Cornell Writes! Tips from our community of writers is a digital newsletter sponsored by the Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines and the Cornell University Graduate School.
Each week, a member of our writing community – a Graduate Writing Service, English Language Support Office, or Cornell Writing Centers tutor; a writing specialist from the Knight Institute; a writing instructor from our First-Year Writing Seminars or Writing in the Majors programs; maybe YOU – will share a writing strategy from their own writer’s toolkit. #writelikeabear
Contact Tracy Hamler Carrick with questions and ideas.
Meet Tracy Carrick
Hello Cornell writers! My name is Tracy Carrick. I am a teacher, tutor, and director of the Knight Institute’s Writing Workshop and Graduate Writing Service. I am also a writer and editor. This week, I am responding to student writing and a colleague's book proposal.
Here is this week’s Writing Tip!
I found a new podcast! It is that time in the semester when I just cannot read. Another. Thing. I am reading all day – emails, student papers, scholarly books and articles, student papers, my own drafts, more student papers. If you are like me, you may need a break from reading. Fortunately, I’m a commuter (54 miles to campus!) and a walker (gotta get those steps in!). I do have a good amount of time to listen, so when I come across a professionally relevant and engaging podcast (sometimes very hard to find even with so many options out there, alas), I am so overjoyed!
I recently came across this new podcast on academic writing and publishing that offers interesting perspectives and useful guidance for academic writers like us. Host Dr. Rachel Gordan takes listeners into writing spaces across and beyond campus to talk about writing and not writing, writing products and writing processes, and the challenges and rewards of choosing a writing life.
Follow this link to Writing It! The Podcast About Academics & Writing to learn more and to access all 18 episodes.
If you are not sure where to start, I have listed and linked here the 5 episodes that I have found particularly important to the work that I do everyday with writing center clients and students in my courses.
- EPISODE 10: GETTING UNSTUCK IN OUR ACADEMIC WRITING WITH GILLIAN STEINBERG A conversation with developmental editor/writing coach, Gillian Steinberg about replacing negative voices about writing with positive ones and strategies for improving our writing process.
- EPISODE 07: FINALLY! INSIGHTFUL, CONCRETE ADVICE FOR YOUR JOB MARKET WRITING MATERIALS Jeff Kopstein, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, talks with us about putting together a compelling application for academic jobs. We talk not only about assistant professorship applications, but about the shift in tone and content for associate and full professorship applications.
- EPISODE 09: HOW TO TELL YOUR ACADEMIC STORY IN APPLICATIONS: SPECIAL ISSUE FOR JOB MARKET/FELLOWSHIP/GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION SEASON Karen Kelsky, of “The Professor Is In” speaks with us about academic job applications and academics applying for non-academic jobs. WE also talk about academic fellowship applications and graduate school applications.
- EPISODE 17: WRITING WHILE PARENTING You don’t have to be a parent to get something out of our conversation with Professor Laura Yares about “Writing While Parenting.” In this conversation, we speak about how to get writing done while caretaking; how to best take advantage of limited time to write; writing when the family stakes are high; time-blocking; lingering Covid trauma; finding and building an academic writing community; letting our writing lie fallow; dealing with the loneliness of parenting within academia; leaning in to the creative parts of our academic jobs; and the importance of modeling good “professor-ing with a family” boundaries.
- EPISODE 15: THE PATH TO A PULITZER Today we’re speaking with Pulitzer Prize winning scholar, Jack E. Davis, who is a UF professor of history and the Rothman Family Chair in the Humanities specializing in environmental history and sustainability studies. Jack talks with us about writing for a broader audience; what makes writing fun for him; the not-so-easy task of finding an agent; what it’s like to be an academic with a fellowship at MacDowell; and the experience of winning a Pulitzer.
If you are looking for another terrific podcast about academic writing, check out College Writing, Actually. Longtime writing center tutor, Brown University doctoral student Britt Threatt, and her guests discuss the theories and contexts behind some of the most common questions writers have about academic writing. They also offer practical tools for managing stress and clever strategies for channeling our best writing selves.
Writing It! The Podcast About Academics & Writing, hosted by Dr. Rachel Gordan at the Center for Jewish Studies, the University of Florida.
"Writing It! The Podcast About Academics & Writing" dives deep into the world of academic writing and publishing. Join us for conversations with academics and editors as we discuss challenges, strategies, and insights from our writing lives. As we share our experiences and helpful hacks, we make the process of writing and getting published a bit more transparent and a bit less overwhelming.
College Writing, Actually, hosted by Britt Threatt at the Brown University Writing Center.
Finally, a podcast created for college students and writing tutors who just need clear answers on the how-to's and how-come's of college writing. Look no further!
