Real Academics Blog

Dear Real Academics, Dr. Garza and I recently had a major change of environment.  I dug up some pictures I've taken to illustrate -- I love taking photos! Here is our previous environment, the desert region of Southern Nevada: and  Here is our current environment, the tropical region of South Florida: Both environments are strikingly beautiful in their own way. But, they are radically different. To read more about my views of Las Vegas, Nevada after living there for 8 years, read this post . This drastic change, however, made me think of a strategy that might help you if you are seeking some dose of creativity in your writing. That is, change your environment. Don't get me wrong... Writing in the same place, at the same time, can be very productive. However, if you want to spark some creativity (given this is your goal), then try changing your writing environment. The change doesn't have to be a huge, dramatic change like in my example and pictures.   In fact, too huge of

Dear Real Academics, Academic writing is technical by nature.  This technicality makes it both easy and hard. It's easy because it has a very clear structure: Introduction Theoretical Framework Literature Review Method Results/Finding Conclusion But it's hard because all the pieces have to fit together like a puzzle, and they have to fit TIGHTLY.   Not only that, but the combination of the entire research process having to fit into the structure and all the nitty gritty editing make the whole thing quite difficult to write. I've written a blog post on some  common mistakes  academic writers make, and I encourage everyone to take a look. I recommend three resources that can help you get STARTED with writing these technical pieces. Here they go: Becoming an Academic Writer, by Patricia Goodson Whatever style guideline you must adhere to. I happen to use APA. Whatever referencing software your university provides (e.g., Endnotes, Mendeley, Refworks) Other than that, I recommen

Dear Real Academics,  I rarely mention this, but I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in English Literature.  My main focus of study spanned the Medieval - Renaissance - Romantic Eras. These time periods had a lasting impression on my views of writing, history, and the human search for beauty and truth. I share this, because February approaching as the month of "love", I was reminded of the poetry from the Romantic era of English Literature -- Wordsworth, Keats, Shelly, Blake, to name some notable authors. That this time period is called "Romantic" is accurate in that the writing is characterized by idealism, feeling, impression, and intense emotion.  I've written before that I have realistic tendencies  in my view of the world, so it may strike you odd that I enjoy this literature immensely -- yes, I have a heart!  Notably, much of the Romantic Era writing is poetry, which is my favorite genre of literature.  With that shared, I wanted to share with YOU a