For my professor friends. — Here’s the loving nudge you might need today. Just send it. Stop checking the references. The journal proofreader will take care of that. Stop reworking the first or last paragraph. The reviewers may tell you to change it. Don’t edit the life out of it. Stop wondering who is going…

3 steps toward a reality check. — “Just because you’re better at doing something doesn’t mean you doing it is the most productive use of your time.”―Tiffany Dufu, Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less The ongoing atrocities of the past week, this time in Kenosha, have had me thinking about faculty health, and mental health…

Our research is relevant. Please share it with the world. — I’ve been writing on Medium for over a year now, and I wish more academics would use it to: (1) express themselves, (2) to share their research and theorizing, and (3) as a method to keep writing, even when it seems impossible during such stressful times. Here are the benefits: 1. Rapid production and…

White women’s violence is a time-honored American tradition. But it doesn’t have to be. — “Mistress Epps was not naturally such an evil woman, after all. She was possessed of the devil, jealousy, it is true, but aside from that, there was much in her character to admire.” “[I]f she was not watchful when about her cabin, or when walking in the yard, a billet…

We long for everyday magic. Stop pathologizing your creativity. — Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and they that dwell therein. — Zora Neal Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road “I have no special talents. I am…

Cat diagrams to the rescue — Have you ever been baffled by these levitating lines when writing? Hyphen: - En Dash: – Em Dash: — Sigh. Hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes are often most problematic when they’re missing. American (U.S.) English differences with other forms of English make matters worse. …

When you cannot focus because of the pandemic or life in general — “We can’t control our circumstances. But we can control our thoughts. We can control our feelings, our actions, and our results, and what we decide to do with all of them.” — Brooke Castillo Even in the best of times, writing can be a rollercoaster of joy, guilt, and…

Diagrams to the rescue — We’ve seen it in the grocery store: “10 items or less.” Unfortunately, this infamous sign has led us all astray in confusing the meaning of “fewer” and “less.” Shall we rectify this situation? According to Cambridge Dictionary, “the quantifiers less and fewer . . . talk about quantities, amounts…

A few diagrams should help — As an editor, I’ve noticed an increase in the use and misuse of within. Like the misuse of I and me (I do this all the time!), I believe the misuse of within stems from overcompensation. …