Q: Whenever I start writing, all kinds of ideas start swirling around. How do I corral them?

— Creatively Dizzy

A: I’ve experienced the same, often. Whether I’ve scribbled a handful of notes in a frenzy of inspiration or actually made an outline, once I start to write that same itchy, unsteady, slightly nauseous feeling pervades. Not exactly illness or indigestion, it’s more of a nervous disquiet I can only describe as “creative limbo.” Doesn’t matter how often I’ve felt it or how many pieces I’ve started and completed. It rears up, and the ideas threaten to overtake me.

Searching for remedies, I began exploring works on creativity and anxiety. And I discovered answers that made sense, of all things, in “chaos theory.” I hope the answers will help you too.

What’s Chaos Theory?

Chaos theory has been developed and applied in mathematics, physics, economics, engineering, psychology, philosophy, biology, management, and leadership, among other disciplines. As scientists have observed, the major concept is that elements of “wild disorder” appear within otherwise orderly systems. Conversely (or similarly), within apparently disorderly systems elements appear of “unexpected order” (Gleick, 2008, pp. 56, 173).

To our dismay, those wildly disorderly elements can appear in our writing. We may proudly feel anchored in a newly-created neat, symmetrical, comprehensive (we think) outline; or an intricate but integrated map of arguments; or a list of crucial points, defenses, dramatic revelations, or subplots. But as we get deeper into the work, paths and possibilities start proliferating like runaway cell division, way beyond our plan. Random thoughts, questions, bits of essential (and nonessential) information, and voluptuous phrases that may have nothing to do with the current project pop into our heads and swirl in unruly combinations.

Nonremedial Remedies

When we’re besieged by such chaotic feelings, we tend to take refuge in any number of anxiety-battling behaviors. Some writers try to “force” the work and keep going, but every new attempt produces a dead end, or at least what they’re sure is trash. One writer I know gets a severe headache and must lie down in a shaded room with a cold compress and cup of chamomile tea. Another goes straight to his garage, picks up his sanding tool, and attacks the cabinet he’s refinishing. An accomplished scholar throws a blanket over her desk, drags out all her baking pans and makes eight dozen cookies—from scratch.

Another friend, an experienced writer, told me she immediately reminds herself that she’s feeling this strange “creative limbo.” This label helps her get through it more smoothly, but, she confesses, she still jumps on her stationary bike and frantically pedals fifteen miles.

Reassurance

As many creative people have acknowledged, the fearsome state my friend identified is necessary in any creative work. The great early twentieth-century mathematician Jules Henri Poincaré writes that the answers we crave “never happen except after some days of voluntary effort . . . where the way taken seems totally astray.” Such efforts, he assures us, haven’t been wasted: “they have set agoing the unconscious machine, and without them it would not have moved and would have produced nothing” (Poincaré, 2000/1910, p. 90).

More concisely, the poet Paul Valéry (1937/1952) declares, “The fact is that disorder is the condition of the mind’s fertility” (p. 106). When we accept this truth in our chaotic moments, we can bear them a little better and know their inconclusiveness will eventually prove fruitful.

Allowing Our Chaos

But to live in that “totally astray” limbo isn’t easy. We demand the answers now—just add a cup of insight for instant solution.

How can we allow the essential limbo? Especially in relation to chaos theory, I found an answer in another concept, that of “open systems.” An open system— applicable to science, technology, education, management, social sciences, and humans—constantly interacts with its environment and exchanges data, resources, and energy. As writers and scholars, we are intense, refined, and attuned open systems. We’re not only constantly interacting with but also observing, studying, analyzing, and recording our environments.

Margaret Wheatley (2006), a brilliant leadership expert, management consultant, and visionary, explains that open systems

maintain a state of non-equilibrium, keeping the system off balance so that it can change and grow. They participate in an active exchange with their world, using what is there for their own renewal. (p. 78)

Don’t we do this, chaotic-like, all the time? We think a piece is finished and, in the shower, a new insight or conclusion hits us. We realize we haven’t discussed a major limitation in our article. We’re beating the bejeezus out of scrambled eggs and a final conclusion appears that ties the whole thing together. Out of nowhere, an explanatory diagram appears before our eyes that explains the interrelationships of our four qualitative themes.

When scientists began to look at the ways systems grow and develop, they noticed that a system, whether chemical, organic, or human, deals with outwardly inapplicable stimuli or foreign substances by trying to subdue them. We can be tempted to the same action in our writing projects: when disturbing observations and ideas intrude, we often try to shut them down with all sorts of avoidance tricks. In the process, though, we often block ourselves not only from writing but also from the best, most inspired ideas.

Allowing Our Random Ideas

If instead we permit those swarming thoughts their natural course, an unexpected thing happens. As Wheatley (2006) describes, “if the disturbance survives those first attempts at suppression and remains lodged within the system, an iterative process begins” (p. 96). When this process of repetition that seems to go nowhere continues, the system—miraculously—gradually evolves toward its solutions.

A startling and beautiful illustration of chaos to resolution that may parallel our writing experiences can be seen in the “Three-Winged Bird: A Chaotic Strange Attractor.” It was created to trace the journey of a system in chaos (reproduced in Wheatley, 2006, p. 79; see also Jantsch, 1980). A simple nonlinear equation was entered into a computer and plotted as a point in three-dimensional computer space. Through millions of repetitions, lines representing it appeared on the computer screen, superficially random and meaningless. But eventually, the system’s form became visible, like the “bird” (see illustration).

As if it could be visionary art, the three-winged bird embodies a basic principle of chaos theory: what appears as disorder in our usual, limited, daily perspective is only order in the making. Within the chaotic circumstances reside the very seeds and prototypes of wholeness. The rather startling conclusion: There is no chaos.

Resolution of Chaos

In our writing (and lives) the seemingly chaotic is often indispensable. Much as we wish our works to spring forth faultlessly and infallibly reasoned, they rarely do. We get an idea, and suddenly the ending pops into our minds. Or we hear an internal riveting first line, as if dictated, but are stymied as to what should follow. A question no one has asked in our field lights up our brain, and we know we’re onto something. As we recognize the principles of chaos and the open system that are part of ourselves, we will more easily tolerate the unnerving process of creative limbo. So, how to handle those runaways? Well, first, let them stream out and zoom around like drunken electrons. Endure them, watch them, even accept them. They will slow and settle down.

We’ll learn through these processes and our iterative drafts what should be recorded and what should be winnowed (or maybe tucked away for another piece). We need patience and trust. In following our leanings, our questions come to be answered, our pieces begin to fit, our doubts dissolve. When we allow our creative limbo, the unsettling elements eventually swirl into order and produce our writing, our three-winged bird.

References

Gleick, J. (2008). Chaos: The making of a new science. Penguin.

Jantsch, E. (1980). The self-organizing universe: Scientific and human implications of the emerging paradigm of evolution. Pergamon.

Poincaré, J. H. (2000/1910). Mathematical creation. Resonance Reflection, pp. 85-94. http://vigeland.caltech.edu/ist4/lectures/Poincare%20Reflections.pdf

Valéry, P. (1952). The course in poetics: First lesson (trans. J. Mathews). In B. Ghiselin (Ed). The creative process (pp. 92-106). Vintage Mentor. (Original work published 1937)

Wheatley, M. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.

The post Dear Dr. Noelle: Whirling in the Limbo of Creativity appeared first on Abstract.

Voices of Rural Leadership: True Stories of Success in Education

Topics explored include: Building Family-School Partnerships, Community Collaboration, Supporting the Journey from College to the Classroom, Building Lasting Relationships, Developing Instructional Leaders, Enhancing Professional Capacity…and more. We celebrate the incredible work happening in rural schools and communities – work that educates, equips, and empowers the next generation of educators and leaders.

Purchase it in the 2026 TAA Institute for Textbook & Academic Authors Bookstore. 

Join us for the Textbook & Academic Authors Association’s first-ever TAA Institute for Textbook & Academic Authors, designed to support authors across different experience levels. Do a deep dive on topics especially important to you! Registration is now open!

The post 2026 TAA Institute Bookstore Featured Book: ‘Voices of Rural Leadership: True Stories of Success in Education’ appeared first on Abstract.

‘Potentially Existential’: Higher Ed Denounces Proposed Federal Funding Strings (April 1, 2026)

Florida Deals Another Blow to Sociology (March 30, 2026)

Diversity Officers Gather to Grieve and Rally  (March 30, 2026)

How Companies Are Using AI to Pay Workers as Little as Possible (March 26, 2026)

White House Releases National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence (March 23. 2026)

The post Industry News Round-Up Week of 3/30/2026 appeared first on Abstract.

Dr. Mike Rutherford’s book, The Artisan Teacher: A Field Guide to Skillful Teaching (2013), illustrates 23 common themes regularly modeled in the classroom by effective educators. Utilized as a clinical resource in schools throughout the U.S. and internationally (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea), this text breaks down in practical narrative why proven pedagogy makes all the difference.

Rutherford, a former high school chemistry teacher and middle and high school administrator in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has for the last 28 years served as a school instructional leadership consultant, drawing on a career’s worth of action research through direct observation of classroom practices and habits. The result is a body of work that has had a significant positive impact on teaching and learning. Currently, The Artisan Teacher: A Field Guide to Skillful Teaching is over 100,000 copies sold. Additionally, the 23 themes illustrated in this text are often utilized as a classroom walkthrough instrument.

And, those who have used Rutherford’s work compliment how practical The Artisan Teacher resource is—easily adopted school-wide as common language in aligning daily teaching/learning communication. From “stagecraft” to “mid-course correction” and “locale memory”, from “engaging students” and “personal attention” to “chunking”, the author provides educators on all levels the opportunity to easily self-assess and tweak their daily teaching “habits” and classroom instructional time protocols.

Rutherford explains further: “An artisan is skilled in the applied arts, combining artistic expression, scientific knowledge, and practiced labor to create uniquely valuable works. The most successful gap-closing, achievement-producing teachers view teaching as a craft. Like traditional artisans, Artisan teachers combine art, knowledge, and skill in a labor of love.”

Before launching his own consulting business, Rutherford was the Executive Director of the Mayerson Academy for Human Resource Development in Cincinnati, Ohio for five years. Rutherford Learning Group, Inc. is a research and professional development consultancy focused on high-performance teaching and effective school leadership.

The Artisan Teacher: A Field Guide to Skillful Teaching can be purchased online at Amazon, or in English and French versions at www.rutherfordlg.com.

Dr. Rocky Wallace is Professor of Education at Campbellsville University, and has helped develop the graduate education leadership program for CU. He has served in a similar capacity for Morehead State University and Asbury University. He is a former principal of a U.S. Blue Ribbon School, and has published 12 books on servant leadership and school improvement with Rowman & Littlefield.

The post BOOK REVIEW – ‘The Artisan Teacher: A Field Guide to Skillful Teaching’ appeared first on Abstract.

McGuffey Longevity Award

Advocacy Practice for Social Justice, 5th edition
By Richard Hoefer
Published by Oxford University Press
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Crime Scene Investigation and Reconstruction, 5th edition
By Sharon Plotkin, Robert R. Ogle
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Daniels and Worthingham’s Muscle Testing, 11th edition
By Dale Avers, Donovan J. Lott, Marybeth Brown
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Life Sciences

Exploring Medical Language, 12th edition
By Danielle LaFleur Brooks, Dale Levinsky, Myrna LaFleur Brooks
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Life Sciences

Fordney’s Medical Insurance and Billing, 17th edition
By Linda M. Smith
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Life Sciences

Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage, 8th edition
By Sandy Fritz, Luke Fritz
Published by Elsevier
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Life Sciences

Generalist Social Work Practice: A Worktext, 13th edition
By Charles H. Zastrow, Sarah Hessenauer
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Guyton & Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology, 15th edition
By John E. Hall, Michael E. Hall
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Life Sciences

Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach, 9th edition
By Dee Unglaub Silverthorn
Published by Pearson
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Media Ethics: Issues and Cases, 11th edition
By Chad Painter, Erin Schauster, Lee Wilkins, Philip Patterson
Published by Bloomsbury
College/University
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Primate Adaptation and Evolution, 4th edition
By John Fleagle, Andrea Baden, Christopher C. Gilbert
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Life Sciences

Textbook of Radiographic Positioning and Related Anatomy, 11th edition
By John Lampignano, Leslie Kendrick
Published by Elsevier
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Most Promising New Textbook Award

Data Structures and Algorithms in Java: A Project Based Approach, 1st edition
By Dan S. Myers
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Computer Science, Engineering

Earth History: Stories of Our Geological Past, 1st edition
By Peter Copeland, Janok P. Bhattacharya
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Physical Sciences

Financial Social Work: Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Practice, 1st edition
By Reeta Wolfsohn, Matthew Schwartz
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Green Building: An Engineering Approach to Sustainable Construction, 1st edition
By Christian M. Carrico
Published by Elsevier
College/University
Computer Science, Engineering

Interpersonal Communication: The Within and The Between, 1st edition
By Jody Koenig Kellas, Valerie Manusov
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Introduction to American Corrections, 1st edition
By Steven E. Barkan, Michael Rocque, Amber L. Beckley
Published by FlatWorld
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Introduction to Personal Finance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Financial Freedom, 1st edition
By Kristen Carioti
Published by Sage Publishing
College/University
Accounting, Business, Economics

Oregon, Our Home, 1st edition
By Jennifer Lee, Bart King
Published by Gibbs Smith Education
K-12
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Petrology and Plate Tectonics: An Earth Systems Approach, 1st edition
By Allen Glazner, Matthew J. Kohn
Published by Oxford University Press
College/University
Physical Sciences

Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union, 1st edition
By Zoltan L. Hajnal, Vincent L. Hutchings, Taeku Lee
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

The Social and Structural Determinants of Health: Educating Nurses to Advance Health Equity, 1st edition
By Teri A. Murray
Published by Elsevier
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Textbook Excellence Award

A First Course in Systems Biology, 3rd edition
By Eberhard O. Voit, Melissa Kemp
Published by Taylor & Francis / CRC Press
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American Government in Black and White, 7th edition
By Paula D. McClain, Steven Tauber
Published by Oxford University Press
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Case-Smith’s Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents, 9th edition
By Jane Clifford O’Brien, Heather Miller Kuhaneck
Published by Elsevier
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Clinical Manifestations and Assessment of Respiratory Disease, 9th edition
By Terry Des Jardins, George Burton
Published by Elsevier
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Data Mining, 5th edition
By Ian H. Witten, Eibe Frank, Mark A. Hall, Christopher J. Pal, James R. Foulds
Published by Elsevier
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Dental Radiography: Principles and Techniques, 6th edition
By Joen M. Iannucci, Laura Jansen Howerton
Published by Elsevier
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Design-Tech: Building Science for Architects, 3rd edition
By Rob Whitehead, Jason Alread, Tom Leslie
Published by Taylor & Francis
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Immunology, 2nd edition
By Stephen J. Juris
Published by Oxford University Press
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International Economics, International Trade, International Finance, 1st edition
By Menzie Chinn, Douglas Irwin
Published by Cambridge University Press
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Accounting, Business, Economics

Introduction to Visual Optics: A Light Approach, 1st edition
By Samantha L. Strong
Published by Elsevier
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Introduction to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches, 3rd edition
By L. Ayu Saraswati, Barbara L. Shaw, Heather Rellihan
Published by Oxford University Press
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Invitation to World Religions, 5th edition
By Jeffrey Brodd, Bradley Nystrom, Robert Platzner, Richard Shek, Erin Stiles
Published by Oxford University Press
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Laboratory Procedures for Veterinary Technicians, 8th edition
By Kristin Holtgrew-Bohling
Published by Elsevier
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Lectures on Theoretical Physics (volume 1: Classical Mechanics, volume 2: Electromagnetism,
volume 3: Quantum Mechanics, volume 4: Fluid Mechanics), 1st edition
By David Tong
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Physical Sciences

Little and Falace’s Dental Management of the Medically Compromised Patient, 10th edition
By Craig Miller, Nelson L. Rhodus, Nathaniel S Treister, Eric T. Stoopler, Alexander Ross Kerr
Published by Elsevier
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Life Sciences

McCurnin’s Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses, 11th edition
By Oreta M. Samples and Paige Allen
Published by Elsevier
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Medical Microbiology, 10th edition
By Patrick R. Murray, Ken S. Rosenthal, Michael A. Pfaller
Published by Elsevier
College/University
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Patterns of World History, 5th edition
By Peter Von Sivers, Charles Desnoyers
Published by Oxford University Press
College/University
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

Plate Tectonics, 1st edition
By Haakon Fossen, Christian Teyssier
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Physical Sciences

Principles of Finance, 1st edition
By Zvi Bodie, Robert C. Merton, Richard T. Thakor
Published by Cambridge University Press
College/University
Accounting, Business, Economics

Researching and Teaching Speech Acts with Young L2 Learners: Beneath the Linguistic Surface, 1st edition
By Milica Savić, Anders Myrset, Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis
Published by Multilingual Matters
College/University
Languages, Literature

Social Media and Society: An Introduction to the Mass Media Landscape, 2nd edition
By Regina M. Luttrell, Adrienne A. Wallace
Published by Bloomsbury
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Social Media: How to Engage, Share, and Connect, 5th edition
By Regina M. Luttrell
Published by Bloomsbury
College/University
Communication, Performing Arts, Visual Arts

The Ohio Adventure, 2nd edition
By Jennifer Lee, Bart King
Published by Gibbs Smith Education
K-12
Humanities, Education, Social Sciences

View the 2026 TAA Textbook Awards Media Kit

About the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)
The Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) provides a wide range of professional
development resources, events, and networking opportunities for textbook authors and authors of scholarly journal articles and books. www.TAAonline.net

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 If you’re an academic venturing into the world of publishing, your author bio is a small but important tool. It travels with your work, shapes how readers see you, and often determines whether media, conference organizers, or potential collaborators take a second look. But too many scholars undersell themselves here. Let me be blunt: humility has no place in your author bio. This is not your departmental webpage. It’s your moment to shine.

Academic CVs vs. Author Bios

At your university, your faculty profile is designed for institutional credibility—degrees, affiliations, grants, and more. It’s tidy, factual, and usually dry (by design). But an author bio? Completely different.

Think of your author bio as your introduction to the wider world as the expert you are. You’re no longer just Professor ABC from Department XYZ; you’re the guide who can illuminate an important corner of knowledge for readers. You’ll need to include your key credentials, just have them be part of your story. For example:

Dr. Maya Chen is a cultural historian who explores how ordinary lives reveal extraordinary histories. Her recent work examines women’s diaries from wartime China, uncovering the daily choices that shaped a generation.

See the difference? It’s professional, but also vivid and inviting.

Go Beyond the Basics

Start with what people need to know, such as your area of expertise, current role, perhaps other credentials if they add authority. Then move to what they’ll want to know; what makes your perspective unique, what motivates your work, or what connects you with your audience.

If you’ve published outside academia, include that as well. If your research intersects with real-world issues (policy, culture, art, technology) say so. If you’ve appeared on panels, in media, or podcasts, that’s worth noting too. You’re establishing credibility in multiple dimensions, not just through your degrees.

Here’s a simple framework that works for many academic authors:

• Lead with expertise (your field, focus, or main accomplishment).
• Add personality (why you do what you do, or what drives your curiosity).
• Include reach (key publications, audiences, or recognitions that extend beyond the academy).
• Close with connection (where readers can find you, or what you’re working on next).

Confidence Not Modesty

Academics are trained to understate their achievements. Phrases like “I’ve written a few papers” or “I’m involved with…” appear almost automatically. But outside academia, confidence reads as credibility. Readers, journalists, and event organizers want to work with someone who owns their expertise.

You’re not bragging. You’re framing yourself as the authority your work deserves. Replace “I’ve contributed to several edited volumes” with “Her essays appear in leading journals and collections on twentieth-century literature.” The facts are the same; the tone is different.

Get a Second Opinion

Once you’ve drafted your bio, don’t let it live in a vacuum. Share it with someone who knows how to think about audience, not just accuracy such as a colleague who writes for general audiences, or even a well-read friend outside academia. Ask: does this sound like the kind of person you’d want to hear speak or read more from? Most of us are too close to our own work to hear how our tone lands. A second opinion will help ensure your bio sounds confident and approachable, not stiff or self-conscious.

It’s a Living Document

Your author bio isn’t a one-time exercise. Update it regularly, such as after a new publication, an award, or a compelling project launch. Treat it as an evolving snapshot of your current professional moment, not a static paragraph stamped for eternity.

When writing your author bio, step off the academic platform and speak directly to readers. Tell them who you are, what you care about, and why your voice matters. You’ve earned the right to stand tall in your expertise. Go ahead and shine.

John Bond is a publishing consultant at Riverwinds Consulting. His most recent book is: The Little Guide to Getting Your Book Published: Simple Steps to Success. He is also the host of the YouTube channel “Publishing Defined.” Contact him at jbond@riverwindsconsulting.com.

The post Your Author Bio: Time to Shine appeared first on Abstract.

Education Dept. Layoffs Leave Scars Behind the Scenes (March 11, 2026)

Arizona Bill to Ban Diversity Statements and Training Advances (March 9, 2026)

Inside Texas A&M’s Scramble to Censor Its Curriculum (February 27, 2026)

 Writers Are Being Targeted by Scams. This Reporter Knows the Feeling (February 25, 2026)

The post Industry News Round-Up Week of 3/09/2026 appeared first on Abstract.

• What type of entity should you be?
• Are you keeping good records on your business deductions?
• Income from Royalties and other sources
• Qualified Business Income Deduction
• Pass Through Entity Tax
• Tax deductions
• Home Office Deduction
• Self-Employment Tax (“SE Tax”)
• Pension Plans, SEPs, IRAs
• Foreign Tax Credit

Robert Pesce is Managing Director in the Tax & Business Services division at CBIZ. Robert has an outstanding reputation for developing strong relationships with clients in the entertainment industry as well as professional services firms. His ability for successfully working with actors, authors and agencies led to his instrumental role in the founding of the Company’s Media and Entertainment group. A trusted advisor, Rob is often engaged by clients for business advice and tax saving strategies. He provides a variety of accounting, business management, consulting and tax planning services that enable his clients to become more profitable and efficient.

Register

Not a TAA member? Join for only $30

The post 3/24 TAA Webinar – Taxes & Authors: What You Should Know in 2026 appeared first on Abstract.

Authors and publishers who have each filed claims for a given work in which the claimed percentages do not match up with each other are required to “meet and confer” with the other claimants for that work to see if they can agree on how to split the payment for that work. (See FAQ 26 for official information from JND about this process). This process will start soon after the claim filing deadline on March 30, 2026. During that process, the claimants and settlement administrator will be looking at the publishing contracts governing the disputed work for guidance on how the claims amount should be split. TAA’s guidance includes a list of contract considerations with some tips and suggestions for looking at your contract to try to come up with the strongest arguments for what you should receive (available for members only).

Please be watching for a communication from the settlement administrator informing you that you must meet and confer with other claimants for a work. If you do NOT participate in the “meet and confer,” you are putting yourself at a disadvantage for what you could recover on your claim. If only one claimant for a work participates, they are likely to get what they claimed, regardless of whether that is truly the best or fairest outcome.

Learn more about TAA’s new guidance for educational authors. 

Visit TAA’s Anthropic Settlement Guidance page.

Not a member? Join for only $30.

The post Bartz v. Anthropic Copyright Case: Guidance to Anthropic Settlement Process for Educational Authors appeared first on Abstract.

Q: What do you do if you missed a deadline you created for yourself? How do you get through the feelings of guilt and set another deadline in a way that you can hold yourself to it?

              — M. Culpa

A: I empathize with you! It’s hard to miss your self-imposed deadline. As a fellow deadline-misser, I’ve arrived at several methods that make myself easier to live with.

1. Face it. 

What did you decide to do instead? Maybe play time was irresistible when your kid begged you to build a Lego city together. Maybe you didn’t need to see the last 90-minute episode of “Greatest Scholarly Acknowledgments.” Whatever choice you made, face it. You made it. 

2. Choose again.

What could you have done differently, better? Maybe explain to your child that you have important work right now and will play after supper. Or even ask your child to “help” you and invite her or him to sit nearby with pencils, crayons, paper. Or Tivo the cliffhanger Acknowledgments. It will be your reward later.

3. Ask Your Inner Savant (IS). 

If you’re having trouble coming up with answers for doing better, sit quietly. Ignore that Inner Chastiser and invoke your Inner Champion. And, as every meditation app instructs, take a few deep breaths. Just ask your IS. You will receive an answer. Maybe it’s scheduling your session at a different time. Maybe it’s changing your routines: arrange babysitting with a neighbor for your session and promise your kid later Lego or promising yourself a binge-watch of Acknowledgments: The Sequel next weekend.

4. Repeat.

Repetition is a time-honored method for language learning and exam-cramming. And (amazingly) it changes your neural pathway. So, repeat after me: I forgive myself. I forgive myself. I forgive myself.

If you need more, also tell yourself: I haven’t lost anything. My child loves the Lego city and “helping” me, and all those incredible acknowledgments gave me ideas for my own acknowledgment.  

If you feel you didn’t “gain” anything, consider this: you learned that making certain choices instead of honoring your self-promised deadline just doesn’t feel good. 

5. To reap more value, ask yourself why you avoided this project.

Honesty required here. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the project and the time it will take to complete it, so you turned away from it. Or you suspect you don’t have anything new to say. (IS comes in handy here too.) Or you don’t understand that newest, hopelessly over-erudite review article. Or you’re bored. Or you’d rather take a nap. Whatever it is, ask your IS how to meet this obstacle and overcome it. Maybe you really did need a nap.

6. It’s not a deadline . . . 

I stopped using the word deadline a while ago. It reeks of punishment, even annihilation, which I don’t want hanging over me. After all, I’ve elected to do this work, right? So I’ve substituted target. This word is not only more mellifluous but easier to swallow. A target is positive; it implies a reward (that Tivo’d show). So consider changing your label.

7. Look forward to completion.

This suggestion may seem a little like Pollyanna thinking, but it works. I’m sure you do look forward to completion—but with the satisfaction of knowing you did your best. Even if I have to force it a little, I tell myself: “I look forward to completion, to doing this. I love writing and thinking.” I remember and repeat what a colleague recently exclaimed: “It’s fun!” 

8. Climb back on the goal. and set your new one.

Maybe your previous goal wasn’t realistic. I’ve found that almost anything, and especially writing, always takes more time than I’ve anticipated or wanted. This is especially true because, in the throes of engagement, other ideas often come to me and I veer off. Sometimes a mini-essay emerges. It’s not the goal I set, but it’s usable nevertheless—somewhere. So allow your creativity. Then go back to the original project.

Or you discover newly published research that must be included in your project. Well, great that you discovered it! Yes, studying it may skew your session goal, but it’s necessary. Be glad you’ve found this new publication. 

9. For next session: Set your new goal. 

Before you finish, set your goal for your next session, including day, time, content. Whatever you didn’t manage to do yesterday (because you mined that new discovery), move over to the new session. Make notes or mark your manuscript for where to resume so you don’t feel like you’re plunging into an icy lake. 

Treat this session (and every one) as inviolate, like your dental hygiene appointment or electric car charge. But congratulate yourself and reward yourself for at least showing up today and remember your Champion. If you need to, forgive yourself, again and again. 

Now, please stop reading this and go have fun in your self-promised, successful session! 

Dissertation coach, nurturer, bolsterer, handholder, and editor; scholarly and mainstream writing consultant; author of writing craft, spiritual, and academic articles; and spiritual and motivational counselor, Noelle Sterne has published many pieces in print and online venues, including Author Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children’s Book Insider, Graduate Schools Magazine, GradShare, InnerSelf, Inspire Me Today, Transformation Magazine, Unity Magazine, Women in Higher Education, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. Noelle’s ninth story for Chicken Soup for the Soul appears in June 2025 in the volume Self-Care Isn’t Selfish. With a Ph.D. from Columbia University, Noelle has for 30 years helped doctoral candidates wrestle their dissertations to completion (finally). Based on her practice, her Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015) addresses students’ often overlooked or ignored but crucial nonacademic difficulties that can seriously prolong their agony. See the PowerPoint teaser here. In Noelle`s Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), she draws examples from her academic consulting and other aspects of life to help readers release regrets and reach lifelong yearnings. Following one of her own, she is currently working on her third novel. Visit Noelle at www.trustyourlifenow.com

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