Writing as a Humanities Ph.D. Student: Discovering the Writer in You, Exploring New Venues, and Rebuffing Criticisms

Abstract

Humanities graduate students often receive conflicting information about what, where, and how to publish. While publishing can be a stressful process, there are many opportunities for humanities graduate students to succeed. To be successful as a writer, though, graduate students must develop confidence, explore new avenues for publishing, and steel themselves against the inevitable deluge of criticism from reviewers, graduate colleagues, and even faculty in one’s department. To do that, I present several ways graduate students can become professional, scholarly writers, different avenues in which to publish, ways to develop one’s writing style and experience, and some advice on enduring criticism, which is unavoidable in scholarly life. This article argues that graduate students should publish and that with enough time and patience, the process can be rewarding and enjoyable.