Last week's blog provided the link to the book 'Writing for publication', an excellent resource for those starting off on the academic writing journey with many suggestions also of relevance of experienced writers.
The book provided a insider's viewpoint of the writing and publishing process enshrined in academia. One item perhaps missing, was the need for aspiring and current authors to establish the mindsets necessary to presevere with the writing process.
Whatever the genre, the skills of writing can be learnt. What sets apart dabblers and people who make a living from writing, is the need to continually hone their skill and to keep at it. Academic writing is no different. It is perhaps even more important in academia, to develop good routines and habits, to continue with scholarly reading and writing. Most people writing for academic publication, so this on top of teaching and research. To fit in the volume of reading, research project work and writing, requires good time management and planning!
The need to work from home as a result of the covid-19 pandemic has caused my routine to be changed. Instead of cycling to work each morning, using the time to reflect on and plan, and then do some writing; I have used the time to prepare for the workday, now filled with development and facilitaion of professional development workshops for our lecturers, moving rapidly into distance teaching. However, after 6 weeks, NZ is about to move into a more relaxed phase, allowing for us to move back to work on campus in a few weeks time.
The pause in writing has provided a time to take stock and to think through possible direction for writing and projects into the future. It will still be important to get back into the routine to keep up the writing habit. Without keeping to a routine and to some objective, it will be easy to loose momentum and find it difficult to get started up again! So here is looking forward to a return to 'normal routines' and a refreshed writing routine.
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