I'm on leave for the next several weeks, so I have queued up a series of "reboot" posts, revisiting evergreen material from the early days of this blog.
Over the past couple of years, my co-author Steve Heard and I slogged through a lot of drafts (and feedback of all stripes!) to produce a book we think can help you help people write better. It wasn't all fun, but it was a lot of fun to write.
We're hoping that the resources in that book will help you and the developing writers you mentor to find more confidence, pleasure, and even fun in your own work.
As we worked on the manuscript, we (ahem, I) went on a lot of tangents. Steve's on his third book now, and while he's great at his own tangents, the beauty of co-writing is that we spot each others' darlings and can provide some perspective on which should be in a particular writing project.
Short story: not all of my cherished ideas (and rants) fit in the book. Some of them have made an appearance here on Academic Zest, addressing my underlying motive of posting this material somewhere that could help you. So, here's a short list of thoughts about writing that might help you now or help you prep for mentoring developing writers in the fall.
Three things you can tell someone when their writing is competent, but it's still not "working"
Frame your own intentions for teaching, then document how you're meeting them (can be adapted for writing, or used directly in your own mentorship planning)
Academics need to teach students to write professional emails (plus my advice on them)
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