Tag: academic writing

Writer in Review: 2023

This is my third year continuing my writer in review tradition. I don’t know if these are valuable to anyone else out there but me, but I really enjoy the forced opportunity to reflect back on the work I’ve been doing. Sometimes in the thick of it, I don’t see any progress, but then you look back on a whole year and can see real changes. So without further ado, a summary of last year.

a woman writing numbers on sand with her hand
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com
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25 Questions Asked Upon Returning to Academic Writing After 13 Years

  1. What was the name of that awesome program I used to use to manage my research? Ah, there it is.
  2. Wait, now, what was that database that all the literary papers are in? EBSCO? No, JSTOR, that’s it.
  3. Woah, there are three whole journals basically devoted to CS Lewis? (Only a bit of an exaggeration.)
  4. Research is so fun! Why didn’t I go to grad school?
  5. Now how do I get access to these papers without membership in a university library? Oh, wow, this is way easier than it was in 2008.
  6. Why is the only academic thing I can find on Brandon Sanderson an undergraduate thesis? And I can’t access it. Oh well.
  7. Hmm, on reading these papers, none of this actually seems to be useful. Am I missing something?
  8. Should I buy these academic books on fantasy? What am I saying? Yes. The answer to buying books is always yes.
  9. How do I know when to stop researching and just starting writing? Maybe now?
  10. Uh, I don’t know how to start this. I guess, what better place to start than the middle?
  11. Actually, I need more sources to write this part. What if we move on to this later part?
  12. Now, how do I cite scripture in MLA?
  13. Writing is so awesome! Who’s the best writer ever?
  14. Why did I think starting in the middle was a good idea? Now I have two disconnected pieces.
  15. Why is this so hard? I remember being good at this once upon a time.
  16. Why do the Kindle versions of all the other books in this series have page numbers but this one doesn’t? I really don’t like having to cite chapter numbers for only this volume.
  17. What’s a better way to say “In this paper, I will show . . .”?
  18. Wait, do you italicize series titles in MLA?
  19. Is it ethical to just pull this quote from someone else’s paper and quote it as if I actually looked it up myself? Probably not. I’ll just buy the book. Mostly likely will use it again anyway.
  20. Who on my friend list do I trust to help me fix this paper?
  21. Am I a jerky friend for not asking sooner? It’s due in three days . . . .
  22. Oh my gosh, my friend is a genius. Why didn’t I see that?
  23. Should I save this paragraph somewhere before cutting it?
  24. Are there any more asterisks I haven’t replaced yet? Oh, there’s one.
  25. Okay, am I ready for this? Submit!