Publish Not Perish

In this episode, I talk about what’s really going on when you keep missing writing deadlines you set for yourself. I want to make a distinction that matters: a missed deadline is not proof that you’re incapable of follow-through. More often, it’s a sign that the deadline/goal itself needs a closer look.I walk through three common reasons deadlines keep slipping:* Sometimes the work requires a strategy you haven’t developed yet, so the real task is not producing faster but figuring out how to proceed.* Sometimes the deadline was built around a fantasy version of your week rather than the one you’re actually living.* And sometimes the problem is that the manuscript is asking for a decision you haven’t made yet, so you stay busy without truly moving forward.What I hope this episode offers is a more useful way to read your own patterns. Instead of treating missed deadlines as a verdict on your character, I want you to see them as information. If you can identify whether you’re dealing with a strategy gap, an unrealistic plan, or an avoided decision, you can make a much better next move. That might mean testing a few approaches before setting a new deadline, planning from the evidence of your real life rather than your ideal week, or writing your way toward the decision the project is demanding.The goal here is not to become harsher with yourself. It’s to become more accurate so your deadlines can start supporting your work instead of quietly undermining it.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching  Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

What if the collapse of your writing routine is not evidence that you lack discipline but a sign that the system was never built for the realities of your life? In this episode, I explore why so many scholars blame themselves when a routine falls apart, rather than questioning the assumptions built into the strategy itself. I wanted to name that pattern clearly because I think these breakdowns often reveal far more about the limits of the system than about your commitment or capacity.I also consider what changes when we stop asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and start asking, “What would actually work for my real life, my real energy, and my real writing process?” I talk about the invisible assumptions built into many productivity systems, why so many of them don’t hold for scholars juggling caregiving, heavy teaching loads, neurodivergence, chronic stress, or writing in an additional language, and why flexibility is not a weakness but a necessary design principle.If you’ve built up a graveyard of abandoned routines and you’ve started to believe that nothing works for you, I hope this episode offers a gentler and more honest reframe. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

Earlier this week, I wrote about the structural roots of perfectionism and argued thatperfectionism is a strategy for surviving in environments where the cost of imperfection feels dangerously high…[Furthermore,] perfectionism doesn’t look the same on everyone, because the conditions we’re surviving in aren’t the same. The stakes of imperfection are not distributed equally, and that changes everything about how perfectionism operates, what it’s protecting, and what it costs.You can read that post here:Today, I’m taking a similar approach to the podcast by thinking through the structural roots of what we often call imposter “syndrome.”I explore why so much academic doubt is not a sign that something is wrong with you but a deeply understandable response to working in environments where the rules and conventions are unclear, the feedback is inconsistent, and the expectations keep shifting. If you have ever felt like everyone else got some secret handbook you never received, this conversation is for you.I draw on Dr. Angélica Gutiérrez’s concept of impostorization, which provides a way of shifting the focus away from individual pathology and toward the structures and practices that make people question their intelligence, competence, and belonging.Throughout the episode, I talk about how doubt and uncertainty can function as useful information rather than evidence that you do not belong, and I offer a more grounded way to build efficacy: not by pretending uncertainty is not there, but by learning how to navigate it with more clarity, support, and self-compassion.My hope is that this episode helps you feel a little less alone, a little less self-blaming, and better able to see that your uncertainty may make much more sense than you have been led to believe.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching  Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

The moments that stall a book often look…reasonable. They look like being diligent: reorganizing notes, refining the outline, and doing just one more round of reading so you can feel ready.In this episode, I talk about the quiet threshold that often sits underneath all that preparation: the moment when you have to decide whether you trust your ideas enough to start putting them on the page. You worry that your ideas aren’t new enough, sharp enough, or important enough—and that if you draft, you’ll find out they don’t hold.I also name the impossible standard that tends to fuel this fear: the belief that your book has to revolutionize your field to be worth writing. And I offer a gentler, more accurate definition of what strong scholarly work actually does—how most meaningful books move conversations forward without needing to reinvent the whole discipline. Along the way, I unpack why “I need to read more” can sometimes be less about reading and more about self-protection, and I return to a distinction I come back to often: writing to think versus writing to communicate.If you’ve been stuck at the edges of your project, trying to get to certainty before you begin, I hope this episode gives you a steadier standard to measure yourself against and a little more permission to start drafting before you feel completely ready.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

If you’ve been reading Publish Not Perish for a while, you know I spend a lot of time thinking about sustainable writing practices, the emotional landscape of academic writing, and how we make meaningful progress on long, complex projects when life is already demanding so much of us.What I haven’t talked about as openly is what it actually looks like to work with me one-on-one, especially when you’re trying to move a book project forward. So in this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain.I walk through the difference between coaching and developmental editing, why I weave both together, and how that combination helps scholars move complex book projects forward with more clarity, structure, and sustained momentum. If coaching has ever felt a bit opaque or hard to picture, this episode should make things much more concrete.I also get into what the process looks like in practice—from the initial strategy session where we identify your goals and the obstacles standing in your way to the ongoing support that helps you keep making steady, real progress over time.Along the way, I dig into why so many academic writers find themselves stuck, what makes book coaching different from other forms of writing support, and why having the right kind of help can shift not just the project itself but your entire relationship to the work. If you’ve been quietly wondering whether this kind of support might be the thing that gets you unstuck, this episode is a good place to start exploring that question. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

How many writing projects are you holding in your head right now—like, actively holding—not just the one on your desk, but all the others tugging at you in the background?In this episode, I’m talking about the hidden cost of carrying too many writing projects at once: the almost-finished article, the chapter that needs revision, the proposal you keep meaning to start, and the project you feel guilty for neglecting. Individually, each one might be manageable, but together they create a constant background hum of obligation that drains your cognitive and emotional bandwidth—even on days when you’re genuinely productive.We often treat these difficulties as a scheduling problem, but what I see again and again is that the deeper issue is scattered attention: too many open tabs on your brain’s desktop quietly pulling on you. Academia trains us to tolerate this, even to see it as ambition, but it comes at a real cost.So I’m inviting you to consider a different kind of progress—choosing what’s active and what’s explicitly dormant for now. You don’t have to abandon anything forever; sometimes naming what you’re not working on is what finally lets you focus, settle, and move forward without guilt.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

Today I’m unpacking a piece of advice that sounds simple—and sometimes even motivating—but often leaves scholars feeling worse when it doesn’t work: “Just sit down and write.”If you’ve ever tried to follow that instruction and immediately felt your brain seize up, your confidence drop, or your draft suddenly look unfamiliar, you’re not alone. In this episode, I talk about why the problem usually isn’t effort or discipline—and why it makes perfect sense that writing can feel hard to restart, even when you care deeply about your work.I share a gentler way to think about what’s really happening in those moments: not failure, not laziness, not a character flaw—just the very human challenge of re-entering a complex intellectual world. We’ll explore what it can look like to build a small “bridge” back into your project so you’re not trying to leap in cold, and why a few minutes of orientation can change everything about how a writing session feels.If writing time has been feeling tense, punishing, or slippery lately, consider this your invitation to try a different approach—one that helps you reconnect to the work you’re already in the middle of, with a little more steadiness and a lot more kindness.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching  Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In this episode, I’m sharing a shift that quietly changes everything for a lot of academic writers: moving from seeing writing as just a skill you perform to recognizing it as a relationship you live inside over time.So many of us are technically capable of writing and still feel stuck, resistant, or exhausted by it—and that disconnect isn’t a personal failure. It’s often the result of how we’ve been taught to approach writing as a transaction: produce the output, meet the deadline, get evaluated. When writing “works,” the relationship feels fine. When it doesn’t, it can quickly turn tense, judgmental, or even adversarial.I talk about what happens when trust erodes in that relationship—and why more tips, tools, or pressure rarely fix the problem. Instead, I explore what it looks like to replace judgment with curiosity, and how small reflective practices can help repair the relationship so writing feels safer and more workable again. This isn’t about lowering standards or forcing yourself to love writing. It’s about paying attention to how you show up, learning from what happens, and making it easier to return to the page over time.If writing has felt heavy or fraught lately, I hope this episode helps you see why—and offers a gentler, more sustainable way forward.Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingDevelopmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching  Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

There’s a particular kind of grief that comes with deleting pages you fought to write. In this episode, I talk about why that feeling is so common when you’re turning a dissertation into a book and what it reveals about the shift from writing to be evaluated to writing in service of an argument and a reader. I reflect on why cutting isn’t a sign that something went wrong but an essential part of how book projects take shape.I also spend time with the emotional and practical side of letting go: why we cling to material that no longer serves the book, how scarcity thinking around writing makes revision more painful, and why early drafts are best understood as thinking tools rather than finished prose.If you’re revising a long project and feeling stuck, this episode is an invitation to trust that cutting isn’t erasing your work. Instead, it’s creating the space your book needs to become what it’s meant to be.This episode is one in a series of turning your diss-to-book. Here are the others:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/five-key-shifts-from-dissertationhttps://www.publishnotperish.net/p/diagnosing-dissertation-mode-in-yourhttps://www.publishnotperish.net/p/trained-not-to-trust-ourselves Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

If revising your dissertation for a book feels harder than you expected, there’s nothing wrong with you or your project. In this episode, I talk about why dissertation writing trains you into very specific habits—and why those habits can linger long after the degree is done. I reflect on the deeper shifts required when moving from dissertation to book, not just in structure or scope, but in how you relate to your authority as a writer and how you imagine the reader on the other side of the page.I also focus on how to start seeing dissertation mode in your own prose, which is often the hardest part. I walk through a few common signals at the level of voice, citation, and structure and explain why these patterns are so difficult to spot when you’ve been living inside a project for years.I hope that this episode helps you approach revision with more clarity and less self-blame. Instead, it gives you a practical way to begin shifting from writing to prove yourself toward writing that invites, persuades, and carries an argument forward.This episode is part of a series on moving from diss-to-book. Here’s the first one, which I reference in this episode:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/five-key-shifts-from-dissertation Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In today’s episode, I talk about a part of writing that academic training rarely asks us to examine: how writers actually move through their work. We’re taught to evaluate arguments, evidence, and outcomes—but much less attention is given to what happens between drafts, or how writers interpret difficulty as it arises.I share how coaching shifts attention from the finished product to the writer in motion, changing the way progress unfolds—not by lowering standards, but by making it easier to respond to the real sources of friction. I also explore how this way of paying attention differs from mentoring and why difficulty in writing is so often misread.Rather than treating struggle as a problem to eliminate, this episode considers what becomes possible when difficulty is understood as information and something that can guide more precise, less exhausting choices.If you’ve ever found yourself working hard but feeling stuck, this conversation offers a different way of seeing what’s happening and how steadier progress can happen when you start paying attention to the right things.New Offering! Spring Semester Strategy SessionsIf this episode resonated because you’re realizing that what’s getting in the way isn’t effort or commitment but the lack of space to step back and look carefully at how your work is actually unfolding, I’m opening a small number of 90-minute strategy sessions this spring!These sessions help you gain clarity about what matters most right now, how to use the time and energy you actually have, and how to move forward this semester without burning out.Here’s how it works:* Before we meet: Complete reflection questions (about 90 minutes) on your goals, constraints, and what’s worked in the past.* 90-minute session: We clarify priorities and develop a strategy that fits how you actually work—not an idealized version of you.* After the session: You receive a written plan synthesizing our conversation, plus tailored resources and recommendations.You’ll walk away with: a clear plan for the semester, a better sense of how to allocate your time and energy, and concrete next steps that feel doable rather than overwhelming.I’m offering eight of these sessions in late January and February. Booking closes January 26 or when spots fill.If you decide after the session that you’d like continued support, that $495 can be credited toward either my 10-week coaching program or my 6-month book coaching program—the strategy session is the first step in both programs.Learn more about the coaching programs here: https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coachingYou’ll have two weeks after your session to decide if you want continued coaching support. So if you’ve considered coaching before, this is a low-risk way to experience working with me and see if it’s a good fit.Book your strategy session here: https://calendly.com/mcclearen/strategy-session-cloneOf course, you might discover that the strategy session alone, with the clear priorities, realistic plan, and concrete next steps, is exactly what you need to move your writing forward this semester. That’s a huge win! Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

Greetings, dear listeners!January has a way of making us feel like we should already have our writing plans figured out—clear goals, steady discipline, and a strong start. Sound familiar?In this episode, I want to gently interrupt that pressure. Instead of asking what you should produce this year, I invite you to consider a different starting point—one that’s quieter, more humane, and often more effective for long, complex writing projects.This episode is about shifting attention away from ambitious promises and toward something that can actually support you as a writer in the context of your real life.I talk about a few specific things that are worth noticing if you want your writing to feel more sustainable and less fraught this year—not as a system to optimize, but as information you can learn from over time. If your writing has felt inconsistent, frustrating, or harder than you think it “should” be, this conversation is meant to meet you with understanding rather than jumping to bigger goals before you can hold those goals.You don’t need to fix everything at once. You just need a way to start paying attention—kindly, curiously, and without judgment.---Publish or perish is a persistent hum in many academic ears, and for some of us, that hum is loud. Publish Not Perish is here to quiet the noise so you can focus on flourishing instead. Hosted by academic writing coach and developmental editor Jenn McClearen, PhD. https://www.jennmcclearen.com---Get the Support You Need to Write, Publish, and FlourishIf you’re craving more support with your writing, here are a few ways we can work together:Writing Coaching—For scholars who want structure, accountability, and a sustainable writing practice that actually works in real life. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/coaching Developmental Editing—When you need an expert pair of eyes on the argument, structure, or clarity of your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/editingBook Coaching—Six months of coaching + developmental editing to help you make meaningful progress on your manuscript. https://www.jennmcclearen.com/bookcoaching  Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

Today I’m sharing the story of “Fatima”—a composite of so many scholars I’ve worked with over the years (and, honestly, a little bit of me too). Her dissertation sprint “worked.” She finished, defended, and landed a faculty job. But once she stepped into life as a new professor, the same strategies that got her across the finish line suddenly stopped working altogether. I use her story to explore a tension I see all the time: the difference between being productive in the short term and building a writing practice you can actually sustain over a long academic career. I don’t get into step-by-step systems or productivity hacks here. You can find those any place you look these days. Instead, I invite you to reflect on how your current approach to writing is shaping not just your output, but also your energy, your health, and your relationship to your work. If you’ve ever felt like the only way to make progress is to push harder, longer, and past your own limits, this episode is a gentle pause. A chance to ask a different question: what would it look like to write in a way that supports your life, instead of slowly consuming it? Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In this episode of PNP: The Podcast, we’re diving into the urgency trap. You know that feeling that everything needs your attention right now—the ping of an email at 9 PM, the “quick” request that derails your writing time, the sense that you’re always behind no matter how much you do? We’ll explore why academia runs on manufactured urgency, how it sucks energy from your important work and well-being, and what it looks like to reclaim your time for what actually matters. It’s time to step out of the constant rush, take a breath, and start shaping your days around what truly deserves your energy. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

Today’s episode is a little different from the rest of my “leaving academia” series—because instead of talking about what I left behind, I’m sharing what I moved toward: building a business as a scholarpreneur, specifically, a writing coach and developmental editor.I’ll walk you through how I found my way into academic-adjacent entrepreneurship, how I reconciled my skepticism about “business,” and what it’s looked like to build something that actually aligns with my values. If you’ve been craving a way to keep your scholarly work alive—just without the institution calling the shots—this episode will speak to you.I’ll also share some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way—the mindset shifts, the unlearning, and the surprising overlap between running a business and thriving as a scholar. My hope is that this conversation helps you imagine new possibilities for your own career path, whether that means starting a side project, offering coaching or editing services, or simply rethinking what scholarly or academic-adjacent work can look like.For those considering this path, I recommend Paulina Cossette, who has a podcast and a course on becoming an academic entrepreneur.Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leaving-academia-becoming-a-freelance-editor/id1765526180Course: https://acadiaediting.com/becomeaneditor/ Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In today’s episode, I want to talk about something that can feel tender, even somewhat disorienting—but also full of possibility. We’re talking about what it means to think beyond working in academia and how to understand the incredible set of skills your PhD gave you.Because yes, academia gave you expertise—but it also gave you other important skills: the ability to learn deeply, think critically, manage complex projects, and solve difficult problems. And those skills? They’re valuable in more places than you might be able to imagine at this moment.I share some reflections from my own transition out of academia and the mindset shifts that helped me see myself differently. We’ll also talk about how to approach a potential career pivot with the curiosity and strategy of a researcher.You don’t need to have all the answers right now. You just need to start asking new questions—and to trust that the skills you already have can take you somewhere meaningful.Content warning: I drop the F-bomb when talking about the Tr*mp administration because I don’t know how not to. Also, all my podcast episodes are marked explicit just in case.This episode is a part of a series for the next couple weeks on leaving academia that I introduced earlier this week:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/its-time-to-talk-about-leaving-academia Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

If you’ve ever opened an email from a journal only to see the words “After careful consideration, we regret to inform you,” this episode is for you. In today’s conversation, I’m talking about what to do when your article gets rejected—and more importantly, why that rejection doesn’t mean the end of your project. I know firsthand how gut-punching those messages can feel, but I also know that rejection is one of the most common—and least talked-about—parts of academic life. In this episode, I’ll share why rejection happens far more often than you think, how to take care of yourself in those first few tough days, and how to decide what to do next without losing confidence in your work.My goal is to help you see rejection not as a verdict, but as information—something you can learn from and use to make your writing even stronger. Whether you’re deciding how to interpret reviewer feedback, wondering if your piece was a poor fit for the journal, or just needing reassurance that you’re not alone, this episode will meet you right where you are. So if you’ve been sitting on a rejection and aren’t sure what to do next, take a deep breath, grab your favorite coping beverage, and join me. You might just walk away seeing this moment in an entirely new light.Related Post: Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In this episode of Publish Not Perish: The Podcast, we’re tackling one of the most challenging questions in academic writing: why does your research actually matter? Not just within your subfield or to a handful of experts, but to the world beyond it.This episode is a continuation of the newsletter I sent out earlier this week:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/why-should-anyone-care-about-yourIn this episode today, I revisit four deceptively simple questions I shared in that newsletter—about who’s affected by your research, what might change if people saw it differently, what larger pattern it reveals, and who beyond academia might need this knowledge—and explore what makes them so challenging to answer.This isn’t about adding another checklist to your writing process; it’s about uncovering the deeper meaning behind your work and reconnecting with why you started it in the first place.Along the way, I share my own struggles with significance, the resistance that surfaces when we ask hard questions, and why sitting in that discomfort is often where the most powerful insights emerge. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

In this episode, I’m continuing the conversation I started in this week’s newsletter called “Writing Should Be Hard.” You can read the newsletter from Tuesday here:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/writing-should-be-hardIn this follow-up podcast, I go a little deeper into why writing feels so challenging and how we often slip into easier tasks that make us feel productive while sidestepping the harder intellectual work our projects really need. I also share some ideas about how to recognize those patterns, approach them with compassion, and build your capacity to stay with the work that matters most.If you’ve been wrestling with doubt, avoidance, or the discomfort of not knowing exactly what you want to say yet, this episode is here to remind you that the struggle is part of the process and that you’re not alone in it. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe

When it comes to research and writing, many of us struggle to determine whether we're doing necessary intellectual work or simply procrastinating with more reading, thinking, and research.Don’t get me wrong. Reading, thinking, and researching are all essential parts of the process, and it can be difficult to determine how long we should spend in this phase, which I refer to as the discovery phase. I discuss this experience in the newsletter from earlier this week:https://www.publishnotperish.net/p/the-real-reason-your-writing-projects(That newsletter also has a download for paid subscribers on how to estimate how long writing projects will take you!)In this episode, I share how to spot the difference between discovery time and wheel-spinning. You’ll hear the signs that you’re making real intellectual progress and the signals that you might be avoiding the hard work of writing. Most importantly, I’ll talk about how to navigate that gray zone with more confidence so you can honor the creative mess of scholarship while still moving your projects forward. Get full access to Publish Not Perish at www.publishnotperish.net/subscribe