Last week I managed to get a late cancellation on a two-day course: 'Writing a journal article and getting it published' run by Mark Pickin Training.
After day one, I wondered why I hadn't come across this years ago. It's a treasure trove of practical ideas and tips. It's revelatory and confounds how you might have thought about journal writing previously. Although the whole of the day proved to be highly useful, here's what struck me most:
- Structure and plan: the breakdown of structuring and planning a journal article was amazing. The structured plan left me with a tremendous feeling of - 'this is manageable and achievable' - and ready to get on with it.
- Doing free writing: the timed exercise made us all put pen to paper. It's satisfying and enjoyable seeing what can come out of some focused attention.
- Slot in daily: one of the takeaway messages for me is about setting aside some time on a daily basis for writing a journal article. I'm scheduling 15 minutes daily over the next month to help make this a routine for me.
Mark Pickin knows his stuff - combining theory with the practice and first hand experience along with excellent course delivery.
The course also reminded me of the pleasure of writing - how writing can help to make sense of ideas and help to make connections.
With huge thanks to Mark, fellow course participants and to colleagues in ScHARR for making this possible.
Find out about the course and Mark Pickin Training at: http://markpickin.co.uk
Image citation: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Art and Artifacts Division, The New York Public Library. (1935 - 1943). The Writing Lesson Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/531c32d0-2892-0132-4433-58d385a7bbd0
...and thanks to Austin Kleon for his latest newsletter sharing a link to the New York Public Library who have released 180,000 public domain images and is encouraging use of these. Great to come across this resource!