a literature review as collective and inner library
I recently mentioned in passing in this blog, in relation to writing book reviews in fact, the book by Pierre Bayard provocatively entitled How to talk about books you haven’t read (2007). I want to...
View Articlewriting like those I admire
That half conscious state between sleeping and waking seems to be the time that I begin to compose a blog post. I often wake up relatively early with a half formed idea. I then work on it idly,...
View Articleturning your thesis into a book
Lots of people want to turn their thesis into a book. This is not always possible – not all theses make good books. But it may also not be desirable. Some disciplines revere the scholarly monograph so...
View Articlethree reasons why editing a book is a good idea
Is it worth editing a book? I’ve been asked this question a couple of times recently. It’s actually not an easy question, as you might guess. That’s because the answer depends on all kinds of things,...
View Articleblogging – don’t lose control of your content
In the last couple of weeks I’ve had cause to think about blogging – again. The paper that Inger Mewburn and I have recently published on ‘Why academics blog’ hasn’t quite gone viral, but it has...
View Articlecreativity and academic writing – an oxymoron?
I’ve been pondering the question of creativity in academic writing. One of my research interests is creative pedagogies, including but by no means exclusively in the arts. I’ve been thinking that I...
View Articlethe biggest mistake you can make with a publisher
This post is from Philip Mudd, a publisher at Routledge. Philip is responsible for books on research methods, higher education, adult education and lifelong learning. What is the single biggest mistake...
View Articlethe proofreading – book update
Barbara and I have just finished the first round of fine-grained proofing on the type-set version of our new “Detox your writing” book. Because we’ve done this proofing lark three times before, we now...
View Articlethinking like an editor
There is a lot of good information about academic writing and publishing that is now out of print. It’s generally still accessible if you peruse the outlets that sell second hand books or remainders,...
View Articlea book from blog posts?
Maybe you have been harbouring secret thoughts about getting a book from those blog posts that you’ve been writing. I think about it too, occasionally, as patter is now several books worth of words....
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the revision cave
Well, my current book is nearly done. But I was wondering, the other day, why writing a book never gets any easier. I’ve written quite a lot of books. This one is actually the twenty fourth, although...
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groundhog day in bookland
YEP. SURE. ANOTHER REVISION COMING UP. The lockdown has disrupted our lives in ways we couldn’t have anticipated. Some changes are big. Some little. One of the little things that has affected me is to...
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for the book from the PhD
I do love the book that comes from the PhD. The book seems like a fitting reward for all the hard work done during the doctorate. Indeed, in some countries, the post defence thesis is published as a...
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book writing – on introductions and some-we-prepared-before
I’m writing. As I guess are many of you. I’m writing another book. You may be writing a paper, a chapter, a magazine article., a graphic novel. But my writing right now is – book. It seems no time at...
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last-minute proofing – 12 things to look for
The last stages of handing in a thesis or book can be very trying. It’s taken you an age to get to the point where this big hefty manuscript is as ready as it’s going to be. Well just about. You...
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