Academic Writing Amplified

Do you feel anxious and overwhelmed in your life as an academic? Are you on the tenure track but feel stuck or like something is wrong but you can't put your finger on it? My guest on this episode is Dr. Danielle De La Mare, academic life coach and podcaster, and she has been there and back. She is sharing about her journey from cancer diagnosis and the clarity that gave her, her life pre and post...

Are you clear on what your own unique writing process is? Have you ever gathered data on your own practices? I've learned a lot during the process of drafting my book.   I shared a little bit about my journey of writing a book on a previous episode. I'm bringing you up to date on my progress, and continuing to share the insights and takeaways I've gained through the process, including pivoting my...

What is a writing sprint, and how can it help you move an article from almost done to out the door and submitted? In this episode, I'm chatting with my two coaches, Gina Robinson and Rocío Caballero-Gill, all about writing sprints. We also share about my Writing Sprint Blueprint tool, which will help you move your article out the door in the next 2 weeks. As you near the end of the semester, each...

If you've been on the fence about joining this cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap, you'll want to listen closely to these experiences from two real-life Navigate alums.   Enrollment is open for just a few more days for the Radical Change Cohort of my Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap program. To help you decide if the program is right for you, I'm interviewing two past participants to find out...

What do I mean by radical change, and how does it happen? I am sharing 10 systems for enacting radical change for your writing, your career, and academic culture as a whole.     Womxn prioritizing their chosen career activities, their own needs and their own writing practices over the demands of others is radical. I've talked about the radical change and what it can mean for us as individuals and...

Is your career 90% awesome? Do you spend most of your time doing things that are important for your scholarly work? I can show you how to get there. In my last episode I talked about what radical change in academia looks like. The outcome of that radical change is that we build careers that are 90% awesome. Careers in which we do things we love 90% of the time.  When you first wanted to become an...

Why do we struggle to find  time to write while the academic establishment requires publications in order to maintain or advance our careers? It's time for radical change.   Designing your career with intention is a radical idea. Securing your writing at the center of your career is a radical idea. And friends, radical change is what we need in academia! It's time to move away from the scarcity mi...

Do you set intentions for your career and have the skills to follow through with them? I'm sharing a little bit about my own story to shed some light on the difference between control and intention.   I have a pretty long history with trying to control things. I did my undergrad, with 2 minors, in 3 years. I white-knuckled my way to graduation and I did it through carefully strategizing my next st...

Does writing keep falling to the bottom of your list? Do you think you need accountability to hold you to your goals? I want to show you why you need community instead.   Accountability, or the idea that you need an external person to "hold you" to your goals, is rooted in patriarchy. Entrenched social structures in the culture of academia have given rise to womxn who are not trusted to hold thems...

The solitary nature of writing can perpetuate the image of the "typical" professor, a lone (male) figure, doing it all alone. But writing together, as womxn, is a radical act! The image of a typical professor is usually as a lone (male) intellectual, head down, wrestling the big ideas of academia all on his own. And academia perpetuates this vision. We are socialized to be toxically self-reliant....

Have you ever struggled with where to publish your interdisciplinary qualitative work? Have you received feedback questioning the rigor of your research or your ability to express it? My guest on this episode is Maira Quintanilha, creator of Qualitative Research Blueprint . Whatever your struggles, questions, or curiosities about qualitative research, Maira has got you covered. She shares her own...

Has your qualitative research article been rejected or given a painful revise-and-resubmit? Here are the 5 things you should do next.   What should you do when your article gets rejected, or you're given a painful revise-and-resubmit? I'm talking specifically about qualitative research here, but the basic principles can be applied for all kinds of research and writing. In episode 9 I lay out the s...

Are you comparing where you are in your scholarly journey to where others are? Do you feel like your career isn't progressing the way you thought it would? I'm sharing part of my story that I hope will inspire you.   If you've ever felt like you just can't get the hang of this writing and publishing thing, this episode is for you. I'm sharing a little bit about my (very long) qualitative research...

The calendar changing from 2020 to 2021 isn't what will make this year different. What will make this year different is YOU. 2020 is over! But sadly, there has not been much change in the world in 2021. Circumstances and world events are actually not that different...mutating strains of the virus, insurrection at the US capital...things are definitely still feeling rather "2020-ish" in 2021. So wh...

When writing is at the center of our careers, it's powerful. Here are 5 clues that you might not be putting the priority on writing that you think you are.   We've talked many times about the importance of centering your writing to help build your best career. And you might want to do that… but are you really? Here are 5 clues that point to writing being on the sidelines in your life and career.  ...

I'm diving into the idea of "publications as currency" to both debunk the idea and show you how you can make it work for you and your academic mission. If you're in academia, you've probably heard the idea that publications are currency. And that's true...but what does it really mean for us as womxn academics operating in systems that are not built for us? Publications add value to the world, repr...

You know you need to schedule time to write, but keeping those dates is the key to creating a successful writing habit. I'll show you how.   We've probably all heard the writing advice to "make a date with your writing", get it scheduled and on your calendar. This is great advice...as long as you keep those dates and actually get the writing done! If you consistently blow off your writing times, o...

I'm in the hot seat on this episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified! I'm sharing an interview of yours truly by Anna Clemens of Scientists Who Write. We cover everything from how (and why) to get writing done inside your work week to changing the patriarchal culture of academia to my coaching philosophy and program offerings.  Key points discussed: Writing as career currency and why academics shou...

What is "mid-career" for academics? How long does it last and where can you go from here? The answer to that last one may surprise you.   In North America, we have a 3-tiered promotion system. Your early career starts at Assistant Professor, you move to Associate Professor after you pass tenure review, and the final stage is Full Professor. (The UK system uses different terminology but is similar....

Don't let the wide open schedules of a sabbatical or leave go to waste. Find out how to approach this time to get the most out of it!   It's something we all dream about—a sabbatical or research leave when you can spend all your time writing. Then you'll really be productive!   But ask anyone who has actually taken a sabbatical and you'll soon discover that the big blocks of time that you've been...

It's a fresh, new year and it's time to leave all the "shoulds" in 2020 and plan to be more you in 2021.   Goodbye 2020! My hopes are high for 2021. I encourage you to make this the year that you stop focusing on what you think you "should" be doing to get your writing done and advance your career and start leaning in to what works for you . I assure you that you will get more done with deeper cre...

Have you ever considered writing a book? I'm sharing the inside scoop on the process for my own book project, from idea to submission.   I know many of you out there have entertained the idea of writing a book at one time or another. So I'm sharing my own experiences with the book process, from idea to proposal writing to submission. As of this writing, I am still in the process of submitting to d...

There are times, like at the end of a semester, when you might put your writing aside. How do you pick it back up again with the least amount of stress and the most creative potential?   Your workload ebbs and flows, and there are times (like the end of a semester) when you may put your writing aside; in fact, I recommend it. So how do you pick it back up again? If you're thinking you'll get all y...

What actually "counts" as writing? When you give yourself credit for accomplishing your writing, do you only look at the number of words on a page? I say it's more than that.   We spend a lot of time thinking "I should be writing," as academia pulls us in a thousand directions. But we often forget all that writing really is. It is important to re-think what "counts" as writing. Acknowledging progr...

I am joined on this episode by my fabulous writing coaches, Rocío Caballero-Gill and Gina Robinson. We are talking all about the issues and stressors that are coming up the most in working with clients in our programs right now. What are you struggling with in your career? One thing we can guarantee is that you are not alone. From motivation to time management to boundaries to finding support, we...