How To Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble

Are you confused by the feedback you get from your academic teachers and mentors? This clear and accessible guide to decoding academic feedback will help you interpret what your lecturer or research supervisor is really trying to tell you about your writing—and show you how to fix it. It will help you master a range of techniques and strategies to take your writing to the next level and along the way you’ll learn why academic text looks the way it does, and how to produce that ‘authoritative scholarly voice’ that everyone talks about. This book is an easy-to-use resource for postgraduate students and researchers in all disciplines, and even professional academics, to diagnose their writing issues and find ways to fix them. This book would also be a valuable text for academic writing courses and writing groups, such as those offered in doctoral and Master's by research degree programmes. 'Whether they have writing problems or not, every academic writer will want this handy compendium of effective strategies and sound explanations on their book shelf—it’s a must-have.' Pat Thomson, Professor of Education, University of Nottingham, UK

Ideal for overseas students studying at English-medium colleges and universities, this practical writing course enables international students to meet the required standard of writing and use an appropriate style for essays, exams and dissertations. Newly revised and updated to include extra exercises and material suggested by teachers and students, Academic Writing explains and demonstrates all the key writing skills and is ideal for use in the classroom or for independent study. Useful at every stage of an academic career and beyond, this indispensable book features: different styles and formats from CVs and letters to formal essays a focus on accuracy coverage of all stages of writing, from understanding titles to checking your work essential academic writing skills such as proper referencing, summarising and paraphrasing diagrams and practice exercises, complete with answers.

Level Up Your Essays is the essential guide to essay writing for university students. Written by the people who mark your essays, it will show you step-by-step how to write high-quality essays that will get you top marks. This book will guide you through all the stages, including your essay plan, developing research strategies, writing with distinction, finishing strongly with editing, and getting your referencing right every time. Bursting with insider tips and tricks on what markers look for, this clear and easy-to-use guide includes: 22 worksheets with exercises and checklists The secret formula for a good essay (yes, there is a formula!) Practical insights into digital tools to help you with research, writing and referencing Guidelines for getting your academic English right every time Common mistakes and missteps and how to fix them Straightforward information for international students Successful time management strategies so you never hand in an essay late No matter what grades you get now, this book will revolutionise your essay writing - and get you the marks to prove it. 'Whether you're just starting out at university or well into your graduate studies, this book contains incredibly valuable advice that will help you take your writing to the next level.' -- Miranda Gronow, BA (Hons), University of Melbourne, D Phil Candidate 'More than just a guide to structure and writing style, this book demystifies the essay-writing process, giving insight into what lecturers want to read. I can't recommend it strongly enough.' -- Dr Catherine J Frieman, Associate Professor, Australian National University

"Welcome to the world of university academics, where the Academic Hunger Games, fuelled by precarious employment conditions, is the new reality - a perpetual jostle for short-term contracts and the occasional plum job. But Inger Mewburn is here to tell you that life needn't be so grim. A veteran of the university 'gig economy', Mewburn - aka The Thesis Whisperer - is perfectly placed to reflect on her experience and offer a wealth of practical strategies to survive and thrive. Here, she deftly navigates the world of the working academic, from thesis and article writing and keeping motivation alive, to time management, research strategies, new technologies, applying for promotion, sexism in the workplace, writing grant applications, and deciding what to wear to give a keynote address. Constructive, inclusive, hands-on, and gloves-off, How to be an Academic is a survival manual for aspiring and practising academics that will confirm that no matter what your experience in academia, you are not alone."

Dr. Inger Mewburn, founder and editor of The Thesis Whisperer blog, shares her secrets for becoming a more productive researcher and writer. Inger finished her award-winning PhD in three years - despite having a small child, husband and demanding academic job. This book is a selection of her blog posts on thesis writing, which have been re-edited and expanded. This book introduces you to Inger's most important success strategies for getting your PhD finished and acts a companion to The Thesis Whisperer blog.

The 'Insider Guides to Success in Academia' offers support and practical advice to doctoral students and early-career researchers. Covering the topics that really matter, but which often get overlooked, this indispensable series provides practical and realistic guidance to address many of the needs and challenges of trying to operate, and remain, in academia. These neat pocket guides fill specific and significant gaps in current literature. Each book offers insider perspectives on the often implicit rules of the game -- the things you need to know but usually aren't told by institutional postgraduate support, researcher development units, or supervisors -- and will address a practical topic that is key to career progression. They are essential reading for doctoral students, early-career researchers, supervisors, mentors, or anyone looking to launch or maintain their career in academia. Accessible, insightful and a must-have toolkit for all final year doctoral students, the founders of the ‘Thesis Boot Camp’ intensive writing programme show how to survive and thrive through the challenging final year of writing and submitting a thesis. Drawing on an understanding of the intellectual, professional, practical and personal elements of the doctorate to help readers gain insight into what it means to finish a PhD and how to get there, this book covers the common challenges and ways to resolve them. It includes advice on: Project management skills to plan, track, iterate and report on the complex task of bringing a multi-year research project to a successful close Personal effectiveness and self-care to support students to thrive in body, mind and relationships, including challenging supervisor relationships. The successful ‘generative’ writing processes which get writers into the zone and producing thousands of words; and then provides the skills to structure and polish those words to publishable quality. What it means to survive a PhD and consider multiple possible futures. Written for students in all disciplines, and relevant to university systems around the world, this unique book expertly guides students through the final 6–12 months of the thesis.

Do your sentences sag? Could your paragraphs use a pick-me-up? If so, The Writer’s Diet is for you! It’s a short, sharp introduction to great writing that will help you energize your prose and boost your verbal fitness. Helen Sword dispenses with excessive explanations and overwrought analysis. Instead, she offers an easy-to-follow set of writing principles: use active verbs whenever possible; favor concrete language over vague abstractions; avoid long strings of prepositional phrases; employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to the meaning of a sentence; and reduce your dependence on four pernicious “waste words”: it, this, that, and there. Sword then shows the rules in action through examples from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King Jr., John McPhee, A. S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins, Alison Gopnik, and many more. A writing fitness test encourages you to assess your own writing and get immediate advice on addressing problem areas. While The Writer’s Diet is as sleek and concise as the writing ideals contained within, this slim volume packs a powerful punch. With Sword’s coaching writers of all levels can strengthen and tone their sentences with the stroke of a pen or the click of a mouse. As with any fitness routine, adhering to the rules requires energy and vigilance. The results, however, will speak for themselves.

Elegant ideas deserve elegant expression. Sword dispels the myth that you can’t get published without writing wordy, impersonal prose. For scholars frustrated with disciplinary conventions or eager to write for a larger audience, here are imaginative, practical, witty pointers that show how to make articles and books enjoyable to read—and to write.