Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing

by Cathy Mazak

Publishing is the currency of academia. But if publishing is so important, why is it so hard to find time to write?  Making Time to Write exposes how women’s experiences with writing in their careers are mired in the racist, ableist, patriarchal culture of academia that was built to exclude them. Building on her experience navigating the academy to become a tenured, full professor, and her work as a writing and career coach for hundreds of academic womxn, Cathy Mazak guides readers through the work of finding and honoring writing time. In the process, readers learn to build their careers around their writing practice instead of letting writing occupy the edges. From mindset work to creating a relationship-based writing system, Making Time to Write shatters the myths around writing every day (you don’t have to), accountability (it’s paternalistic), and motivation (it blames the victim). More than just a how-to guide, Making Time To Write is a manifesto on the feminizing of academic culture through reshaping women’s writing practices.

Genres: Writing

182 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Brigitte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The positive: I really loved how she framed the difficulty of accomplishing writing as tied to the patriarchal structure of higher education. The negative: so much of what she says here only applies to research 1 institutions. I teach at a community college and there’s zero expectation for me to write and yet I still write and publish. Because it’s a teaching focused school, I never get my ideal schedule each semester so trying to write only during my “soaring times” isn’t something I can do. Honestly, despite how radical she wanted to come across, she came across a bit elitist. But this is me just being so sick and tired of people thinking scholars are only located at research 1 schools.

[Michelle Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes well beyond the standard time-management and productivity advice for academics, focusing on how women and scholars of color in particular face special challenges in the academy and on strategies for maintaining boundaries and fighting burnout. I am finding this timely and useful advice – check it out and see for yourself!

[Joanne Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Of interest to academics only)
If you are new to Cathy Mazak's ideas this book will nicely introduce you to some principles for dealing with writing for publication, maintaining a regular writing habit, and doing so in a way that does not lead to burn out. The message is firmly about the neoliberal patriarchal university system that still imagines academics as brilliant able-bodied men either single or with a helpful wife at home; where parents/caregivers, part time workers, and any women and non-binary people who are told they don't fit in struggle against the demands of the system. (Elsewhere she has things to say about men like Cal Newport who clearly are in this wife as helpmate lifestyle when they share their productivity ideas!) This is presented with a light touch, but consistently. With that, the systems and practices for writing that Mazak shares are for individuals to enact but they help to push back against this system demanding productivity.

I've listened to Mazak's podcast and done some other training with her so the ideas weren't new to me but I did pick up some useful extra tips by re-engaging with the systems and practices here. The journalling prompts and workbook should be helpful. I'm going to share my copy around my colleagues.

There is a bit of work to do to figure out how it fits individual institutions or national systems - for instance the idea I could set which days I teach on is not doable! You get what you're given! And dealing with student worries, whether in terms of recruitment or helping students with personal and academic hurdles, don't seem to feature in the life of academics at bigger institutions whereas that's a major hurdle to writing time for me.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to the podcast for a while, so I decided to read the book as well. I found the book very accessible and full of tangible ideas. I also appreciate the workbook that goes along with the book. the reflection prompts allowed me to reflect on some of my current writing practices and writing struggles.

[MindOverMatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cathy Mazak can write really beautifully and captivating. The book is great fun to read also for the language and the style. The suggestions and reflective questions for "making time to write" and writing more successfully are very good and helpful too. A quick, fun, and helpful read.

A minor complaint is that I would have liked to see a bit more inclusion in the writing. Sexism is symmetric and women perpetuate it too and men suffer of it too (although men's privilege is obvious and ever present, of course, since it is deeply established in our society). Some men & women are more sexist and others less. I do understand that Cathy does not want to change society, but wants to support and help specifically women and non-binary people and that is a great thing to do and it sure does help. Still, a tiny bit more inclusion specifically within this book, not in her courses, would be helpful to not repel the men who at least understand that there is sexism and want to make a difference, but don't know how.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another useful academic writing self help book for the shelf! Somewhat in the model of Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy, Cathy Mazak's book stands out for recognizing the social and structural context of ableist, capitalist patriarchy and how that shapes writing in the academy. This is one of the only writing books that actually mentions the social circumstances of parenting and other care work, chronic disease, burnout, life changes, etc. and how they result in specific writing challenges. I also appreciated the writing advice that goes against more typical recommendations: *not* writing no matter what, so to sustain a positive relationship with one's writing; not writing everyday (if it doesn't work for you); and that *choosing to not write* during certain periods can be a proactive and empowering choice, rather than repeatedly missing one's writing goals, feeling like a failure, and then creating a negative relationship with writing. What's more, the accompanying workbook download makes this a more active process for writer-readers.

[Rachael Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and timely book

This book is filled with insight and wisdom about why academia (and academic writing) can be so difficult. It explains the institutional reasons for this and how simple acts can help the individual carve out a career they enjoy. I especially liked how such acts of 'resistance' can take place as an individual evolution as well as potentially becoming a revolution in the way the academy works.

[Michelle Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes well beyond the standard time-management and productivity advice for academics, focusing on how women and scholars of color in particular face special challenges in the academy and on strategies for maintaining boundaries and fighting burnout. I am finding this timely and useful advice – check it out for yourself!

[Chauna Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, to the point and comes with access to an online workbook to think through our assumptions about productivity in order to reprioritize our own agendas as writers/academics. Gifted a copy to a doctoral student and may make a habit of that. :)

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of good tips for any academic to help prioritize their writing. You can easily apply the book if you are not working in academia, as the setting is also not conducive to research, writing, or publishing.

[Carla VanBeselaere · Rating 5 out of 5]

abundance of help

This book has helped me on my journey of academic writing. I am focusing on abundance and balancing creation with rest.

[Emilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good advice for helping folks create the academic career they want. The best piece of advice was on rest. It's ok to rest and restore.

[Kerynnisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gives me the vocabulary to describe and some mindset shift and practical tools to makes strides towards the academic career I want, one in which writing is at the center.