One of my favourite cartoons shows a despondent chicken telling his violin teacher, “I don’t want to practice! I want to skip to the part where I’m awesome.” I feel like this every time I try to learn something new. Although I’m certainly not becoming more patient with age, I do now have a reasonably realistic idea of what it takes to actually get good at something. This is mainly due to the work of Professor Anders Ericsson, who sadly died last week. ...
Who knows how much you earn? One person? Two? Maybe nobody apart from Human Resources. Research shows that nearly 50% of couples have no idea of each other’s salary. As Alex Holder explains in Open Up,1 we often believe our salary and assets define us. These are the true indicators of our success, status, and power. Revealing that magic figure gives someone an easy way to judge our worth. And this secrecy extends beyond our salaries. In a survey by the Money Advice Service, 45% of people admitted to lying to their partners about money, especially debt. ...
When we want to quit a destructive habit, it’s common to be hard on ourselves. We don’t just start with a gentle 20-minute canter around the block, it has to be a 5k run before breakfast. Every day. There’s nobility in suffering and, of course, we crave fast results. This punishing schedule proves unsustainable and we’re confronted with yet more evidence of our flakiness. Nevertheless, many self-help books urge us to pursue dramatic change. ...
Most of us start out with good intentions to get some writing done. Then we hear the unwelcome voice of our Inner Critic: “You’re not really a writer” … “Who on earth are you, anyway?” … “Have you seen the state of the kitchen floor?” Sometimes this adversary can be silenced with a chocolate biscuit, but sometimes we need to push back with evidence. Here’s one technique that can help. ...
It’s all very well having a plan for your writing, but how do you actually get going? “I’ll just quickly check Twitter, then I’ll make a start on this chapter.” 5 hours later, it’s time for dinner. In this post, I’ll share three strategies for dealing with an unwelcome visit from the Procrastination Fairy. 1. Think about why you’re procrastinating Are you bored? Find a part that stimulates you and start there. Is it hard? Why is it hard? Do you fully understand your research material. Perhaps there’s a gap in your knowledge? (NB: this is not an excuse to read another 500 journal articles). Does nothing make sense? Go back to the planning stage. This saves you time, as you’ll write much faster with a clearer sense of where you’re going. Would you rather be doing something else? Remind yourself why you’re doing this and how pleased you’ll be when it’s done. Distracted by other ideas? Write them down, then get back to the task. 2. Try some warm-up exercises Most of us can’t suddenly switch into writer mode and expect words to tumble from our fingertips. Easing yourself in gradually gives your brain a chance to adapt and focus. Five minutes’ freewriting is the perfect warm-up exercise. The point of freewriting is that you just keep going: type whatever’s in your head, and don’t stop to reflect or edit. If you’re terrified of what’s in your head, you could try some prompts: ...
As a writer, there’s nothing more intimidating than a blank screen. As we stare into the void, our brain goes into spasm and we’re unable to retrieve even rudimentary ideas. Anything that does pop into our head feels like utter rubbish. No wonder it’s often easier to faff about on Facebook or talk to the cat. In this post, I’ll walk you through three simple planning techniques to make your next piece of writing less daunting. You can use them in sequence, mix and match, or adapt them for your purpose. ...
If you’re an academic researcher, you’re also a professional writer. And if you’re a professional writer, then you’re probably suffering from a range of health problems. Most of us spend a lot of time hunched over our desks, so engrossed in work that we give no thought to the long-term consequences. Joanna Penn’s new book The Healthy Writer is based partly on survey responses from 1,100 writers, who reported stress, back pain, weight gain, anxiety, depression, headaches, and Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). I’ve heard very similar stories from attendees at my workshops and writing retreats. ...
If you’re at all familiar with academic publishing, you’ll know it moves at the pace of a creaky snail. Imagine, then, a team of researchers gathering to plan, write, edit and publish a book in just 4 days. Yes, that’s right – 4 days. I was sceptical, too. Devised by Adam Hyde, the Book Sprint is a process that promotes collaboration and rapid decision-making, helping teams to achieve a lot in a short space of time. Typically, the Sprint is arranged over 5 stages: ...
It’s not often that Florence Marryat makes the national press, so this has been an exciting week. An unpublished letter from 1860 has emerged in which Charles Dickens berates Marryat for requesting advice from him. She offered a short story for inclusion in his journal All the Year Round, hoping that he would also give her a critique. Of course, it’s perfectly usual for authors to solicit feedback from editors, and Dickens was actually a close friend of her father, fellow novelist Captain Frederick Marryat. Poor Florence must’ve been rather miffed to receive a three-page snotgram in response. Bonhams, who are to auction the letter on 16th March, have described Dickens’s reply as “wonderfully rude”. Refusing to enter into further discussion, he writes: ...
It’s the sixth time I’ve done this meme, and it’s harder this year as I’ve been a bit slack with my reading. THE RULES: Using only books you have read this year (2015), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. Describe yourself: Fingersmith (Sarah Waters) How do you feel: The Content Machine (Michael Baskhar) Describe where you currently live: Armchair Nation (Joe Moran) If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Packing for Mars (Mary Roach) ...