《学术英语写作与演讲 Academic Writing and Presentation in English》教学资源（阅读材料）Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks（A Guide to Academic Publishing Success）

回 WEEK 1:19 DAILY TASKS The point of writing regularly is to develop a habit of writing,and part of that is having a habitual writing spot.Use the chart below to indicate your writing sites. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. Regular Writing Site Backup Writing Site Use the chart below to indicate what improvements you will have to make to these writing sites to ensure that they are comfortable and nondis- tracting. Regular Writing Site Improvements Backup Writing Site Improvements It's interesting to note that some students have a site that they use to get themselves in a positive writing mood before moving to their writing spot. One student would enter the bathroom,close the door,and sit on the floor while wearing a particular hat.In that odd sanctuary,she thought through her writing plan for the day and initiated her writing mindset.Another student with a long commute would talk aloud to herself in the car.Speak- ing the words helped her to gain focus and to argue with potential critics. Use the chart below to note anything you do to start writing. Preparatory Writing Activity Day 4:Designing Your Writing Schedule Many students believe that in order to write they must have long,unin- terrupted stretches of time.Nothing will do but to be at their desks eight hours a day,all night,or six days a week.Only then will they be able to concentrate.Such stretches are elusive,however,so they wait for the week- end,and then for the break between classes,and then for the summer. Waiting becomes a permanent state,with writing something that you will do after,for instance,your qualifying exams or your first year teaching. Others forcefully create blocks of time.As one of my students put it,"If I wait until the night before to write my paper,I will only be miserable for

- (!)- The point of writing regularly is to develop a habit of writing, and part of that is having a habitual writing spot. Use the chart below to indicate your writing sites. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. Regular Writing Site Backup Writing Site Use the chart below to indicate what improvements you will have to make to these writing sites to ensure that they are comfortable and nondis￾tracting. Regular Writing Site Improvements Backup Writing Site Improvements It's interesting to note that some students have a site that they use to get themselves in a positive writing mood before moving to their writing spot. One student would enter the bathroom, close the door, and sit on the floor while wearing a particular hat. In that odd sanctuary, she thought through her writing plan for the day and initiated her writing mindset. Another student with a long commute would talk aloud to herself in the car. Speak￾ing the words helped her to gain focus and to argue with potential critics. Use the chart below to note anything you do to start writing. 1-·mw~ Writing Activity Day 4: Desil!ninl! Your Writinl! Schedule Many students believe that in order to write they must have long, unin￾terrupted stretches of time. Nothing will do but to be at their desks eight hours a day, all night, or six days a week. Only then will they be able to concentrate. Such stretches are elusive, however, so they wait for the week￾end, and then for the break between classes, and then for the summer. Waiting becomes a permanent state, with writing something that you will do after, for instance, your qualifying exams or your first year teaching. Others forcefully create blocks of time. As one of my students put it, "If I wait until the night before to write my paper, I will only be miserable for WEEK 1: 19 DAILY TASKS

20 DESIGNING YOUR PLAN FOR WRITING eight hours!"Such students believe that containing the process will reduce the painfulness of the experience.What they don't understand is that this irregular practice is producing the painfulness.Imagine deciding that"Run- ning marathons is painful,so I'm never going to run except on the day of the marathon."Of course,the marathon is then an extremely painful experience you never want to repeat.By contrast,people who run a mile or two every day really enjoy running and often feel lost without it. Study after study shows that you do not need big blocks of time to write.3 In fact,writers who write a little bit every day produce more manu- scripts than those who alternate weeks/months without writing with extended writing sessions.Writing just thirty minutes a day can make you one of those unusual writers who publishes several journal articles a year. Those who write in regular,unemotional sessions of moderate length completed more pages,enjoyed more editorial acceptance, were less depressed and more creative than those authors who wrote in emotionally charged binges.(Boice 1997,435) When I make this assertion in class about how little time it can take to be productive,most students look at me skeptically.It is by far the most controversial idea that I introduce in my course-simultaneously the most contested and the most embraced.Not surprisingly,many immediately voice their disbelief."No way,"I hear."That's impossible."When I ask why,this is what students tell me: I need whole days to write;otherwise I forget what I'm working on....I lose track.If I don't stay in one mental space for an entire week,my ideas don't cohere....I need to get up a head of steam and just keep on going because if I stop,I'll never get started again. I listen to the students'objections,but then ask them to indulge me. "Just as an experiment,"I say,"try writing fifteen minutes a day for the next week."I remind them that we all manage to get to work,use a microwave,and answer e-mail without having to do it for ten hours at a stretch."But writing is different,"they argue."It's intellectual;it's about ideas."Just indulge me,I reply. The next week,the student who protested the most is usually the first to volunteer that,wow,it really does work.One student told me that he had reorganized his entire life into fifteen-minute chunks arranged around work and childcare."Not only did I do fifteen minutes of writing a day,I did fifteen minutes of gardening,fifteen minutes of cooking,and fifteen minutes of reading!"Another student told me she had solved an important revision problem while standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehi- cles.Yet another student set herself the goal of writing a 2,000-word essay for a trade magazine in her field without ever writing more than fifteen minutes a day.In two weeks,she had submitted the essay. One student explained it like this:"I'm usually an environmental per- fectionist when it comes to writing,I have to be at my computer,it has to be silent,I must have coffee.But I was stuck waiting at the airport for a

20 DESIGNING YOUR -r-1 PLAN FOR WRITING I.II eight hours!" Such students believe that containing the process will reduce the painfuffiess of the experience. What they don't understand is that this irregular practice is producing the painfuffiess. Imagine deciding that "Run￾ning marathons is painful, so I'm never going to run except on the day of the marathon." Of course, the marathon is then an extremely painful experience you never want to repeat. By contrast, people who run a mile or two every day really enjoy running and often feel lost without it. Study after study shows that you do not need big blocks of time to write.3 In fact, writers who write a little bit every day produce more manu￾scripts than those who alternate weeks/months without writing with extended writing sessions. Writing just thirty minutes a day can make you one of those unusual writers who publishes several journal articles a year. Those who write in regular, unemotional sessions of moderate length completed more pages, enjoyed more editorial acceptance, were less depressed and more creative than those authors who wrote in emotionally charged binges. (Boice 1997, 435) When I make this assertion in class about how little time it can take to be productive, most students look at me skeptically. It is by far the most controversial idea that I introduce in my course-simultaneously the most contested and the most embraced. Not surprisingly, many immediately voice their disbelief. "No way," I hear. "That's impossible." When I ask why, this is what students tell me: I need whole days to write; otherwise I forget what I'm working on .... I lose track. If I don't stay in one mental space for an entire week, my ideas don't cohere .... I need to get up a head of steam and just keep on going because if I stop, I'll never get started again. I listen to the students' objections, but then ask them to indulge me. "Just as an experiment," I say, "try writing fifteen minutes a day for the next week." I remind them that we all manage to get to work, use a microwave, and answer e-mail without having to do it for ten hours at a stretch. "But writing is different," they argue. "It's intellectual; it's about ideas." Just indulge me, I reply. The next week, the student who protested the most is usually the first to volunteer that, wow, it really does work. One student told me that he had reorganized his entire life into fifteen-minute chunks arranged around work and childcare. "Not only did I do fifteen minutes of writing a day, I did fifteen minutes of gardening, fifteen minutes of cooking, and fifteen minutes of reading!" Another student told me she had solved an important revision problem while standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehi￾cles. Yet another student set herself the goal of writing a 2,000-word essay for a trade magazine in her field without ever writing more than fifteen minutes a day. In two weeks, she had submitted the essay. One student explained it like this: "I'm usually an environmental per￾fectionist when it comes to writing, I have to be at my computer, it has to be silent, I must have coffee. But I was stuck waiting at the airport for a

WEEK 1:21 DAILY TASKS flight to a conference,and I thought about what you said.So I decided to try writing for fifteen minutes.It worked fine.Then I worried about having to take the time to type up my penciled notes,but I found that in transcrib- ing them I revised them as well,so it wasn't wasted time.A busy airport would still not be my writing site of choice,but I can see how,by being flex- ible,I can ensure that I write a little bit everyday and keep my ideas fresh." Another person told me that,"I can't do the fifteen-minute thing.But I believe in the concept of writing daily so the way that I've interpreted that concept for myself is that I always have whatever journal article I am work- ing on open on my computer.It's the first thing I open when I turn on my computer and the last thing I close.That means that every day at some point I do something to the article-I add a citation,change the spaces in the table,cut a few words from the methods and so on.It keeps it fresh." Almost all of my students who actually do the exercise admit that they get a useful amount of work done in fifteen minutes and that they have no problem remembering where they are or what they are doing when they start up the next day.Writing every day keeps the article in the forefront,so that you think about it while driving or doing the dishes,instead of forget- ting about it.Furthermore,if you write in the morning you feel so produc- tive that the rest of the day seems much more manageable. For many of us,writing more than fifteen minutes is preferable and given the choice,we will set aside one to four hours for writing.If you have financial support and no other obligations,you can ratchet your hours as high as you can stand it.But what if you don't?What if you are a new pro- fessor teaching three new courses?Or a new father who isn't getting much sleep?Large blocks of time don't exist.The good news is that you can get some writing done in the few minutes that do open up and they will be effective.It means if you suddenly spend half-an-hour writing,you can be pleasantly surprised and not disappointed that it was not a full day.You can rearrange your thinking to value any and all writing opportunities.Writing in short daily bursts is especially helpful if you only have one block of time a week.That is,your Saturday afternoon of writing will be much more pro- ductive if you spent fifteen minutes of writing each of the four previous days.You are limbered up and don't need much warm-up time.Some find that the short sessions are best for revising and the long sessions for draft- ing-discover what works for you.Some consider that writing time includes writing up their notes on reading.Whatever works for you is fine with me. The moral?Writing daily works.Writing in painful binges does not.The problem with binge writing-where you don't write for weeks and then stay up all night (or the whole weekend)writing-is that the less you write, the harder it becomes to write.Part of the reason students feel they need big blocks of time is because it takes them so long to silence their inner critic.In the absence of the small but satisfying successes of daily writing,that critic becomes harsher and louder.If you have been writing every day,you don't have this problem.The more of a habit that writing becomes,the more likely you are to complete writing projects and to enjoy writing

flight to a conference, and I thought about what you said. So I decided to try writing for fifteen minutes. It worked fine. Then I worried about having to take the time to type up my penciled notes, but I found that in transcrib￾ing them I revised them as well, so it wasn't wasted time. A busy airport would still not be my writing site of choice, but I can see how, by being flex￾ible, I can ensure that I write a little bit everyday and keep my ideas fresh." Another person told me that, "I can't do the fifteen-minute thing. But I believe in the concept of writing daily so the way that I've interpreted that concept for myself is that I always have whatever journal article I am work￾ing on open on my computer. It's the first thing I open when I turn on my computer and the last thing I close. That means that every day at some point I do something to the article-I add a citation, change the spaces in the table, cut a few words from the methods and so on. It keeps it fresh." Almost all of my students who actually do the exercise admit that they get a useful amount of work done in fifteen minutes and that they have no problem remembering where they are or what they are doing when they start up the next day. Writing every day keeps the article in the forefront, so that you think about it while driving or doing the dishes, instead of forget￾ting about it. Furthermore, if you write in the morning you feel so produc￾tive that the rest of the day seems much more manageable. For many of us, writing more than fifteen minutes is preferable and given the choice, we will set aside one to four hours for writing. If you have financial support and no other obligations, you can ratchet your hours as high as you can stand it. But what if you don't? What if you are a new pro￾fessor teaching three new courses? Or a new father who isn't getting much sleep? Large blocks of time don't exist. The good news is that you can get some writing done in the few minutes that do open up and they will be effective. It means if you suddenly spend half-an-hour writing, you can be pleasantly surprised and not disappointed that it was not a full day. You can rearrange your thinking to value any and all writing opportunities. Writing in short daily bursts is especially helpful if you only have one block of time a week. That is, your Saturday afternoon of writing will be much more pro￾ductive if you spent fifteen minutes of writing each of the four previous days. You are limbered up and don't need much warm-up time. Some find that the short sessions are best for revising and the long sessions for draft￾ing-discover what works for you. Some consider that writing time includes writing up their notes on reading. Whatever works for you is fine with me. The moral? Writing daily works. Writing in painful binges does not. The problem with binge writing-where you don't write for weeks and then stay up all night (or the whole weekend) writing-is that the less you write, the harder it becomes to write. Part of the reason students feel they need big blocks of time is because it takes them so long to silence their inner critic. In the absence of the small but satisfying successes of daily writing, that critic becomes harsher and louder. If you have been writing every day, you don't have this problem. The more of a habit that writing becomes, the more likely you are to complete writing projects and to enjoy writing. WEEK 1: 21 DAILY TASKS

22 DESIGNING YOUR PLAN FOR WRITING 回 Therefore,I can guarantee you dramatic improvement as a writer if you commit to being at your writing site and writing five days a week,for fifteen to thirty to sixty minutes.The key is to establish a regular,reason- able writing schedule and then discipline yourself to maintain it. Few graduate students,in my experience,have good writing schedules that they discipline themselves to maintain.In this,they are little different from most faculty members,as you learned at the beginning of this chapter. One study of new faculty followed them over the course of the first two years of their tenure-track appointment.The new faculty had estimated that they would spend at least ten hours a week writing and would produce at least two articles.But,over that period,they spent an average of only thirty minutes a week on writing and produced only a third of one manuscript rather than two(Boice 1997,24).Clearly,making time to write is a wide- spread problem.So,let's focus on setting up a reasonable schedule.This next section is long,so be sure to allot enough time to do all the tasks. Establishing a Firm Deadline I designed this workbook to aid you in sending an article to a journal in twelve weeks.I recommend that you consider this current week as Week 1 and eleven weeks later as your deadline for sending the journal article.Alter- nately,you can identify external deadlines that will keep you disciplined, such as the conference date when you must present the article.Once this firm completion date is set,you can plan your time accordingly. If you do not feel this is a good week to begin,choose next week.You could even choose the week after or set the book aside for next summer, but I do not recommend this.Then you are falling into the trap of thinking you can only write with large,uninterrupted chunks of time.If you think this way,you will start by waiting for the break between classes to write, and then for the summer,and then for sabbatical,and then for retirement. And then,let's be frank,you will be dead! There is no time like the present.If you've read this far in the workbook, you are definitely prepared to undertake this task.Since I designed this workbook to accommodate writing to your life,rather than the other way around,you can reach your goal of sending your article out even if this is a busy time for you.In the next session,I am going to address the writing anx- ieties that may prevent you from starting right now,but before that,please set your final deadline by using the twelve-week calendar on page 24. Weeks.Under each of the twelve week boxes,fill in the exact dates between now and your firm completion date. Setting a Realistic Writing Goal This workbook sets a goal of writing and submitting a journal article in twelve weeks.To do this,you must write between fifteen minutes and one hour a day,five days a week.It is unlikely that you will need more time than this(fifteen to sixty hours)to complete your article.If you very rarely write now,it is best to start small and set a goal of writing fifteen minutes

22 DESIGNING YOUR - ... PLAN FOR WRITING .!J Therefore, I can guarantee you dramatic improvement as a writer if you commit to being at your writing site and writing five days a week, for fifteen to thirty to sixty minutes. The key is to establish a regular, reason￾able writing schedule and then discipline yourself to maintain it. Few graduate students, in my experience, have good writing schedules that they discipline themselves to maintain. In this, they are little different from most faculty members, as you learned at the beginning of this chapter. One study of new faculty followed them over the course of the first two years of their tenure-track appointment. The new faculty had estimated that they would spend at least ten hours a week writing and would produce at least two articles. But, over that period, they spent an average of only thirty minutes a week on writing and produced only a third of one manuscript rather than two (Boice 1997, 24). Clearly, making time to write is a wide￾spread problem. So, let's focus on setting up a reasonable schedule. This next section is long, so be sure to allot enough time to do all the tasks. Establishin!1 a Firm Deadline I designed this workbook to aid you in sending an article to a journal in twelve weeks. I recommend that you consider this current week as Week 1 and eleven weeks later as your deadline for sending the journal article. Alter￾nately, you can identify external deadlines that will keep you disciplined, such as the conference date when you must present the article. Once this firm completion date is set, you can plan your time accordingly. If you do not feel this is a good week to begin, choose next week. You could even choose the week after or set the book aside for next summer, but I do not recommend this. Then you are falling into the trap of thinking you can only write with large, uninterrupted chunks of time. If you think this way, you will start by waiting for the break between classes to write, and then for the summer, and then for sabbatical, and then for retirement. And then, let's be frank, you will be dead! There is no time like the present. If you've read this far in the workbook, you are definitely prepared to undertake this task. Since I designed this workbook to accommodate writing to your life, rather than the other way around, you can reach your goal of sending your article out even if this is a busy time for you. In the next session, I am going to address the writing anx￾ieties that may prevent you from starting right now, but before that, please set your final deadline by using the twelve-week calendar on page 24. Weeks. Under each of the twelve week boxes, fill in the exact dates between now and your firm completion date. Settin!1 a Realistic Writin!1 Goal This workbook sets a goal of writing and submitting a journal article in twelve weeks. To do this, you must write between fifteen minutes and one hour a day, five days a week. It is unlikely that you will need more time than this (fifteen to sixty hours) to complete your article. If you very rarely write now, it is best to start small and set a goal of writing fifteen minutes

WEEK 1:23 DAILY TASKS a day.If you have developed some good writing habits,you should set a goal of writing one to three hours a day on this article.If you are on fel- lowship or your sabbatical,with no other responsibilities,you may write for more than that,but recognize that there often are diminishing returns after three or four hours.Short and steady sessions will also win the race. Make sure your goal is realistic rather than ambitious.For instance,recent research suggests that being a morning or evening person has deep psycho- logical roots that you ignore to your detriment(Diaz-Morales 2007).If you are not a morning person,do not determine to get up every morning and write at 5:00 a.m.This is not realistic.Pick a time of day when you are most alert and energetic.If you work full time Monday through Friday,don't determine to write every evening for four hours or to set aside your entire weekend.This is not a realistic goal and will only discourage you.Aim instead to write fif- teen minutes a day during the week and for several hours on Sunday after- noon,for example.This will keep your ideas fresh during the week so that your weekend session is productive.If your schedule is to write one hour Monday,Wednesday,and Friday,still try to get in fifteen minutes on Tuesday and Thursday so that you don't grind your gears on fuller writing days. The most unrealistic writing schedule is none at all.Don't believe that somehow,miraculously,your article will get written in the next couple of months simply because you need it to be submitted. You may have to adjust your goal as you go along,but for now,you should focus on what is doable given your obligations and work habits. With but a few exceptions,writers who remained in a schedule requiring an hour or less a weekday of writing mastered a sequence of strategies for remaining truly productive over long periods of time.(Boice 1990,3) Weeks.Under each of the weeks in the twelve-week calendar on page 24, note the days and weeks when it will be especially difficult to find time for writing.For instance,perhaps certain days of the week regularly fill up with childcare or teaching.Perhaps you or someone in your family is scheduled for surgery.Perhaps relatives are coming to visit for a week.Perhaps you have a deadline for another piece of writing.Use the calendar to anticipate packed schedules.You may want to skip a particular week in your twelve-week writ- ing plan,if that week is harried,and stretch the plan to thirteen weeks Days.Under each of the seven days in the weekly calendar on page 24, cross out the times unavailable for writing in the next week,such as when you have classes,work,appointments,meals,sleep,and so on.Fill in the exact times when you plan to do your daily writing.If you can schedule the writing for the same time every day,all the better.If you cannot,still try to come up with a regular pattern.Don't forget to schedule two hours each week to go through the workbook.Here are some samples: Sample:Monday-Friday,15 minutes when I wake up in the morning. Sample:Wednesday-Sunday,8:00-8:30 a.m

a day. If you have developed some good writing habits, you should set a goal of writing one to three hours a day on this article. If you are on fel￾lowship or your sabbatical, with no other responsibilities, you may write for more than that, but recognize that there often are diminishing returns after three or four hours. Short and steady sessions will also win the race. Make sure your goal is realistic rather than ambitious. For instance, recent research suggests that being a morning or evening person has deep psycho￾logical roots that you ignore to your detriment (Diaz-Morales 2007). If you are not a morning person, do not determine to get up every morning and write at 5:00 a.m. This is not realistic. Pick a time of day when you are most alert and energetic. If you work full time Monday through Friday, don't determine to write every evening for four hours or to set aside your entire weekend. This is not a realistic goal and will only discourage you. Aim instead to write fif￾teen minutes a day during the week and for several hours on Sunday after￾noon, for example. This will keep your ideas fresh during the week so that your weekend session is productive. If your schedule is to write one hour Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, still try to get in fifteen minutes on Tuesday and Thursday so that you don't grind your gears on fuller writing days. The most unrealistic writing schedule is none at all. Don't believe that somehow, miraculously, your article will get written in the next couple of months simply because you need it to be submitted. You may have to adjust your goal as you go along, but for now, you should focus on what is doable given your obligations and work habits. With but a few exceptions, writers who remained in a schedule requiring an hour or less a weekday of writing mastered a sequence of strategies for remaining truly productive over long periods of time. (Boice 1990, 3) Weeks. Under each of the weeks in the twelve-week calendar on page 24, note the days and weeks when it will be especially difficult to find time for writing. For instance, perhaps certain days of the week regularly fill up with childcare or teaching. Perhaps you or someone in your family is scheduled for surgery. Perhaps relatives are coming to visit for a week. Perhaps you have a deadline for another piece of writing. Use the calendar to anticipate packed schedules. You may want to skip a particular week in your twelve-week writ￾ing plan, if that week is harried, and stretch the plan to thirteen weeks. Days. Under each of the seven days in the weekly calendar on page 24, cross out the times unavailable for writing in the next week, such as when you have classes, work, appointments, meals, sleep, and so on. Fill in the exact times when you plan to do your daily writing. If you can schedule the writing for the same time every day, all the better. If you cannot, still try to come up with a regular pattern. Don't forget to schedule two hours each week to go through the workbook. Here are some samples: • Sample: Monday-Friday, 15 minutes when I wake up in the morning. • Sample: Wednesday-Sunday, 8:00-8:30 a.m. WEEK 1: 2] DAILY TASKS