Whilst many publishers and scholarly institutions do a great job of helping academic authors with technical blockers such as how to navigate the publishing process, how to select a journal, write to format or explain peer review – they rarely focus on the psychological blockers that PhDs and early career academics in particular find hardest to deal with. [click to continue…]
Highly-cited academic authors at the top of their game might seem unreachable for some publishers and scholarly societies. However, research reveals that understanding the motivations of these superstar scholars and leveraging their desire to write long-form and be seen as ‘thought leaders’ might better equip more publishers to attract their talents. [click to continue…]
Out of the many thousands of writers we’ve worked with, one group is under more pressure to write than others: early career researchers. We took a deep dive into the experience of academic writers at the start of their writing career to investigate the barriers they face and what keeps them going. [click to continue…]
Short story writing might be a super-popular way into long-form writing fiction but don’t mistake short for easy. Here, prize-winning short story writer and novelist Rachel Connor, shares her eight best coaching tips teaching you how to write a short story – from beginning to end. [click to continue…]
The main barrier to writing is not a lack of ideas but a lack of time. Our lives are packed to the brim with important and urgent things to do. But, don’t wait for the perfect writing opportunity to arrive – you must find it. Learn how to find the time to write, discover how other people schedule their writing and try these simple exercises to find time in your over busy schedule. [click to continue…]
When author Liz Flanagan wanted to learn how to write young adult (YA) fiction she spoke to some of the best YA novelists in the world. Now a YA writer herself with two books published and a Carnegie Medal nomination under her belt, she reveals the advice that stuck.
When Jackie Buxton was diagnosed with cancer, she did what she always does when life presents her with a challenge: she started writing. Author of award-winning book Tea & Chemo, Jackie shares her 7 best tips on how to write a memoir and develop a piece of life writing. [click to continue…]
Why is being prolific so important for long-term success as a writer? And how can you develop your own creative process so you can be more prolific? That’s what Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn podcast asked me. Here’s an edited extract of the interview where we discuss how to be prolific. [click to continue…]
Writing sprints provide boundaries which in turn, give you clarity and focus. The idea behind them is to move your project forwards quickly over a short, intense burst of time. A sprint’s not so very different from a writing splurge or binge, but it’s more focussed and less stress-inducing. It follows a direction and has some simple, tried and tested rules which means you start off right. So, here is your 7-step training plan for running a personal writing sprint to turbocharge your progress. [click to continue…]
Everyone has their own method of coaxing their creative gene out of the bottle – but the myth still lingers that true creativity only appears when the mind is set free from constraint and allowed to wander. Whilst it might work for some, research now proves that to be creatively productive requires you working within boundaries and creative limits. Setting limits on your creativity sharpens up your thinking and makes you more productive long term. But how do you limit creativity without limiting it?