Wednesday, April 20, 2022
The Pivot to Writing
One thing I love about my job is the rhythm of it-- this season shift from teaching, to grading, to writing, and back again. The tasks are profoundly different: Teaching is entirely social, and all about interacting with others. In a way, it is putting on a show. Writing (and, to a lesser extent, grading) is a solitary endeavor, one where you have to be comfortable with quiet and one's own thoughts.
I'm an introvert, so the writing part is more natural to me than the teaching-- I have to kind of force myself up there to perform. (I've gotten better at it, though-- the graduating students chose me as the "Professor of the Year" this year). That means that the end of the school year is kind of an exhale moment for me.
I try not to be the kind of writer that Calvin describes above. I want to make complicated things simple, not complicate simple things (which is what too much academic writing does). My own style has evolved, but I think it's in a good place now. Here are a couple of recent things I have written that have gotten engaged responses (just click on the link, then click on "download"):
You can link to a bunch of other pieces (some co-authored with people smarter than me) here.
I've got three major writing projects this summer. For William and Mary, I'm doing a piece on the Trump administration's use of clemency. I'm going to be working with Rachel Barkow on a new commissioned article on clemency in the modern era. And finally, I'm going to get work done on a big-picture think piece with the central thesis that complexity in criminal law leads to injustice.
And that's going to be plenty to do!
