#12DaysofWritingTips On the 12th day of Christmas, Take a break. Walking away from your writing can refresh your thinking and your motivation. Return to the work with renewed enthusiasm in 2024! Best wishes to you all for happy holiday season!

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 11th day of Christmas, listen to the cadence of lyrics in a holiday song. Your academic writing uses cadence, too. Techniques like the rule of 3, alliteration, parallel structure, & compound verbs all use pattern/ rhythm to strengthen meaning. Try it!

#12DaysOfWritingTips On the 10th day of Christmas, consider your writing process. When/where do you write? How do you begin? How do you seek feedback? How do you feel? Understanding our habits can empower change. @helens_word's quiz can help you reflect: writersdiet.com/base/base/

#12DaysOfWritingTips On the 9th day of Christmas: Confront your punctuation fears! E.g., do you fear the semi-colon and avoid it in case you get it wrong? If so, you're missing out on opportunities for nuance in your writing. This quick lesson can help: youtube.com/watch?v=xHa5tW…

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 8th day of Christmas: Go zombie hunting. Look for places in your draft where you've used a zombie noun as your subject, thus robbing your prose of energy and clarity. Great clip here to refresh your memory: youtube.com/watch?v=dNlkHt…

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 7th day of Christmas: Write it like you'd say it! Just for a moment, let's drop the jargon, the academese, the flowery stuff...and say what we mean. Feels good, doesn't it? Now, where might that work in your next manuscript?

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 6th day of Christmas: Remember to read not only for content; try also to notice how the piece is written. Develop your writing repertoire by taking note of other writers' apt metaphors, striking images, and elegant phrasings.

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 5th day of Christmas, build up someone else's writing confidence. Email an author to say you loved their unusual title; tell a graduate student how much improved their paragraphs are; thank a co-author for sending such a strong draft for feedback.

#12DaysofWritingTips On the 4th day of Christmas, try altering your habitual sentence style. Tend towards long sentences? Write a short, snappy one -- it will grab the reader's attention. Prefer short sentences? Try blending some together, so that an idea develops.

#12DaysOfWritingTips On the 3rd day of Christmas: Review a piece of writing and note your go-to verbs. Try to change every other one to something more robust. E.g., Change "Burnout is prevalent..." to "Burnout threatens..."

#12DaysOfWritingTips On the 2nd day of Christmas: Write a beautiful sentence that you'll maybe never publish, but it gives you joy to create it. Then show a colleague who'll appreciate it, like @ChrisWatling3

#12DaysOfWritingTips On the first day of Christmas: Reread the best thing you ever wrote, and remind yourself that YOU CAN DO THIS.

Writing memoirs require crafting, character development, dialogue, format, style choices and flow. You aren’t just putting a journal out to the world. It is storytelling in its rawest form. Learn more in this piece from @kikiwalter: medium.com/the-memoirist/… #12DaysofWritingTips

Memoirs are so personal and our lives are not linear. But your readers should still see your protagonist change as they gain insight, and most importantly, identify in some way with what they’re going through. #memoir #MemoirWriting #12DaysofWritingTips

Don’t try to be someone else or write what you think will fit. Write what you write, and write it well. #writingcommunity #writerslift #12daysofwritingtips

If you’re trying to add emphasis and pause and excitement to your story, you need to do it with your words, not fancy punctuation.#medium #mediumwriters #12DaysofWritingTips

Even if you already know what you want to write about, photographs from that time, or songs that make you think of that time period, can inspire additional ideas for your story. #memoir #MemoirWriting #12DaysofWritingTips

Even though your story is personal, leave enough room for your reader to find something of themselves in the story. #memoir #storytelling #12DaysofWritingTips

Emotions are best felt through the beats of your story. Trust that your readers will feel the story without needing obvious cues. #amwriting #memoir #12DaysofWritingTips

Try not to flood your writing with more detail than necessary. Ask yourself if adding that detail will add to the story or detract from the readers experience. #memoir #MemoirWriting #12DaysofWritingTips