Academic Writing Anxieties

Flyer for event reading Are You an Anxious Academic Writer?

I think you know that Michelle Dionne Thompson Coaching and Consulting is about making sure that women in academia can build sustainable, long-term careers. Writing support is the cornerstone of making this happen. And yet, as this survey reflects, it is also the one part of academic jobs/degrees that causes no end of upset and stress. The … Read more

Writing Systems?

Michelle smiling wearing a black hat with an autum background

Systems and writing may seem contradictory. Don’t we write when the muse hits? Otherwise, we’re suffering from writer’s block, right? You just open the document and write the thing. When you edit, you just do the copy edits with the red pen. There’s no system. My answer to that is NO! Writing is easier and … Read more

Lawyering and PhDing in the Age of COVID-19

image of DNA

You’re damned right you’re getting nothing done. These are absolutely crazy times.  🥴  You’re distracted. 🥴  Your routines are seriously disrupted. 🥴  You may be completely alone. 🥴  You may be spending far too much time with the family you’ve created. And there are so many other components to this. My recommendation? I know you’re hard charging. … Read more

Crappy Editing Responses

page with editing marks being made with red marker

We all want people to read our work and give us perspective on what we’re working on. We want them to be thoughtful about their responses. We want feedback that genuinely improves the work that we take on. So, it’s really disappointing when we get really bad feedback. This blog post will point to my … Read more

Ask Michelle

Michelle smiling wearing glasses and scarf

So today on Twitter, E. asked me the following: “I am currently blocked for my scholarship essays. Do you have any suggestions?” We get blocked for all kinds of writing. No matter how long we have been writing. For seemingly all sorts of reasons. So yes, I do have suggestions for moving past this. The first … Read more

Break Your Work Down

small black and red gaskets

March 8, 2019|Academia, Law, Little parts, Writing No, I didn’t write breakdown. But this is what it feels like when we get too aggressive about what we think we can accomplish in each writing session! I have been talking to women who have had challenges in making the time to write. Indeed, that’s why people … Read more