Halloween Challenge

Here is the challenge.

Write 100 words.

Have a piece of candy.

Write 100 words.

Have a piece of candy.

See if you can repeat the pattern enough to give your dentist and cardiologists fits!

Happy Halloween. 

Writers Write

The other day, I wrote a post describing writers writing at a coffeehouse. It occurred to me, that not all professor sorts think of themselves as writers. Teachers? Check. Researchers? Bingo. Scholars? Well, yes, but that sounds so grandiose!!

But writers?

Thinking of yourself as a writer, or perhaps better said, identifying as a writer, can be an important step in your evolution toward thriving. Behavior follows identity, after all. 

And what to writers do?

Of course, we know the answer.

Writers write.

If you write, think of yourself as a writer. If you want to write, think of yourself as a writer. If you want to write and are not writing, think of yourself as a writer. Writers write. You will write.

Write.

Write Where Writers Writer

My wife and I were having coffee at a cool independent coffeehouse in Seattle the other day (Yes, we have great indy places in the birthplace of corporate coffee, thank you very much). While I was enjoying my black drip coffee, and she her concoction with more adjectives than I care to consider, I noticed all the people writing.

Not just surfing the web, but truly writing. You can tell the difference. I strolled around, and surreptitiously peeked at what people were doing. Yes, writing was happening, and it was good! One professorial type (what is that, really?) seemed to be working on an article (citations galore, a dead giveaway), another seemed to be working on a novel or screen play. Five people all total, at different tables, writing, deeply, intensely, consistently.

How aware were they of each other? I do not know, but the "writing vibe" was palpable. Maybe they were not fully aware of each other, moment to moment, but I cannot help but to think that each were greatly influenced by the generation of words in their presence.

Something to consider, no?

Challenge: Reread an Old Paper

Today, I want you to reread an old article or paper; make it one you have not read for at least a year or two. I want you to try to critique it from the perspective of a journal article reviewer. Try to see what you might do better? Don't beat yourself up for discovering imperfections, but try to discover the implications for future work. What does what you learned tell you about your writing/work style? How can you use these insights to improve current work?

Academic edu: Is Anonymity a Good Thing?

One of the cool things about academic.edu is seeing who follows your work. Its is a great way to see what others are doing, and to find new people to reach out to in your areas of interest. This aspect of the system is public, open and transparent.

I wish the analytics section was the same way. It would be really great to discover who is looking at my work on the web, not only where they are from. I know that there are many reasons why, even if it could be done, that the system should remain "nameless." Yet, it would be of great value to me to see, for example, who is looking at my work on writing and publishing, as a means of seeing what types of resources they may need.

I know, be careful what you ask for; the consequences of too much openness on the web, (i.e. identity theft) are all too well-know.

New Journal: Critical and Radical Social Work

From time to time, I like to report on new journals. Here is one I am really thrilled to see: Critical and Radical Social Work: An International Journal. As my profession becomes increasingly conservative due to the medicalization of social work, the deification of evidence based practice, and the spread of neoliberal globalization, it is heartening to see academic spaces for alternative perspectives.

For those of you not in social work, its a nice exercise to consider how your ideas can apply to different disciplines. For example, you might think an article such as: The implications of ____________ to critical social work. Fill in the blank with cool ideas from your discipline, and consider how to make it fit. This is just one idea, and it may indeed not fit, but such creative, cross-disciplinary formulations can be exciting!

100 Word Essay, Revisited

It has been over two years since I have asked readers to write a 100 word essay. It is time to try it again. This is similar to an exercise I asked you to do not that long ago, where I suggest writing your article in the form of a short poem. Writing our work in alternative forms, especially short ones, helps us to achieve some clarity, and can help us get to the essence of our work.

Go to the link, follow the guidance, and write!