[Writing Practice Series] Your Publishing Problem Is NOT Time [RE-RELEASE BONUS]

I discuss how academia breeds a scarcity mindset and why the pressure to do as much as possible hinders our ability to move projects through to publication. Instead of trying to work on every idea that comes to mind, I suggest adopting a more strategic approach to project selection by leveraging your academic mission statement. By embracing the natural ebb and flow of your career, you can overcome the binge-and-bust cycle and develop a more sustainable relationship-based writing practice.

If you’re ready to clear your pipeline and get your work out into the world, remember: it’s about intentionality and strategic planning, not just finding more time. Tune in to learn how to reshape your approach to publishing so that it aligns with your career goals. 

Too Many Ideas, Not Enough Publications

In academia, we are indoctrinated to have a scarcity mindset. There is never enough time or publications, and we are pushed to do more, more, more. As a result, our publications become a funnel instead of a pipeline. We shove so many ideas into the funnel, and only a few actually get done, whereas a pipeline has an even flow of ideas and completed projects.

The solution: We can use our academic mission statement to discern which publications support the message we want to get out to the world.

Fostering an Abundance Mindset

When we’re operating from a scarcity mindset, our writing tends to follow a binge and bust cycle. To break free from this pattern, it’s crucial to transition to an abundance mindset. This shift allows us to recognize the natural ebb and flow of our careers, and adjust our writing schedules accordingly. Imagine your academic life as a mixing board, where you can adjust the volume of teaching, research, and service to match your current priorities. By turning down the noise and honing in on what truly matters, you can break free from the binge-and-bust cycle and cultivate a more sustainable approach to writing and publishing.

“You have too many ideas for the amount of time that’s currently on your schedule to sit down and write and move those ideas through. After you do some coaching work, you’ll realize that your ideas are even a little bit disparate. What you need to do in order to really get a publication groove going and to really get publications out the door is focus on your academic mission statement.”

“It’s really about humanizing the writing process and academic life. We are not machines. We cannot be equally productive every single week for the whole academic year. That’s not how it works. So what you need to learn how to do is figure out the ebbs and flows of your semester.” 

We’ve opened the waitlist for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and get on the waitlist here.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION:

1. Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Get on the waitlist here!
2. Cathy’s book, Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing is available in print! Learn how to build your career around your writing practice while shattering the myths of writing every day, accountability, and motivation, doing mindset work that’s going to reshape your writing,and changing academic culture one womxn and nonbinary professor at a time. Get your print copy today or order it for a friend here!
3. If you would like to hear more from Cathy for free, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter, In the Pipeline, at scholarsvoice.org. It’s a newsletter that she personally writes that goes out once a week with writing and publication tips, strategies, inspiration, book reviews and more.

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