Choosing my academic voice

The Thesis Whisperer gave a workshop on writing a paper in seven days at Bangor University back in 2015. She said “as academics, we are known by our writings”. That has stuck with me ever since.

 

I write for a profession. Or, more usually, I take other people’s writings and try to communicate the content to specific audiences. I am used to the idea of different voices for different audiences. I am used to thinking what other literature my audience might read – or whether they may prefer not to read at all and get their information from other sources. Having read them, I am used to mimicking that style of writing.

 

Ask me for a blog post, I can write one. Ask me for a magazine article, I can write one. Ask me for a formal response to a formal letter, I can write one. Ask me to write for people who use Easy Read, no problem. Ask me to write an academic paper, I…. I just can’t do it.

 

I need to unpick why. I need to unpick it urgently because yesterday (which has prompted these reflections) and tomorrow (for which I need to prepare) are paper-writing days with my supervisors.

 

So far, I’ve come up with four possible reasons that my mind freezes at the idea of ‘academic paper’.

1. I haven’t read enough papers to be able to identify and learn to mimic an academic voice that feels appropriate for me to use. I’ve spent more time reading books than papers. More significantly, I’m not sure enough where my approach sits within the rest of sociological research to work out what might be an ‘appropriate’ (to my mind) voice.
2. There is no single academic audience for my work. Within sociology there are many tones of voice and many audiences. It would be quite possible for me to adopt multiple voices. But - the words of The Thesis Whisperer come back to me. Do I want to be an academic chameleon, choosing a voice for an audience? If I am to be known to fellow academics by my writings, maybe I don’t want to adapt my writings to different academic audiences.
3. I am insecure. I struggle with calling myself an academic. I associate ‘being an academic’ with the style of writing I grew up with on a science degree in the 1980s. Specifically, I associate ‘being an academic’ with citing literature and making sure I have plenty of references. Negatively, I associate citing with hiding behind others, a way of justifying what I think – “look, it’s not me a PhD student saying it, the eminent X said it”. I am conflicted, therefore about adopting the literature-citing academic voice. I feel I should, because that’s what ‘proper academics’ do. I know I can’t (I don’t know enough of the literature to feel I can make a good job of it). I rebel at being forced to adopt that style – when in reality it is only me that is saying the literature-citing style is the only way of ‘being an academic’.  
4. I do want to write differently to an academic audience from general public audiences. I want to respect the wisdom and learning of fellow academics. But I still want to be me and sound like me.
5. I don’t know who I am academically yet. That’s certainly true. But I won’t find out by sitting silently. The best way forward is to try out different voices until I find the one that sounds most like me. Given nothing else about my life has been ‘off the shelf’, I doubt my academic voice will be an ‘off the shelf’ voice.

 

I’m glad I’ve blogged this. I’ve gone in a loop in two years since I blogged http://annecollis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/as-academic-you-are-known-through-your.html. Then it was fear of writing a blog. Now it’s fear of writing a paper.

 

The act of blogging has helped me feel calmer about writing my first academic paper. It doesn’t need to be perfect. When I look back in 20 years time with my rich, lyrical voice, I may be embarrassed by its 2017 squeaky, out of tune tone. But that’s OK. Right now I just need to be brave, open my mouth and see what comes out.