to writing

Despite the fact that we know that academic writing is merely a process of communicating with other scholars, it's easy for it to take on a life of its own. What I found particularly useful was that the author elevated the emotional aspects of writing - both what gets us into writing and what keeps us from it - rather than just focusing on procedural concerns.

Another important takeaway for me from this book was reminding me that the same idea may show up in different products, and each of those products are instrumental to figuring out what I have to say and how it needs to be said. It's quite liberating to, say, publish a blog post with a kernel of an idea to start and/or continue the conversation rather than holing up until I've got it all figure out -- that is, until it's ready to submit to a journal or conference. While it sometimes happens that we figure our ideas out and then write about it, I've found that I far more often figure out my argument while I'm writing it.

I wish I had read this prior to starting my graduate program rather than waiting until I was rekindling a project that went cold. I'd thus recommend it for junior scholars as well as more experienced scholars who are finding their writing to be a grind rather than a groove.

[Silvia Tavares · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Writing is a process through which you create knowledge. AND Writing is a product that communicates knowledge." (Kindle Locations 39-42)

This is a brilliant short guide with very direct and helpful advice about the scholarly writing process. As a short guide (40 pages) you have to take it for what it is. It is not a comprehensive guide or workbook, but straight forward advice with a very pleasant writing style.

If this is any indication, I've rushed to buy the 'Finding Time for Scholarly Writing (Short Guide 2)'.