-
Start Simple
OR Go Back the Basics: a review of Several Short Sentences About Writing I wanted to create a space for ideas and resources in academia. I finished my PhD in December 2025 and had so much to share! I’ve also spent the past 10+ years as a director at a university honors college. I chose… →
-
All Writing is Writing
It may not look the same, but it’s words to paper! Most of my weekly writing never ends up in essays, conference papers, or chapters. Half the time, it isn’t even academic; it consists of journal entries, long texts to friends, emails, teaching notes, and postcards or letters sent each Sunday as part of the… →
-
Build a Sustainable Writing Routine
Routines are hard to establish, so creating a writing routine isn’t something you can decide to do one day and expect it to work instantly. Academic life is demanding and pulls you in different directions every day. Your writing routine needs to fit within that push-and-pull. For example, if today is Wednesday and you decide… →
-
How to Think About History
A review of Thinking About History This book has sat on my shelf for years and even accompanied me on a runcation once, but I never committed to reading it. I finally decided to pick it up to review it for my blog. This book is a fantastic look at how historians think about or… →
-
From Raw Sources to Real Insights
How I Turn Archival Material Into Usable Notes You have your archival materials and sources ready, and now you’re prepared to write. To simplify the writing process, step back and review your archival materials with your main research question in mind: turning your primary sources and notes into a coherent narrative or argument is essential.… →
-
Do you have 15 minutes?
A review of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day During a meeting where I was struggling to write my proposal, my PhD advisor recommended that I read Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker. She’d never steered me wrong before, so I ordered the book as I walked back… →
-
What to Expect in 2026
A Guided Year of Scholarship and Creativity I wanted to keep my welcome post separate from my “What to Expect in 2026” post. I believe introducing the blog and outlining what to expect are two distinct topics. Typically, the “What to Expect in 20xx” would be announced at the end of December or early January.… →
-
Tips I Wish I’d Learned Earlier
Reading Bird by Bird at the Right Time I picked up Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott a few years back when I visited BookPeople, a fantastic bookstore in Austin,while passing through the city. I proceeded to leave it on my “to be read shelf” for a couple of years. When I decided on books… →
Wendi Kavanaugh 