2026 Session 1, Week 5

 

It continues to be grey and dismal here, only brief glimpses of winter sun. But the crocuses are starting to come through. In case anyone else needs a bit of colour, here is a photo of a hyacinth I bought myself a couple of weeks ago, photographed at its peak which is sadly now gone. But while it lasted, the scent was like a hug every time I walked upstairs.

This week's prompt is from Hattie Crisell again: what can language do? Her writers mostly discuss fiction e.g. making dialogue work, humour, but I think for all of us there is joy involved in getting the words right and knowing they are right. Crisell herself describes how one of the lessons she learned from her academic father was that clear writing is good manners. My (also academic) father told me exactly the same: if you want people to read what you write, it's a courtesy to make that easy. But there are many ways of making a message clear to the reader. What kinds of language do you use? Are you in a discipline where diagrams, graphs, tables, maps, maybe images do as much work as words? Do you use metaphors and analogies, or do you keep it direct?

Alternatively, what sort of language sets your teeth on edge? John Rentoul, a British journalist featured in In Writing has a long list of usages by journalists he thinks are lazy or ugly: 'upcoming' instead of 'forthcoming', 'ongoing' instead of 'continuing'. What student (or other people's) mistakes or clumsy phrases most annoy you?

Last week's goals:

Dame Eleanor

--1/2 hour writing/research on each of 3 days
--prep for 2 meetings
--prep for guest class
--prep for future class activity that has to be started way in advance
--track down missing ILL book or institute library search
--gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x
--pick up cat meds
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day

Susan

1. Fill in gaps in syllabus
2. Letter for grad student that is due
3. Pile of minor admin stuff
4. Keep up with teaching stuff
5. Send out emails re conference; book spaces
6. Finish Room of Doom
7. Do three more journals
8. Start sorting books -- 1 bookcase
9. Keep up with exercise/ PT stuff
10. Do SOMETHING fun.

JaneB

SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 including a birthday card for my Dad
c) something gently social x2 - yay, a new D&D game starting this week! Hopefully!
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week other than re-reading bits of Queen Demon
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
c) reschedule decluttering person session.
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) deliver week 2 of teaching, email all the students who haven't replied to requests to make appointments
b) prepare class materials for fourth week of teaching, with updating
RESEARCH
a) work on teaching related grant application
b) analyse results and start another set of models running
c) read and comment on full draft of paper from not-my-grad-student

Daisy

Finish student presentations and help them practice
Finish committee review meetings and all related paperwork
Gather up little bits of mind from puddles into which it has melted
Do something healthy
Enjoy conference!!

Heu mihi

1. Finish program
2. At least one more LOR
3. Clean house for Dad's visit
4. Prepare newsletter
5. Send program highlights to chair
6. Italian & exercise

2026 Session 1, week 4

Here we are in February! Bye, January, don't let the door hit you on your way out. 

I'm going to take this week's quote and theme from John McPhee, whose essays about writing have been collected and published as Draft No. 4. (I admit I'd be delighted if I ever limited myself to four drafts of any serious piece of writing.) Structure is always hard for me, and I envy scientists and social scientists who have field-driven standard structures to work with. McPhee presents and discusses various visualizations of the structure of essays he has written: a spiral, a circle, a set of ovals hanging from a through-line, two sets of ovals/images arranged as two sides of a triangle, the lines converging. And then he says this:

Readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone's bones. And I hope this structure illustrates what I take to be a basic criterion for all structures: They should not be imposed upong the material. They should arise from within it. That perfect circle was a help to me, but it could be a liability for anyone trying to impose such a thing on just any set of facts. A structure is not a cookie cutter. . . . A piece of writing has to start somewhere, go somewhere, and sit down when it gets there. (34)

I will note that although bones are not visible, we would certainly notice if they were missing. But I like the idea that writing has to 'sit down when it gets there' rather than, say, hitting the reader over the head with the main idea.

And presumably even the scientists find that a structure is not a cookie cutter, that 'methods' and 'discussion' sections do not write themselves (that's a fantasy of the humanities, I expect). 

So if you feel like discussing your experiences with structure--developed or imposed, internal or external, diagrammable or just sensed--have at it in the comments. Also, of course, let us know how you did last week and what your goals are for this beginning of February.

Daisy

Help students to get presentations ready
Do mountain of committee reviews
Don’t lose mind
Do something healthy

Dame Eleanor Hull

--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--abstract for August conference
--meet with TAs
--edit & submit teaching report for annual review
--add time estimates to list of class prep items
--prep for my classes (restrict to teaching days as much as possible!)
--process grad applications (10-ish, now)
--3 hours on garage
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
--order book for Greek group

heu mihi

1. Read student's exam prep documents and give feedback
2. Get as much as possible done on the program for the big conference we're hosting in March
3. Read ahead for class
4. Read a few essays and decide whether to assign them or not
5. Make one more little box for a flash drive
6. Admin stuff: Finish reviewing grad students' syllabi, review grad applicants' files for Friday interviews, prep for undergrad meetings, any number of other little things as they arise

JaneB

SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
c) decluttering person will hopefully come, and we will Tackle The Kitchen Cupboards...
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) deliver week 1 of teaching
b) prepare class materials for third week of teaching, with or without revision
RESEARCH
a) work on grant application
b) set second set of models running at end of week

Julie

1. Work on Big Article: try to figure out structure and start organising material.
2. Add new section to local history article.
3. One day on review article.
4. House/life admin: son's birthday, brother's birthday, more financial stuff, decluttering, pay for school trip, tidy desk.
5. Self-care/fun: video call with friends, read, journal, Netflix, exercise, do something creative.

Susan

1. Finish microfilm
2. Organize things with guest
3. Do reading for workshop (precirculated papers are great, until they are not!)
4. Get a little bit ahead on teaching.
5. Work on organizing conference
6. Hang out with friends
7. Keep up with exercise/ PT
8. Limit social media for mental health

2026 Session 1, Week 3

Hope everyone had a good week, and that those in the US are not affected by the storms. Here in the UK it is dismal, but nothing out of the ordinary for January.

This week's writing prompt, from In Writing, is: where do ideas come from? How do you choose what to research and write about? And how and when do you know if an idea will bear fruit? I'm curious to see how that works in different disciplines. Is is about, in the words of one of Hattie Crisell's interviewees, about 'connecting two disparate things'? Is it about accidentally stumbling on something - in an archive, in a text, an unexpected result of an experiment?

Last week's goals

Dame Eleanor

--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--meet with TAs
--tackle teaching report for annual review
--add time estimates to list of class prep items
--prep for my class and for a guest class
--write one letter of recommendation; advise on another student's statement of purpose
--process grad applications (6?) and read PhD exam essays
--3 hours on garage
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day

Julie

1. Finish finding examples for Big Article (2 days, but working around meetings).
2. Start on review article (1 day).
3. Work on local history chapter (1 day).
4. Chase mentee.
5. House/life admin: tax return, other financial stuff if time, more summer trip planning, four January birthdays, decluttering if time.
6. Self-care/fun: read, exercise, journal, maybe plant bulbs at weekend, text friend.

Heu mihi

1. Read over essay and figure out next steps
2. Schedule a couple of meetings with student groups
3. Work out goals and plans for the coming semester/year
4. Sit some amount
5. Read a dissertation chapter (two, if I really get into it)
6. 35 pages of Italian

Susan

1. Finish and post the syllabus
2. Survive the start of classes chaos week
3. Letter of recommendation
4. Send notes to students I will interview for admission to my undergrad alma mater
5. Send various emails
6. House: Deal with the Room of Doom
7. Select upholstery fabric for chair (still dithering)
8. Do fun things
9. Continue not looking at my iPad before bed, and reading instead.
10. Keep up with exercise, physical therapy

JaneB

SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) finish third year grading and mark bits with extensions
b) prepare class materials for second week of teaching - some fairly substantial revision needed this year
RESEARCH
a) lead meeting, write up plan, for lead author paper
b) chase up emails sent out before Christmas for grant application
c) read and reply to email from Unexpected Collaborator

2026 Session 1, Week 2

Welcome back! I hope last week went well for you. This week's quote and question are about finding people to read your work, beginning with these words from Ann Lamott's classic Bird By Bird.

"Whenever I'm giving a lecture at a writing conference and happen to mention the benefits of finding someone to read your drafts, at least one older established writer comes up to me and says that he or she would never in a million years show his or her work to another person before it was done. It is not a good idea, and I must stop telling my students that it will help them. I just smile, geisha-like, and make little fluttery sounds of understanding. Then I go on telling people to consider finding someone who would not mind reading their drafts and marking them up with useful suggestions. The person may not have an answer to what is missing or annoying about the piece, but writing is so often about making mistakes and feeling lost" (162-3). 

Maybe you have someone who reads your work; maybe you have a writing group in which you exchange short or long bits of writing; maybe you have one or more people who get together for writing dates (I believe this is now called Body Doubling, and you can watch videos of people working if you don't have a real person to study/write/whatever with). What is your experience with such readers or working groups? If you have one, how did you find or create it? If they don't work for you, why not?

And then let us know how you did with your goals, and what you're going to attempt this week!

(I'm wondering if Daisy is Overcome By Events, but I hope you'll be back! Anyone else who wants to join in is welcome; we don't have a set number of spaces and would be happy to have you join. Since it's a short session this time, maybe this would be a good chance to try us out knowing it's only for another 10 weeks . . .)

Last week's goals:

Dame Eleanor Hull:

--2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--Latin prep for Friday's group meeting
--meet with TA's
--meet with other faculty
--tackle teaching report for annual review
--put together that list of class prep items, with time estimates
--3 hours on garage
--remember book group meeting
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day

 Heu Mihi:

1) Finish syllabus and ViLE page
2) Get to 5500 words of messy draft of essay; read over it to see where I am, figure out next steps
3) Creative writing x 1
4) Finish knitting sweater for friend's new baby
5) 35 pp. of Italian
6) LoR for former student
7) Sit some amount
8) Finish book for festschrift intro

JaneB:

SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make an appointment with declutterer
c) make a plan for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) finish second year grading and start first year grading
b) set up ViLE for module that starts late February
c) schedule and complete appraisal meetings (it's a "cascaded duty" which makes it rather pointless - but I have to appraise three juniot colleagues this week)
d) prepare lectures for first week of teaching
RESEARCH
a) read over referees comments and suggested responses for minor author paper
b) schedule a meeting to discuss plan for lead author paper
c) read papers in advance of meeting for Large Funded Project
d) read and reply to email from Unexpected Collaborator
e) make a list of all the projects that might need attention this session!

Julie:

1. Research: go through notes and archive photos to find examples for Big Article
2. Writing: new, longer introduction to local history chapter.
3. House/life admin: return library books, do some research for summer trip, pay in a cheque, do some decluttering, organise for weekend away.
4. Self-care/fun: text friend, read, exercise (find a weights class?), weekend away with family.

Susan:

1. Finish syllabus for new course, post on LMS
2. Create budget for conference
3. Revise letter of reference for student for the perfect job
4. Pack up two boxes of books for second hand bookstore, and two for the "book sale/giveaway" I'm doing on campus.
5. Keep up with exercise and physical therapy exercise.
6. See people and be nice to them.
7. Have some fun

 

2026 Session 1, Week 1

Welcome to the first session of 2026! Dame Eleanor and I will be co-hosts. The session will run through until Easter, as both of us are away some of April, so the last session would be 29th March. That makes this a shorter session than usual, only 12 weeks, so if people want to continue some informal goal setting over April, particularly people in the US whose teaching might not align with these dates, feel free.

As usual, this first week will be for setting session goals, introductions if anyone new joins (all welcome!) and first week goals. Normally, prompts will be related to writing: a mixture of quotations from real and fictional writers, and questions taken from Hattie Crisell's book In Writing, based on her podcast of the same name of interviews with writers about their practices. (If anyone is interested, I'd recommend the podcast over the book.)

For this first week, however, I wanted to use Susan's New Year post about kindness, because that seems such a good way to start what is already proving to be a tough 2026. I particularly liked the point that kindness is within our control. So how can we be kind in 2026? This could be to ourselves, to others or both.

I have no equivalent of a Shoutypants to entertain you all with each week, but have a photo of New Year's Day sunrise over the river, taken on my way to park run. May there be light for all of us these next few months.

Happy New Year!

 Last year was a hard year for many in higher education globally, so I thought it would be nice to welcome the new year with hopes for kindness in the year ahead.  

And as with all intersession posts, feel free to post resolutions/hopes/goals/intentions, report on events, or just say hello!  

My slightly wonky tree, providing light on a rainy day, when I'm sitting and working on my index.