[15 years ago this week, I started this here public scholarly blog. There have been lots of twists and turns since, and the best ones have been aided & abetted by wonderful folks. So for my 15th (!) anniversary series, I wanted to pay tribute to a handful of those moments and people, leading up to a special weekend tribute to my first and best reader!]
I wrote at great length in this May 2017 post—part of a weeklong series on my work for and with the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN)—on the vital role that SSN, and especially its then-Media Director (later Executive Director) Avi Green, played in the single most crucial turning point in my online public scholarly writing career. I hope you’ll check out that post, but I do want to quickly follow up on one specific phrase: “after ruthlessly and crucially forcing me to cut it down and make it more engaging.” I’d like to think that the evolution of my style and voice, from their very academic starting point (I hope that dissertation/first book of mine did feature readable academic prose, but still, very academic indeed) to where they are now, took place gradually and consistently and with plenty of my own input as well as that of many other folks. But having to revise a specific piece very quickly, based on very direct and blunt (in the best ways) feedback from Avi, was a trial by fire—and the results, as I detail in that post, were so striking as to leave no doubt that the work was worth it. I’ve never looked back.
Next anniversary tribute tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Please feel free to say hi and share any blog responses or ideas in comments!
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