Resources
The books, habits and communities the writers recommended, each linked to the post where it came up.
Books on writing
Titles the writers came back to again and again.
- The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron. The source of the morning pages: three longhand pages, first thing, every day.From Journaling and the Morning Pages by Bryna R. Campbell
- Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott. Read together by two writing buddies, and later recommended for anyone starting something new.From The Writing Buddy System by Bryna R. Campbell
- From Dissertation to Book, William Germano. An editor’s view of turning a thesis into a publishable manuscript.From From Dissertation to Book by Raquelle K. Bostow
- Stylish Academic Writing, Helen Sword. Recommended for paring down academic prose and finding your own voice.From From Dissertation to Book by Raquelle K. Bostow
For the post-ac transition
From a reading list written two years after a PhD in art history.
- Wild, Cheryl Strayed. On uncertainty, loss and walking through it.From Lost and Found: A Post-ac’s Book List by Bryna R. Campbell
- A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Rebecca Solnit. Essays on what being lost can teach.From Lost and Found: A Post-ac’s Book List by Bryna R. Campbell
- The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau. Made self-employment look less terrifying.From Lost and Found: A Post-ac’s Book List by Bryna R. Campbell
- Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv. On time outdoors, read while starting a business about kids and nature.From Lost and Found: A Post-ac’s Book List by Bryna R. Campbell
Habits and tools
Small systems that kept the writing moving.
- A writing buddy and a shared document. A weekly check-in in one shared file, plus a monthly video call.From The Writing Buddy System by Bryna R. Campbell
- One hour a day, first thing. Divide the pages left by the months of funding left. It usually comes to a page or two a day.From Three Tricks to Finishing that Dissertation by Angela Sutton
- A reference manager from day one. Never leave a citation incomplete. Zotero was the tool named.From From Dissertation to Book by Raquelle K. Bostow
- Scrivener for course planning. Using a writing app to build a syllabus and lectures.From Course Planning with Scrivener by Bryna R. Campbell
- Word quotas and short sessions. Five hundred words on a full day, 150 to 200 in a busy semester, in 25-minute blocks.From From Dissertation to Book by Raquelle K. Bostow
Community and careers
Where the writers found other people working through the same questions.
- The #withaphd chat and post-ac blogs. Online communities for PhDs considering careers outside the university.From From PhD to Here: Towards a Life outside of Academia by Bryna R. Campbell
- Free online workshops such as HASTAC’s. A low-cost way to test whether the post-dissertation blues are burnout or something else.From From PhD to Here: Towards a Life outside of Academia by Bryna R. Campbell
- Informal mentors. How to find one as a postdoc or junior faculty member, and what a good one does.From On the Virtues of (Feminist) Mentorship in Academia by Raquelle K. Bostow
- Networking as generosity. Lead with what you can offer, and stop keeping score.From On Professional Generosity: a How-To Networking Guide for Writers, Educators, and Academics by Angela Sutton