Picture yourself looking at your calendar and seeing a one-hour block of potential writing time. Perhaps it’s early morning before classes, a lunch break, or that quiet window between meetings. Does it feel insufficient for “real” scholarly work? Many academics dismiss such periods, waiting instead for those mythical full days of uninterrupted writing time. Some […]

Picture this: You’re sitting at your desk, surrounded by your research materials—primary sources, theoretical texts, archival notes—and that manuscript deadline looms. Instead of writing, you’re reorganizing your citations, diving into yet another secondary source, or perhaps even doing your taxes. Sound familiar? As humanities scholars, we often find ourselves doing anything but the writing we

Writing an academic book typically takes years. Complicating matters, you often have to work on other projects (like journal articles) while working on the book. Sustaining momentum on any writing project—let alone such a big one—can be challenging. Below are a set of practices I use to set myself up for success. Planning & Pre-Work