Watch the Webinar: How Academic Writing Coaches Get Unstuck
Ever wonder what a writing coach does when they get stuck in their manuscript? Watch academic writing coaches Michelle Boyd, author of Becoming the Writer You Already Are, Cathy Mazak and Leslie Wang as they describe the biggest challenges they’ve faced when writing books and what they do to move past them in a free webinar marking Academic Writing Month. They describe some of the key ways that scholars get tripped up when writing and share examples from their recent experiences with their own books. They also discuss the strategies they recommend to junior and senior faculty members — ever considered adding a ‘Done List’ next to your ‘To Do’ list? – and what happens when they take their own advice.
Finally, they take questions from audience members looking for guidance through their own stuck moments. Whether you’re writing your first book or are a veteran, this workshop can help you understand why we get stuck in our books and provide concrete, actionable solutions that will help you get unstuck.
The hour-long webinar, sponsored by our sister site MethodSpace, took place on November 3. MethodSapce has created a wealth of content around Academic Writing Month, which can be perused here.
Michelle Boyd is the founder of InkWell Academic Writing Retreats, a transformative, retreat-based coaching company that teaches scholars to overcome their writing fears. She is also a self-described “struggling writer” whose success as an award-winning, former tenured faculty member belied the challenges she faced throughout her career as an academic. Boyd’s coaching programs are rooted in research showing that each scholar has their own natural writing process and that many of their struggles come from external barriers that prevent them from recognizing, accessing, or trusting that process when they need it. Boydhas been leading retreats since 2012 when she co-founded and coached her first retreat as a faculty member.
Leslie Wang is a writing coach and the creator of “Your Words Unleashed,” a signature coaching program that helps scholars master their writing habits and publish books that matter. A former tenured sociology professor and twice-published author, she helps authors from diverse disciplines draw wisdom from their own histories, overcome imposter syndrome, and make decisions grounded in their core values so they can write with joy and purpose. She empowers writers from marginalized backgrounds to transform the world with their ideas.
Cathy Mazak was a tenured, full professor when she founded a writing-focused professional development company for women and nonbinary academics. Mazak and her team are dedicated to changing the way that academics leverage writing and publication to create the careers and lives they want through courses and group coaching programs. In her work as a professor at The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Mazak attracted external funding for her work in bilingualism and higher education and co-founded a research center. Her podcast, Academic Writing Amplified, teaches how to use writing to resist the racist, ableist, patriarchal culture of academia.
