Monthly Archives: August 2012

sustain your writing – find a palate cleanser or ten

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

We all know what a palette cleanser is right? We’re academics so we must have encountered the ubiquitous sorbet either in chilly reality or on one of those food porn tele programmes ? Or we’ve been to a wine tasting … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, books, mental space, palette cleanser, reading, reflection, reward, theory | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

is writing a book chapter a waste of time?

Posted on August 27, 2012 by

A couple of weeks ago a colleague suggested that I might want to offer some advice on whether it was better to write a book, a journal article or a book chapter. Coincidentally, just this week @deevybee published a blog … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, chapter, citation, publishing, teaching | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

(book) review with A VIEW

Posted on August 24, 2012 by

I was recently asked if I would write something about book reviews. There are some pretty helpful posts already out there about book reviewing and I’ve had a go at the topic before too. So check out: Why write a … Continue reading →

Posted in a view, book review, books | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

academic writing – learning from practice

Posted on August 20, 2012 by

I’ve been thinking recently that one of the problems with writing is that, by and large, we can all do it – and we all DO do it. Being in a literate society means that writing is a bit like … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, academic writing, crafting writing, doctoral education, literature review, Pat Thomson, practice | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

reflection on writing – or – Pavlov’s dog rules

Posted on August 17, 2012 by

I’m sure we all know the story of Pavlov’s dog. It learnt to salivate at the sound of a metronome/bell. Poor little sod kept on thinking the noise heralded dinner, which it did – but only some of the time. … Continue reading →

Posted in chunking, reward, routine | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

a reflection on working collaboratively

Posted on August 13, 2012 by

I recently led a discussion on ECRchat about working collaboratively. A lot of the discussion was about how you find people to work with and what you need to do to set it up. Of course not everyone wants to … Continue reading →

Posted in authorship, collaboration, partnership | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

thinking about theory

Posted on August 10, 2012 by

Has your supervisor told you that you must ‘do theory’ in your thesis ? Nothing like this kind of comment to bring about a real case of the jitters. Thesis Whisperer recently posted about just this situation and you might … Continue reading →

Posted in contingency, Europe, local, theory, universalism | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

how to read an academic book closely – part three – sucking the stone

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

There are some books that are important to your study and some that are critical to your ongoing research agenda, and some that you just love. There are also some writers whose work you want to know in great detail. … Continue reading →

Posted in academic book, argument, authority in writing, Pat Thomson, reading, reference, terms, theory | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

you just got published? don’t tell me about it

Posted on August 3, 2012 by

Nottingham has the reputation of being a gritty kind of city. It’s got some big estates as well as two universities and it’s the mere existence of these estates that has earned the city a somewhat undeserved reputation as being … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, celebration, organisational culture, publishing, recognition | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments