Been procrastinating?

We’re entering August, when many people take at least a few days for vacation before the busy school year begins. For those of you who’ve been procrastinating on writing that article you swore you would write over the summer, and for those who will face writing a capstone paper in your next semester, now’s the time. Here are some suggestions and resources that may help.

At www.ajnonline.com, under the Collections tab at the top, you can access our “Writing Resources” collection, where you’ll find our award-winning step-by-step series, Writing for Publication. It’s a free four-part series that guides you through the writing process. Also listed under the Collections tab is another step-by-step series, Writing Systematic Reviews.

The process of writing: set aside small regular time increments.

Forget trying to churn out a paper in one weekend—it’s a stressful and unfulfilling way to write, and the end product will fall short. If you want to really become a good writer, you need to write. It takes practice, like any other skill.

Commit to set aside a bit of time for writing. It doesn’t have to be a lot; start with 30 minutes, maybe three times a week, and get started writing. Commit to that time faithfully—make an appointment with yourself and treat it as if you’d made the appointment with someone else (you must show up).

Getting started might be the hardest part.

Write anything that comes to mind if you’re still struggling with a specific topic or seeking a way to focus the topic you do have in mind. Gradually, your thoughts will start to come together and you can reorganize them into a logical order, add and expand on details, and include examples/stories to make your points come alive. You can put the references in order as you go, or save the mechanics for the end. (Make sure you use primary sources!)

Write a draft. Revise and tweak it. Have it reviewed by colleagues. Revise it again.

You’re on your way.

(One further resource on writing: Nurse Author & Editor is a free online journal with articles on writing, peer reviewing, and other aspects of scholarly publication.)