Select Two Backup Journals Prior to Submitting

I always try to have two back up journals selected prior to submitting my work to a journal. 

Why?

First, in case my review is taking too long, or the editor is non-responsive to my queries, I can submit to another journal immediately (after I send a note, of course, withdrawing the article from review). Second, if I get reviews back that are negative, not helpful, or rejections, I have two places in mind already where I can send them to. Not having these in mind can slow you down. Third, by having to select two additional journals, it forces you to assess the nature of these journals for subsequent publications. This can also stimulate new ideas for articles and increase your professional knowledge.

Self-Defeating Thinking

Learning to be more productive as a scholar goes well beyond learning the ins and outs of publishing. Often, various psychosocial factors can help or inhibit our ability to thrive. Self-defeating thinking is a particularly pernicious phenomenon that demands some attention here.

In a later, more expansive post, I will explore in more detail some of the theory behind cognitive therapy and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and how they can help you move toward greater productivity. For now, I want you to begin to explore your self-defeating thinking. Start to pay attention to the messages you tell yourself that get in your way. Perhaps a few of these sounds familiar.

"I could never_________"

"_______ is just too hard."

" I am not smart enough to_________"

"My writing is not good enough to______"

You may find many others as you begin to listen to the chatter that runs through your brain as you attempt to engage in writing tasks.

However, prior to being explored, self-defeating thinking may not really be "consciousness" or more accurately, rests just outside of your awareness. Over time, the more you pay attention to these messages, false attributions, and core beliefs, the easier they are to challenge.

You can explore and begin to alter them yourself, or with a trusted mentor, colleague, or if they are really problematic, professional coach or therapist. What is essential is that you do not let these habituated, self-downing patterns of thinking interfere with your writing and publishing. If they go unexplored they can interfere with your entire career.

You own it to yourself to deal with your self-defeating thinking now, not ten years from now. Think how much more productive your career can be if you do!

Articles or books?

Often, new faculty wonder if they should try to publish a book or try to publish articles. What should one do? First, the most important consideration is the convention in your field. While norms in your department should also be strongly considered, sometimes faculty composition changes over time, so the norms in your field are key.

That said, all things being equal, go with the articles, especially early on. Why? Articles average 20 pages in length, while a book is usually 200-400 pages. Perhaps this is an overly simplistic way of thinking about it, but if you can write five articles and send them to journals in the same amount of time that you write a book, you odds of getting some of those articles published far out way the publication of your book. And, in most fields, five articles in solid peer-reviewed journals "count" more than a book in nearly all circumstances.

In some fields, one article in a good journal actually counts more than a whole book. This is not true for the humanities, where books are valued a great deal. Still, putting your eggs in one basket with a book can be a very risky proposition.

Read Abstracts!

A great way to come up with article ideas is to read abstracts in related areas. Abstracts are easy to find using Google Scholar. Place your key words into the Google Scholar search box, and then click on the article title after the cited articles appear- this will usually take you to the abstract.

Read five abstracts, and then try to write a few article titles. Look at the over the next few days, and see if one sticks.

More Than One Areas of "Expertise"

Alissa asked me to explore the issues pertaining to having more than one area of expertise, specifically within the same discipline.

While I always have been envious of those who have a very specific (narrow sounds pejorative) area of expertise, many of us have multiple interests. It is naturally for many of us to be curious about multiple topics, theoretical lenses, ect. While on one hand having a diversity of interest can be viewed as being expansive in your thinking and being able to apply scholarly analysis to more than one issue, there are several concerns with being spread thin that can impact us while on the job market and at others stages of our careers. This may even be true if your interests are in the same field.

First, tenure and promotion committees want to see a focused area of research and scholarship. Having too many interests makes it difficult to show expertise in more than one area. I have heard senior scholars over the years lament about a young scholar not having enough "focus."

Second, and related to the first issue, if you have more than one area of expertise, you have to prove that you are an expert in more than one area. This means that you are going to have to publish more than someone who has a more focused, singular topic. If you go up for tenure and/or promotion with three areas (which I did when I went up for promotion to Full Professor, so much for making things easy on myself), then you have even more "expertise" to demonstrate.

If you have multiple areas, you want be able to is be able to tell the "story" about how each of your areas are related. For instance, I can demonstrate an overlap between my interests in masculinities and transnational issues with my publishing about undocumented immigrant men. Look for cross over areas and make these centerpieces of your publication agenda.

If you have multiple areas of interest, you really need to publish in all areas or publish across areas. If you are not yet so prolific, you may want to hold off on publishing in some ancillary areas until you have firmly established a publication record in one area. This is not always easy to do, and at times feels less than satisfying. Look for connections and crossovers. If you cannot find them, talk to your mentor about it.

Again, the amount you have to publish in a given area is predicated on the type of university you wish to work at, or do work at. Also, if you have diverse areas that can demonstrate your ability to teach across the curriculum, this can be very valuable at universities that value teaching at great deal.

I am curious- does anyone have examples of crossover publications that bridge more than one area of their research and scholarly interests? If so, do post a comment here.

Drop and Give Me 50!

If a drill Sargent can compel you to drop and give him (or her) 50 push ups, I can do the same with writing.

50 words, right now, on an article you have been working on, or an article you have had in mind. Don't come back here or go on to other areas of your life until you do so!

If you dare, post your 50 words, or at least if you took the challenge!

A Brief Post About "Brief Notes"

Do a web search for brief notes, short articles, and commentaries for journals in your discipline and related fields. Many of these sections of journals are peer-reviewed.

You may have to dig a bit to find them.

Here is one example from the journal International Social Work. You will notice it is in the "Manuscript Submission" section under "Article Types." For this journal, brief notes are up to 2000 words long.

How long would it take you to write a brief note about an "unresolved problem" (one of the areas of interest noted under this  guidance) in your field?

Does My Publication Count?

Regina, a commenter on this blog, asked if her publication would count if it is in outside the fields to which she may be applying for positions. She identifies as an interdisciplinary scholar with varied interests.

So, does this peer-reviewed article "count" and "matter" to prospective employers? The short answer is, yes, it counts, but not as much as a more focused article in the disciplines to which she is applying.

It counts in that it shows her prospective employers that she has the skills and experience of publishing  in peer-reviewed journals- that helps them be more confident that she will be able to do so again.  This is huge, as there is nothing worse than hiring a faculty member who just can't publish- it creates heartache for all (unless, it is at a teaching college where publications are not important). 

However, it does not show subject matter expertise, which is something that will be important to do. Regina might wish to try to publish an article, since she is a interdisciplinary scholar, that bridges the two disciplines in which she will seek positions.

Of course, so much depends on the specific positions for which she is applying, the type of university (teaching verses research focus), and the nature of the units to which she is applying (i.e. are they going to value her eclectic interests).

Those with eclectic, interdisciplinary interests (as I am, with interests in masculinities, poetry as qualitative research, immigration, globalization, ect.), have to be very intentional about how they plan and execute their careers, and must have a great deal of mentorship and guidance. Without this, it is easy to fall between the cracks of ridged disciplinary boundaries in the world of academic hiring, and then tenure and promoting. Trying to work in many areas of interest at times leads to concerns with establishing a clear publication trajectory (and this is important at many universities).

From Free Writing to Writing That "Counts"

In a comment earlier in the week, Amy Fredrick made the following post:

"I've read here on your blog as well as other dissertation writing books about the importance of free writing or structured free writing every day to get yourself "jumpstarted" into writing. I have a couple questions about this strategy. I presume that free writing is something I should do in the morning or at the beginning of my writing session? Should I do it paper/pencil or on my laptop? The old fashioned way seems to facilitate free-er writing for me, but then I don't know what to do next with the paper? Do I look for nuggets in my writing that could become something in my dissertation and type them in my document somewhere? Or do I just chalk up the experience to a warm-up exercise and don't ever go back to it? Also, a related question, if I start my writing by doing a 15 minute free write, what do I do next? Back to agonizing drafting?? Thanks for any ideas"

This is a great set of questions and issues which warrants some exploration. First,  free writing is not obligatory-it is merely a tool. As with all tools, if it does not seem to be working for you after you try it out for a while, stop using it. Also, if you are able to enter the "important" writing (in this case a dissertation), or what is often called "high stakes writing," than by all means, go with that. Do not feel obliged to jumpstart a process that does that not need  jumpstating.

Now, as far as hand writing verses typing, it really is personal preference. Pay attention to what different "modes" and styles of writing do for you. Now, perhaps the most important question- what do you do with the free writing? How do you move from the low stakes to the high stakes writing?  

I have a few suggestions here. First, There is no clear obligation to "do" anything with it. If it is helping you develop good consistency in writing, that might be enough. Second, if you are finding that you are writing a great deal that seems to be going nowhere, then try writing for only five minutes. Third, you may want your free writing to be a bit less" free." Free writing that focuses on specific questions or issues related to what we are writing can at times be more valuable than "letting it all hang out."  If your free writing is a bit more focused, you may be able to find some hidden gems more easily.  At the top of the page, ask your yourself a question that you want answered, and then start your free writing. Fourth, depending upon what you are trying section of your dissertation you are working on, or what you are trying to "discover," you may find that some mind mapping exercises maybe more valuable than free writing. Mind mapping, which I will explore soon, help you draw connections between seemingly disparate ideas. Lastly, if you do have a great deal of free writing that you are not sure what do to with, take a look at it AFTER a writing session and see what you have. This may take away some of the pressure to have to use it for writing. At times, separating other tasks from a "writing session" allows us to be productive while decreasing some pressure.

I hope this helps, or at least provides some ideas to try out.

The Power of Generosity

How do you build connections with other scholars? There are many ideas, but how about a simple one: be generous. Include others on your articles. Be of service to people you respect. Give away ideas from your brainstorming that you don’t want to use (and may not use for some time). It will be reciprocated, not always by the recipient of the generosity, but it will happen. Not only help those with more experience, but help those with less as well.

Does this mean you should continue to give to people who take advantage of your generous spirit?  Does this does not mean you should work on articles without authorship for ungrateful senior scholar/deities who provide you little guidance and mentorship? No, that is not being generous, that is allowing yourself to be taken advantage of.

Celebrate

Celebrate the completion of an article, the acceptance of an article, and the publication of an article! I am not suggesting that you fly to Tahiti every time you finish a writing task (although, looking at this photo, how nice would that be!), but it is important to celebrate your milestones, achievement, or even process goals. Celebrating your achievements or efforts is not only good for the spirits, and allows us to savor the fruits of our labors, but also reinforces our behavior, making it more likely for it to continue. Perhaps you have had a hard time writing each day. If that is the case, do a small, nice thing for yourself if you have been consistent for a while.

There Is No Such Thing as Writer's Block

What is the Bigfoot? What is the Chupacabra? Do these exist? Many people have seen them throughout the years, and swore to the validity of their experiences. Of course, they experience something, but what they are experiencing may be something other than what they appear to be, and what people are experiencing probably vary widely in what they really are.

Ok, this is not a good metaphor, perhaps, but I would argue that what we call writer's block is no more real than any of these two mythical creatures. Of course "something" is there, something that prevents people from writing. However, I believe that writers block is probably really an easy catch word for a variety of biological, psychological, and social phenomenon that we lump together. The consequences of doing this area great- if you do not diagnose the actual nature of what keep you from writing, are not likely to find a good solution.

Here are a few of the possible phenomena that I have seen subsumed under the term writers block:

Depression
Fear
Anxiety
Perfectionism
Skill deficits
Poor writing habits
Environmental issues (i.e. a bad chair, too much noise)
A history of being judged for writing issues
Lack of good mentorship
And many more...

Your job is to understand the actual nature of the barriers that get in your way. To adopt a highly dubious social construction such as writer's block will keep you from making the changes you actually need to make to further your writing and publishing agenda.

This will not be the last time these issues are addressed.

Stopping for the Perfect Word

A recent comment on my blog asked if it was such an awful thing to stop writing and search for the perfect word. Perhaps she was responding to my tongue in check post suggesting that editing, or other forms of stopping while in the middle of a sentence or paragraph, were akin to a horrible monster that attacks in the night! :)

OK, it is not that bad, but I do think it is problematic, as it breaks the flow of writing. I am not suggesting that you live with words that don't work for you, but that you allow yourself to "go where the energy is" and complete your entire train of thought before you wordsmith. Words to paper is the name of the game, allowing yourself to stay "in the zone" when you are in it is key to good and productive writing.

While I cannot prove it from a physiological standpoint, I do believe that we are using different parts of the brain, or at least different modes of thinking, when we are "just writing" verses when we are editing or wordsmithing. From working with people over the years, many have reported that when they do let go of the wordsmithing or editing while they are writing, they are able to get their ideas on page far easier, and move forward with their work more quickly.

Once you have finished writing, then go back an wordsmith. If you are afraid that you will somehow forget the horrible, awful offending words, simply mark them using the bold key or highlighting function, and continue to move on.

When you are done writing (meaning, spent, tired, over it), then go back and edit. Take out that thesaurus  (how old school) and play with the offending words for a few minutes. Now find the best word. Now work on your sentences. Poof- you now have a lot of writing AND it meets your exacting standards!


Try it for a few weeks; what do you have to lose? If it works, then you have a new tool. If it did not work, you at least committed to writing more and experimenting with writing; that alone should keep you on a good writing trajectory. Alas, go back to your old ways if they work for you.

It is absolutely true that any of the "rules" or guidance that I provide here are not written in stone, and are merely suggestions. I do think this one might hold true for most people, although  perhaps not all.

The Importance of........(a short article idea generation exercise)

Fill in the blanks....

The importance of _______________ (fill in with a key concept for your work or discipline, or an idea you are interested in exploring) to ______________(fill in with a discipline that is related, but very distinct from yours).

Did you come up with anything? Try it five times and see if you might have an article idea to explore. Don't be stuck on what you write- it is merely a prompt to generate ideas. If something else comes to mind, write it down!

You can also change the word "importance to "implications"- that helps generate ideas as well.

Now!

Forget reading this blog for the moment. Forget any blog or news source for now. Forget Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging.

Close your browser. Turn off your cell. Breath deep. Write. Perhaps the most useful tip I have for you, today or any other day.

Comments and Questions Welcome!

I just wanted to invite readers to post comments or questions. I am very open to writing posts in response to questions that people have, and most certainly would love to hear responses.

So, throw out an issues I may not have touched upon, and I will try my best to post about it ASAP.

The Tanka as Article

Remember my post about the 100 word essay? By writing the "totality" of your article in 100 words, you were forced to think about the essence of what you wanted to say. I also suggested that it was a great tool for jump-starting stalled writing.

Now, try an even more compressed form- the Tanka. The Tanka the longer form from where the Haiku originated. It is a poem with 5 lines consisting of a predetermined number of syllables:   5-7-5-7-7 (well, Onji in Japanese, but this is the English form).

Try writing your "article" in this format. Try writing a couple of ideas for articles in this format- see if your creativity is not sparked. Use it as an outline or abstract. Play.

The Closer

I try not to use sports metaphors too often; you wind up not having impact with those who are not into sports. However, indulge me here. In baseball the closer is the pitcher who comes into the game during the last inning. They are asked to finish up once the starting picture and early relief pitchers are not able to do their job. Think about it, the starter has done all the heavy lifting, and has put his/her team into good position to win. However, he/she is tired, and need someone to come in and help him/her finish the job.

A closer is not a bad idea for an article you are working on when you just can’t seem to get it done, feel at your wits end, or are just feeling “spent.” A closer can bring a bit of distanced objectivity, a fresh perspective, some new energy, and can cut out redundancies with ease.

There are several important guidelines when using a closer. First, the closer should be someone extremely happy to do the task. If you sense any ambivalence; check that out. If your potential closer is really not interested, thank him or her and move on. The whole point of a closer is to find someone who is going to enthusiastically jump in, and as they say in the South, “get er' done.” Second, give your closer clear instructions. Make it clear that your not looking for major additions and changes, but you want to make sure the article gets out the door. Of course, if your closer thinks there are significant problems with the article, this should be open for discussion. A closer really should only be given an article that is close to being done. If there is a lot of work to do, you are looking for a full-collaborator, not a closer. Lastly, make sure to discuss issues of authorship with your closer, as you would with any contributors.

Location, Location, Location, Location, Location: An Exercise

Here is an exercise for you to try.

Pick a day when you can spend the entire day writing. I know, it is hard to do, but just plan for it, put it on the calendar. Make plans to be totally off the grid, and to leave your telephones off.

Go to five different locations and try to write for an hour in each. At least spend an hour in each place with the intent of writing. What types of places should you pick? Well, libraries, colleges, cafes, diners, the woods, the beach, your car outside Taco bell, in the lobby of an office building, in a stairwell, wherever. Do script out your day the day before so you do not have to think about anything other than writing.

The following day, and then a few days later, do some journaling or talk to a writing buddy or mentor about what you learned from the experience. Here are these three question to stimulate your processing of the experience.

1) What did I learn about my own process of writing?

2) What surprised me about the experience?

3) What can I incorporate into my life to make me more productive?

Article Length

What is a good article length? I know, you don't want a discussion of the nuances of the issue- just a number. Ok, lets start with a number, and work from there.

5,000 words

Now, this depends on the discipline, and the journal. It is why you need to choose a journal (and preferable two back ups) very early in the writing process. 

In general, 5,000 words seems to be the "sweet spot"- long enough for most journals, and rarely too long for all but the most parsimonious publications.

Don't forget the brief note sections of journals, which I explore another time. Remember, shorter articles maximize your ability to publish- your can finish one article and get to the next one. 12, 000 essays are often far too verbose, except for the rarest of works.

Write, THEN edit

Pay attention to this one: Do not edit while you are writing. Editing while in the middle of a sentence, or even in the middle of a paragraph is awful, evil, heinous, that which scares little children in the night, perhaps more terrifying even than the Chupacabra. Please, for the love of all things decent, do not edit until you are done with writing. Pay attention to this one tip, this one insistence, and you will find that you will be far more productive during your writing sessions.

I actually often do not edit or spell check at all until I am well into an article, and sometimes not until near the end. I will even leave things unedited while working with colleagues in Google docs; now that keeps you humble!

A Fun Exercise: Write it for a Popular Magazine

I am teaching a class on men and masculinities this summer (online, really enjoying it). For this week, I gave the class the task of writing a 200 word article in the style of a popular magazine. For their articles, they were to take a couple of the key concepts and write about them in a way that makes sense for the targeted magazine's readership. They were allowed to right an informative article, an advice column, or even a sarcastic riff.

The results were amazing;  there were some fantastic articles what could have easily fit in Cosmo, Glamour, Men's Health, Maxim, Parenting, ect. Some were funny, some where highly serious. Most were at least good.

So, why were these articles so much better than their "normal" work? The pressure was off. By writing in this style they allowed themselves to enjoy writing; their playfulness was palpable.

Try this exercise with a topic you are writing about (or hoping to write about).  Pick a magazine, copy the tone, and see what you can do. Explore with a mentor or writing buddy (or even here in the comment section) what happened for you.

Private Noise, Public Noise

I am writing in a cafe today-this works for me. For some reason, the noise in a cafe is far more palatable to me that the barking of my dog or my wife calling across the house in a futile attempt to silence the dogs- these sounds are more personal, more in need of immediate response (at least emotionally). Location is an important issue to consider when writing, and for me, the type and quality of noise is an essential consideration to location. For me, the hardest types of nose are the ones that seem to come from nowhere, that interrupt my sweet silence. A steady din is far more palatable, and conducive to my writing.

How about you?

I Heart Google Docs

Those who know me understand that I take a very utilitarian (and cautious) approach to technology. I am not into the latest bells and whistles. I don’t have a smart phone, and abhor texting. I believe that we should explore the strengths and weaknesses of all technologies before we adopt them. 

Now, with that said, let me tell you, I love Google Docs. I love Google Docs so much I am thinking of having t-shirts printed "I Heart Google Docs" (not really, but you get the idea).

I am going to explore why more fully in future posts, but let me just tell you that it has changed the way I work. With Google Docs, I can, and do, collaborate will colleagues around the world with great ease. We never have to send documents back and forth, but instead work in the same document, synchronously or asynchronously. We can meet in the document, watch each other work, and chat about key aspects of an article. I have learned so much by watching colleagues write; it is almost as if I am able to step inside their minds and explore their thinking about an issue. Fascinating stuff.

Here is a Google Docs tutorial on YouTube to get you started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqdex3KDQM

I will write more about how we use this wonderful tool in a subsequent post. In fact, next week I am going to create an open-to-all Google Docs file that will serve as an example (you can keep Google Docs documents open to everyone, to anyone with the link to a specific document, or open only to those you invite).


Give this powerful collaborative tool a try, and check back for more.

The 100 Word Essay

Feeling stuck? Is the idea of a full length article daunting right about now? Need a jump start?

Try the 100 word essay.

Write the totality of an article in 100 words. Not any more, not any less. Use the container of the 100 word essay as a means of achieving clarity about what you want to say, and as a means of breaking out of "writers block." (I will be addressing the social construction of what we call "writers block" often in this blog, and you will always see it in quotes-more on that some other time).

Give yourself the task or writing three, 100 word essays over the course of a three day period (or in the same day, if you dare). See if it does not move you closer to some good ideas about where you wish to take an article.

Exercise: Freewrite from Title

On a piece of paper, write the title of an article you would love to write. If you cannot think of a title, write the title of an article you wish somebody would write. This might be an article you wish you had for your students, or just something you would like to read, or something you think would somehow make a difference.

Now, write for ten minutes without thinking, without censoring yourself, without judging yourself.

What did you come up with? Is this an idea or article that you might wish to pursue?

It is not realistic to think that every time you freewrite you will develop actionable ideas. However, if even one in five efforts leads to something actionable, might you not use this as a tool?

If you do not want to write it now, save it for later. Or, send the idea to a colleague who you think would like the idea. Give it away. Be generous. It will come back to you.

Big Project Pressure

Sometimes the pressure of having to work on a dissertation or book is relieved if we work a few minutes a day on another writing project. Call it "Big Project Pressure," where the anxiety and pressure from the "big one" becomes all encompassing, and takes over our lives. You know the feeling, that pervasive, omnipresent force that makes it hard for you to enjoy the little things in your life.

That pressure is so great that we can become immobilized, and avoid it at all cost. It is the 200 pound gorilla (bad metaphor, as gorillas are actually gentle) sleeping in the corner- we are always aware of its power, its ability to destroy our life.

You need to take back your power.  As counterintuative as it sounds, start a small second project (perhaps an academic article). Spend 10 minutes a day writing on something else- think of it as your warm up, something to break the daily inertia, and prove to yourself that you can be productive right now. Prove to yourself that you do not have “writer’s block”. The ten minutes spent will not take time away form your dissertation or book, but instead will serve as a means of getting your head "in the game." It will put your dissertation or book into perspective; it is merely a big project that needs to be worked on, nothing more, nothing less.

Remove the stress, begin daily writing on a side project, and then come back to it in a few days. You will be in the “writing groove,” and in a better place to slowly chip away at your project. Oh, and you will have a bit of an article written- nice job!

Ritual

This morning I woke up, let out the dogs, and headed to "my" chair. It is an old, off-yellow leather chair, with huge stuffed arms- big enough for my laptop if I am turning my body to the side, and big enough for several books. I have sat in this chair and written so many times that the mere act of sitting in it triggers something in me. It is as if the chair calls me to write; it indeed has become part of the habituation of writing.

This is what I mean by writing rituals. When we engage in the same behavior, day after day, year after year, engaging in a rituals trigger within us a "push" toward certain behaviors.

For some, it is enough to commit to writing every day or nearly every day. For other, attaching certain rituals to the writing process makes it far more likely that it will become habituated.

My chair calls me to write, and for this I am grateful.

Write, Publish,Thrive!

It has been a few years now since I had my blog, Practical Tips for Publishing Scholarly Articles. A few folks have asked me over the years why I stopped. Well, the answer is, life! Family, an administrative position, trying to reach full professor,  and working on my own scholarly agenda were a few of the reasons I let it go. In truth, I regret doing so. It really was a valuable means of thinking through ways of improving my own writing, and in help others reach their writing and publishing goals.

However, now that I am back to a "normal" faculty position, have been promoted to full professor, and am feeling energized, it is time to start a new blog. So, here I go: Write, Publish, Thrive! In this blog, I will be exploring a variety of issues related to academic writing (and at times other types of writing), publishing, and academic life in general. As with my last blog, I will try to write periodic practical advice for faculty and doctoral students who are looking to learn how to improve their capacity to do three things:

Write, Publish and Thrive.

I hope to meet some new friends along the way. I hope you enjoy.