200 words now!

It has been while, so time to drop and give me 200. Stop what you are doing, and write two hundred words on an article you are working on, or do some writing for a new piece.

Stopping like this from time to time, and randomly writing, is a great way to get more work done than we might otherwise have.

More on Google Site

Some time ago I noted how central Google Site (formally Google Docs)has become to much of my work. In truth, it is really not about Google Docs, but about the potential of collaborative, document sharing platforms in general. While I hear that some are even better than Google Site, It has served me well and I have yet to explore other platforms.

So, why am I such a fan of using these collaborative tools? They help me engage collaborators in new ways.

This format allows me to invite several people as potential collaborators. I invite people who I have worked with in the past who I know are good collaborators, students who might help, and often a colleague or two whom I would love to collaborate with. I invite these people into the document once I have a few thoughts about the direction that i want the article to take (if I am indeed at that point yet), and ask if they are willing to participate. I say, in this introduction, that the authorship of the article will not be decided until we are further into the process, and that it will depend upon contribution, not “status.” Or, if it is an article that I really want to be first author of, i say this, and then say that authorship after me is open.

 Of course, this does not fit with standard models of scholarly collaboration, where the rules of the game favor those with rank and power.  In these collaborations, I try to engage people in more egalitarian relationships, where authorship is about work and contribution. 

Think about what this does. It allows people who are really motivated to power through, get things done, and know they will be rewarded. It also allows people who only contribute a bit to do so, guilt free, knowing that their contribution will not be judged- they just will be at the end of the authorship line.

Does this always work? No, it does not. It is not for those with huge egos, huge agendas, and huge trust issues. It is great for those who need to publish, and publish fast and love working with others. If you have a good team of people, and you all agree that you will work until it is done, and then move onto the next idea (or, you might have several articles happening at the same time, like we do), than this might be for you.

If you are the first author, you can set the guidelines before hand if you really need something out the door. Colleagues and can say yes, or no. Give this a try-its a ton of fun, and I always learn a great deal from the process.

Career development prompt

No matter the phase of our career, it is always important to be conscious of "where we are," and to be mindful of the gaps between what we wish for, and what is.

Write for ten minutes on these two prompts.

The focus of my career now is:

The focus of my career should be:

Note any discrepancies, and think about how you may bridge the gaps.

So much to know, so much to learn

Even people who know a great deal about the publication process sometimes have things to learn. I found an interview on line with the editor of the journal, The Washington Quarterly. In it, the editor states that most policy oriented journals are not peer reviewed- his is not. He claims that most policy journals are reviewed only by an editorial staff.

Well, this is just untrue. The vast majority of policy journals are indeed peer-reviewer. Mind you, The Washington Quarterly is a very good journal, and in the interview the editor provides some sounds advice for scholars who wish to publish in the journal. This wee bit of misinformation, however, does suggest the need to carefully think through what we know about writing and publishing.

In spite of this, do take a read. He encourages diverse scholars to publish in the journal- this is a good thing. Do be aware though, that he does discuss how quality is not the only factor involved in what they publish- something to carefully think through. It is also important to decide if you wish to publish in a non-peer reviewed journal.

Here is the Interview

MLK day

Happy Martin Luther King day to all! In thinking about writing today, I thought about what today means to me: liberation, liberation that still need to occur, both internal and external. Justice and injustice. Freedom and slavery.

Today, is about paradoxes, about a painful history and hope.

And so what does this have to do with writing?

Well, I am glad you asked.  In my role as writing coach, it seems that I am often witness to such complex human paradoxes.

Someone starts an article, and is both thrilled with the start and also reminded about their inertia, their wasted time, and the consequences of not being successful if they don't publish.

Someone else finished their article, sent it off, and is then crushed by a fairly critical revise and resubmit the very same day.

Writing, if nothing else, is a journey. A journey in which we engage our whole selves- the light, the dark, the whole and the broken.

My wish for each of you today is that you embrace all, as a friend of mine said recently, the humanity of you.

And after that? See if you can't get a good few hundred words under your belt!

Happy MLK day to all of you. May this coming year be filled with social and personal liberation, and a whole lot of writing.

Random, Cool Journal

Surfing the web (not while writing, of course), I found this interesting journal that I thought I would share.

Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Here is what the homepage says:

Welcome to Soundings

A wide-ranging interdisciplinary journal focused primarily on the humanities and social sciences,Soundings is published quarterly by the University of Tennessee and theSociety for Values in Higher Education.

"Seek simplicity and distrust it"

Soundings encourages scholars to challenge the fragmentation of modern intellectual life and to turn the best and most rigorous deliverances of the several academic disciplines towards the sterner discipline of a common good in human affairs. Soundings aims to publish essays that open the disciplines to each other, and it looks for readers who sense in such openings some prospect for a greater coherence and amplitude in public discourse.

However, our century shows that there are worse things than a fragmented life, chief among them the disguised violence of false unity and false coherence. Soundings urges upon its authors and readers a happy regard for Whitehead's advice: "Seek simplicity and distrust it."

Explore the journal, and see if you think of anything interesting to write about. You don't have to submit here, but just considering and thinking about journals can help us generate new ideas.

Mid career writing blues

When you are untenured, perhaps a doctoral student, on the tenure track, or a non-tenure track lecturer, you might assume that anyone who gets tenure has it easy, and has it made.

And while there is some truth (a great deal really) that tenure makes our lives more stable and less anxiety ridden, there are many pitfalls for mid-career faculty.

Mid-career professionals no longer "must" publish to survive. Without this external push there are often no clear models for how to construct identities as scholars. Also, there is often a great deal of guilt that comes with the territory: "who am I to feel bad, I have tenure!"

The task of the mid-career professor is to  discover who you wish to become as a professor, and what this vision means to you. You have the burden of choice and freedom; one of the key existential struggles of humans liberated from "want."

Try to do some writing, perhaps in your academic journal, on what kind of scholar you wish to be. What do you want to do with your career- it is yours.