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Analog note-taking when highlighting is not possible (e.g. books)
Anybody who follows me on Twitter or reads my blog knows that I have quite a healthy stock of stationery. I have always loved stationery and office supplies. I love taking notes by hand, and this...
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Getting the most out of writing groups (online and offline)
I love writing groups, as you probably can guess from my raving about them on Twitter. I have also written on this blog about their benefits. Now, one of the questions people ask me frequently is: how...
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Using ethnographic field notes in the actual writing of a paper
A scholar from the global south asked me recently for references or some help on how to use ethnographic field notes in the actual writing of a paper, and how they should be reported (that is, how we...
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Skimming articles using the AIC (Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion) Method,...
Two of my favourite scholars, Dr. Heather Smith and Dr. Eugene McCann (whom I have admired independently for a very long time, even before I became friends with both of them) recently asked me if I had...
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Tackling an R&R (Revise-And-Resubmit) – a full-fledged process
On the full-fledged process of responding to a Revise-And-Resubmit (R&R): I have written pieces that tackle specific components of the process, but I hadn’t actually written a thread or a blog post...
View ArticleOvercoming “Writer’s Block” with Index Cards and Memorandums
This past week, I taught 2 workshops, 1 for the Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA) and another one (over 2 days) for Rutgers University Newark’s School of...
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A proposed heuristic to choose which note-taking technique we should use:...
As most people who read my blog and have ever taken a course from me or attended one of my workshops (or even follow me on Twitter), I really love writing blog posts and Twitter threads that will help...
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The Memo-Based Writing Strategy: Helping students write large-ish (>2,500...
I found a request on Twitter by a professor on how to help students with “large N word” assignments (3,000 words, 5,000 words, a thesis). This is something I have thought about frequently because...
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How to write field notes (and how to teach the writing of fieldnotes)
Writing is hard. And writing field notes is hard, too. I don’t think that there is enough guidance on how to do it. I’ve written about the use of ethnographic fieldnotes in scholarly written output,...
View ArticleUsing a Ventilation File to help break free from writers’ block
I used to hate on the Ventilation File and this blog post is about how I changed my mind about it. The Ventilation File is a document (or a folder with a series of documents) where you go vent (hence...
View ArticleOn making explicit your contribution to the larger literature and bodies of...
You may have noticed discussions on #AcademicTwitter regarding how studies in the US are written as though generalizable for the world. This is not uncommon: that’s the training that many are exposed...
View ArticleThe realities of writing: loving it and having to work hard for it
I love writing. I utterly, completely and absolutely adore writing. Am I naturally gifted as a writer? No. Is writing easy for me? Also no. Do I write in spite of the fact that I struggle with it? Yes....
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On writing about, thinking and teaching research methods.
I wrote a thread in Spanish last night on puzzles and how to craft research questions. I’ve written about this topic several times in English, and in Spanish, but not on the actual topic of “puzzles”....
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“Parking your writing downhill” as a strategy to keep momentum with your...
This blog post describes my understanding of the “parking your writing downhill” strategy to kickstart your academic writing or simply to keep going. It was Dr. Veronica Kitchen who first said to me...
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A few strategies to overcome writer’s block
I’ve had an absolutely bonkers pair of months (April and May, and June is gearing to be the same). For the first time in 2.5 years, I attended in-person workshops (2!) I am, of course, behind on...
View ArticleOn Cornell Notes and the importance of noting down EVERYTHING including the...
Those of you who have followed me for a time know that I do love taking notes off articles with the Cornell Notes method. I find it a very useful note-taking strategy when you are reading materials...
View ArticlePreparing for the PhD defense/viva? Use the GDN instead of a DTP
Doctoral candidates preparing for the PhD dissertation defense (or viva): I was asked whether I thought it was better to do a DTP (Dissertation Two Pager) or a GDN (Global Dissertation Narrative) in...
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3 fundamental lessons about reading and academic writing
Whenever I teach academic writing I tell my students a number of things I strongly believe are fundamental. The three lessons I list here are in my view of the utmost importance. First, to learn how to...
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Reading is writing: To situate your work within the broader literature, you...
I want to make something perfectly clear, particularly because it looks like people want to jump and “do research”, “collect data”, “analyse things” and would rather do any of those rather than read....
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The Abstract Decomposition Matrix Technique to find a gap in the literature
I have been thinking about how I can help my students with their theses, particularly because our programs are rather compressed and they need to get a lot done in a very short period of time. I’ve...
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