Friday, September 19, 2014

Your Favorite Resource?

As  I recover from my jet lag, I will rely on some of you, my wonderful readers, to chime and and tell us your favorite writing resources. Discuss books, people, websites, or what/whoever? \

Please do post under comments- we need to make this a wee bit more interactive anyhow!

4 comments:

  1. Your blog is my favorite resource! ;)

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    1. OK, somebody just made my day here! Thanks so much. Sorry it took me a while to get back to you- I have been traveling.

      Rich

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  2. What motivates me the most to write:
    - Keeping a journal, where I note what I worked on (or not) every single day. Then, at the end of the month, I reflect on what I achieved and what prevented me from doing more.
    - Following academics on twitter, blogs (like this one) and portals like academia.edu or research gate. Seeing their publication updates motivates me to submit stuff.
    - I have a reminder popping up on my calendar every few weeks about what I do what I do (i.e., my big drivers in life), followed by the question: what are you doing today to achieve these goals? This reminds me to focus on the big things, rather than the immediate deadlines (e.g., returning marking) and what is important for other people (e.g., yet another report for senior management).

    As for books, when I was doing my PhD, I really liked the message in the book 'Writing your dissertation in 15 minutes a day" by Joan Bolker. Another resource that was highly recommended to me (but which I have mixed feelings about) is "Writing your journal article in 12 weeks" by Wendy Belcher.

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  3. Here is something that helps me focus:
    1. Go on spottily (or whatever music service works for you)
    2. Select one piece of classical music.
    3. You get a playlist with several versions of the same track (e.g., by different orchestras)
    4. Start the playlist.

    For me, the continuous cadence really helps me focus, while the change in interpretations (e.g., sometimes piano, sometimes, harp) makes it interesting.

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