Write More, Publish More, Stress Less! Five Key Principles for a Creative and Sustainable Scholarly Practice

Boxes, Exercises, Sidebars, Figures, and Tables Foreword—Stephen Brookfield 1. Know Yourself as a Writer 2. Understanding the Genre of Academic Writing 3. Be Strategic to Build a Sustainable Writing Practice 4. Be Social 5. Explore Creative Elements in Academic Writing 6. Keep a Writing or Research Journal 7. Write Book Reviews 8. Prepare Conference Proposals and Presentations 9. Writing and Submit Journal Articles 10. Write a Book 11. Handling a Revise-and Resubmit Decision on Your Manuscript—Micki M. Casky, Dannelle D. Stevens 12. Create a Campus-Wide Faculty Writing Program—Dannelle D. Stevens References Appendix A Text-Structure Analysis (TSA). Journal Article Appendix B Description and Purpose of Common Text Features for Journal Articles in a Text Structure Analysis Appendix C Methods Structure Analysis Appendix D Functionalities of Zotero, A Citation Management System Appendix E Word Count Log Appendix F Writing Time Log Appendix G Daily Writing Goals Log Appendix H Writing Group Weekly Goals Log Index

Biography

Dannelle D. Stevens is a tenured professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Portland State University in Oregon where she has been since 1994. Her roots, however, are in the public school classroom where she taught middle school and high school social studies, language arts, and special education for 14 years across four school districts and three states. She received her master's from the University of Utah in 1983, and a doctorate in educational psychology from Michigan State in 1991. Before coming to PSU she taught at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Whether the topic is rubrics, journal writing, action research or academic writing, her work centers on how adults reflect on what they do and, then, act on those reflections. One of Dr. Stevens' underlying assumptions is that cognitive, social and emotional development does not end with the teenage years but continues through the lifetime. Besides over 75 conference presentations, she has written three books, all designed to impact development of her fellow faculty and their students. Her first book, co-edited with Joanne Cooper, Tenure in the Sacred Grove: Issues and Strategies for Women and Minorities, (SUNY Press, 2002), was written to help faculty women and minorities negotiate the path to tenure. Introduction to Rubrics, now in its second edition, and co-authored with Antonia J. Levi, and Journal Keeping, co-authored with Joanne Cooper, are both published by Stylus Publishing. In addition to teaching classes, she has taken on leadership positions in the department and campus-wide. In the Curriculum and Instruction Department, Dr. Stevens leads teacher licensure cohorts and coordinates the MA/MS program for experienced teachers. For the university at large, she works within the Center for Academic Excellence as faculty-in-residence for assessment. She is chair of the Institutional Assessment Council. Stephen D. Brookfield is Distinguished Scholar at Antioch University, Adjun

"Most researchers will tell you that they chose their career to do research, not to write about it and writing makes them feel uncomfortable. Danelle Stevens expertly emphasizes the development of positive attitudes that defuse that discomfort. So, this book can benefit all young researchers as part of their apprenticeship and those many, established researchers who still feel uncomfortable when they face the inevitable task of having to tell the world what they have discovered."

David Lindsay, author of Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words

“Dannelle Stevens has spent her career studying academic writing. In this helpful book, she shares five key principles and scores of practical strategies to guide your writing. Everyone from new graduate students to experienced professors will find valuable insights and inspiration in this book. I plan to keep a copy near my desk as I strive to write more and stress less.”

Peter Felten, Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and Professor of History

Elon University

"In this practical, sympathetic guide for beleaguered academics who aspire to “write more, publish more, [and] stress less,” Dannelle Stevens offers five overarching principles, twelve information-packed chapters, eight useful appendices, and more than fifty illustrative charts, figures, and templates. Whether your goal is to build a sustainable writing routine, to develop a nuanced critical voice, or to explore creative elements in your scholarship, this book will help you publish and flourish."

Helen Sword, Professor and Director, Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education

The University of Auckland, and author of Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write

"Veteran academic author and writing coach, Dannelle Stevens has created a comprehensive and practical guide that I can’t wait to share with authors. What makes this book different from the rest is the way Stevens helps readers understand academic writing as its own genre. Particularly helpful are exercises she outlines to help researchers understand the often unstated expectations about the structure and style of successful articles in their own fields."

Amy Benson Brown, Writing Coach with Academic Coaching & Writing

“Dannelle Stevens breaks down the highly personal act of writing into manageable aspects that are both personal and practical. The book is a good tool for early career writers and scholars to understand the practice of writing as well the professional norms around the publishing cycle.”

Vasti Torres, Professor, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, Associated Faculty in Latino Studies

University of Michigan

"HOORAY! Dannelle Stevens' new book is now available and it isn't just a book about writing and getting published but how to do so with less stress. The stress level in academic writing has increased to a point where too many people give up or must pay a price in their health, relationships, and other work. Dannelle offers practical strategies and advice that demystifies processes. She conveys trustworthiness; people will read and then integrate her ideas into practice."

Meggin McIntosh, The PhD of Productivity®, https://meggin.com

"“Dannelle starts her book not by laying out a set of best practices for writing but by asking readers to think about who they are as writers. Then she moves into examining the components of good writing, stressing particularly the need for a clear focus and purpose. In skillful and helpful prose, she draws on her own experience of writing for different kinds of scholarly outlets; peer reviewed journals, conference papers, and books.”

Stephen D. Brookfield, John Ireland Endowed Chair

University of St. Thomas

"Reading Dannelle’s book is like meeting with the kindest and most practical writing mentor you can imagine. Her tips and strategies are actionable and realistic, and her knowledge of the ins and outs of academic writing is unparalleled. Dannelle has been in the trenches and is generously sharing all she has learned to make our writing lives better. I highly recommend Write More, Publish More, Stress Less for academic writers at all levels."

Katie Linder, Research Director, Ecampus

Oregon State University

"As a first-generation faculty with no professional writing preparation, I’ve always felt like an impostor. Who would read anything I would write; how could I have anything of value to say? Bearing in mind the Five Key Principles, the practical guidance that will benefit any writer, and the call for self-reflection, writing this book review has helped crystallize my own thinking about writing – an opportunity to turn criticality into self-reflection and improvement. I wish I had this volume before."

Terrel L. Rhodes, Vice President, Office of Quality, Curriculum and Assessment, Executive Director of VALUE

Association of American Colleges and Universities

"This book covers it all using a variety of innovative approaches that will appeal greatly to a wide range of readers. There are over 50 tables, charts, drawings, side-bars, and self-assessment exercises that will capture your attention. In addition, the appendices have logs and study-sheets you can fill out as you go along, helping you stay on schedule in your writing. You can dive in almost anywhere and come away with something useful to you at that very moment! Who knew that, even after being an emeritus professor for ten years, I would both want and need to read this book.”

Dr. Richard Reis, editor, Tomorrow's Professor eNewsletter

"Stevens delivers again! Following the pattern established in her previous books on rubrics and journal keeping, this text is extremely useful, immensely practical, and carefully grounded in sound scholarship. From the topics covered — such as how to foster creativity in academic writing or how to structure writing groups — to the numerous templates provided — for introducing an argument or for analyzing the structure of a text — Stevens’ book is a treasure trove, which stands to become a classic in the academic writing genre. A 'must try' toolkit!"

Patricia Goodson, Department of Health & Kinesiology; Director POWER Services

Texas A&M University

“Dannelle D. Stevens is a scholarly mentor, academic cheerleader, and professor emerita at Portland State University (PSU) in Oregon. This book is a mentor-text that provides words of wisdom based on her profound knowledge of academic writing and her abundant local, national, and international mentoring experiences in academic development for early career scholars and pre-tenured faculty. Stevens articulates five key principles to assist her colleagues in charting their own academic roadmap and in Chapter 12, co-authored with Janelle Voegele, Director for Teaching & Learning, and Assessment at PSU, she shows how the five key principles were used in the development of the nationally recognized PSU faculty academic writing program. This last chapter includes the essential steps an institution can take to create its own program to jumpstart faculty writing and offers faculty some strategies for working with students on writing.

Stevens generously provides her readers with concrete examples and authentic illustrations of her thinking processes about her decision making in academic writing. I enthusiastically recommend the book to anyone who would like to develop their academic writing skill sets. As Stevens walks the walk and talks the talk, the book will also be helpful to mid-career faculty who would like to coach their late-stage graduate students as they enter academe, as well as to post-tenure faculty who would like to offer creative and sustainable advice for faculty-mentees to strike a work-life balance (see the grounded tree metaphor in Figure 9.1). The guided practices offered in this book can also be used as handouts by library staff or administrators working in writing centers who regularly hold academic writing workshops for faculty and students.

The book provides some blueprints that can spark inspiration for faculty/staff and academic developers who would like to establish their own academic brand, or develop their own writing or coaching courses. It could be used in faculty development programs; Stevens further encourages faculty and staff to begin collaborative writing projects with students (Felten et al., 2019) by analyzing academic writing strategies more systematically together, thereby equipping mentees of diverse backgrounds with professional capital in developing along their career pathways. In sum, Stevens demonstrates how engaging several levels of scholarly communities in academic development can contribute to effective scholarly productivity and personal well-being."

International Journal for Academic Development

"Write More, Publish More, Stress Less! Five Key Principles for a Creative and Sustainable Scholarly Practice is a book that helps academic writers to gain and practice skills and dispositions to write and publish in academic fields while reducing stress associated with writing. This book is divided into 12 chapters, progressing from a focus on the five academic writing principles as foundations toward applying those principles in a variety of forms, which include: keeping a research journal; writing book reviews, conference proposals, journal articles, and books; and responding to a revise-and-resubmit request. The concluding chapter provides strategies on setting up a writing program on campus. as a Text Structure Analysis Table, and a Writing Time Log, etc.

Write More, Publish More, Stress Less! is a well-organized, useful guide. The most impressive feature of this book is its immense practicality. It not only provides numerous strategies on how to structure and write your paper to ease your nerves, but also offers tips on paving your academic career path. For instance, the author gives tips on how to attend conferences to strengthen your curriculum vitae; how and where to get connected with book publishers and editors to determine the market need of a book before you start writing; what she would look for on a curriculum vitae as a committee member for tenure and promotions, and to remember to put a copy of your newly published article in the mailbox of your dean or chair, sending a message at the same time to keep it low-key. I would give this book a casual nickname of “How to get a tenure position by writing.”

Write More, Publish More, Stress Less! is a book that everyone in academia will want to have on their shelf."

The Review of Higher Education

"Stevens...conceptualizes this work as a 'professional' book, not a 'how-to' book: Readers who follow her advice will not necessarily become better writers, but they will likely better understand the genres of academic writing, grasp their own organizational and contextual challenges with respect to writing, learn the importance of talking with others about writing, gain confidence, and be reassured that they are not alone. In turn, they may become better at writing-that is, better at the psychological, social, and structural tasks undergirding, as Stevens puts it, a creative and sustainable scholarly practice."

Journal of Scholarly Publishing

“Write More, Publish More, Stress Less! is extremely practical in providing strategies and tactical tips for a better academic career since Stevens associates academic writing with career development in academia. Another feature that is unique in this book is that it offers ideas on how to create a campus-wide faculty writing support program and other community-based writing support groups.

This book is extremely suitable for doctoral students, new scholars, and someone who is embarking on a new faculty position. This book could also be flexibly used as a textbook on topics such as ‘writing and publishing’ or workshops on ‘writing a conference proposal,’ ‘things you need to know before you write a book review,’ etc. [It] is a book that everyone in academia will want to have on their shelf.”

The Review of Higher Education, Volume 43, Number 4, Summer 2020, pp. E37-E40