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This newsletter is coming to you from Laura Portwood-Stacer, PhD, professional developmental editor and publishing consultant. I help scholarly writers navigate the book publishing process with more ease and agency.
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Hello Reader,
Today's newsletter features a guest post by Dr. Brielle Harbin, assistant professor of political science and founder of Your Cooperative Colleague, a professional development consultancy where she provides coaching and resources on creating antiracist learning spaces.
Dr. Harbin is also a candle maker, and when I heard how she relates this craft to her academic writing work, I wanted to know more. She generously wrote a post for this newsletter to share some insights with you all as well. I hope you find it inspiring for your own writing practice.
Before we get to the post, I just wanted to share a quick reminder that my one-week Book Proposal Sprint is coming up on July 29th. If you're looking at the calendar and realizing that time is ticking away to get that proposal done before other obligations take over, please consider joining me to get your proposal draft across the finish line!
How Becoming a Candle Maker Made Me a Better Writer
A guest post by Dr. Brielle Harbin
Becoming a candle maker made me a better and more consistent academic writer.
Yes, you read that sentence correctly.
The notion that something entirely unrelated to academia could improve my academic work habits may seem odd or counterintuitive but it’s true.
Let me explain.
Candle making sparked a process of reflection about my needs as a writer.
Let’s face it, writing can be extremely anxiety-provoking. As a tenure track faculty member, I’ve had dozens of conversations about the writing process with my peers. A consistent theme that comes up in these conversations is the recognition that only a small part of becoming a productive academic writer seems to hinge on having good ideas or the desire to produce new words on the page.
Instead, the difference between a consistent writer who regularly produces (and those who don’t) is often mental.
I would venture to say that at least 75 percent of being a productive academic writer is about one’s ability to work through and overcome the feelings that arise in our minds and body before, during, and after putting words down on paper. Especially feelings of fear and anxiety.
Candle making shifted so much of my inner dialogue and feelings about writing and the importance of thinking about myself and my well-being as an integral part of my writing process.
In graduate school and during my earliest days on the tenure track, I obsessed over the number of words on the page or focused work hours I logged on a given day.
That changed in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced conversations around mental health and general well-being that prompted me to think more intentionally about myself and my work process. Suddenly, I became painfully aware of how little I had been caring for myself and my personal well-being in my efforts to become a prolific scholar.
Simply put, I often disregarded myself and my well-being when crafting plans for how to show up to my writing.
It took being in academia for a little over a decade before I realized this was the case.
Candle making helped me create a different way forward by introducing me to a tool for well-being that I could use to create a more gentle and inviting writing environment and practice.
As a candle maker, I discovered burn tests, which are used to ensure that candles burn evenly. I became knowledgeable about proper wax to fragrance oil ratios to guarantee an appealing “candle throw”—the way the fragrance from candles is emitted and subsequently fills the room. I learned there were dozens of different kinds of candle wicks including those that had ASMR-like sound properties that could provide relaxing scents and sound therapy at the same time.
The renewed energy I experienced with each of these discoveries reminded me of why I decided to pursue a career in academia in the first place. Before writing became a form of labor and a source of anxiety as a graduate student, it was a hobby. I wrote poetry, songs, and short stories. This gesture to an earlier version of myself nudged me to reclaim my power and joy for writing—the joy I was now experiencing while creating each candle.
With this shift, I created work rituals that more intentionally centered pleasure and well-being in my writing practice. When working from home, my writing sessions began with me boiling a pot of water for tea. After steeping a tablespoon of my favorite loose-leaf tea, I would light a candle and begin to write.
Over time, I collected dozens of candles that sat on my desk, empty counters, and shelves around my apartment. In fact, the smell of burning candles became such an important part of my routine that I ended up crafting my own essential oil blends. These essential oil blends were the start of my DIY candle making hobby. My focus on well-being led me to use wood wicks whose ASMR-like subtle flicker completely transformed how I felt about writing. What was once an anxiety-fueled endeavor morphed into a daily commitment to showing up to myself and my work kindly and consistently.
For example, I created a “Progress in Prose” candle because the play on words was motivating. It also reminded me of the love and support of my family. The main scent in the candle is peppermint. I chose peppermint because it is one of my closest cousin’s favorite scents. Each time I walk into her house, my nose is filled with peppermint. She diffuses peppermint essential oil throughout her home to make her living space more relaxing.
Every time I light my “Progress in Prose” candle, I think—and more importantly—I feel each time my cousin told me she was proud of me when I used her house as a refuge as a postdoc and first year faculty member. In these moments I also replay memories of her children, my little cousins, fiercely hugging me with such warmth and zero regard for how many words I had put on the page that day.
Eventually I started packaging these candles for others who have shared the ways they used the candles to energize their own writing practice. From creating a personal journaling routine in their mental health journey to writing book manuscripts, I feel proud to be able to give to others in this way.
While life can (and will!) still happen despite my best efforts to plan and remain consistent, my candle making and writing rituals have made it easier to deviate from the plan and still experience calmness, satisfaction, and a sense of achievement in what might otherwise be a blackhole of anxiety, distress, and overwork.
Brielle Harbin, Ph.D. is a professional development consultant who leads workshops for faculty and other campus leaders across the United States seeking to translate their commitment to antiracism and equity to their everyday work habits and well-being practices. She founded Your Cooperative Colleague LLC and is also an assistant professor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy.
Coming up at Manuscript Works
Course
Book Proposal Shortcut for Busy Scholars
A self-paced course to help you write an outstanding book proposal for scholarly publishers. All who join the Shortcut by July 29th will be eligible to participate in a 5-day Book Proposal Sprint with coworking and live Q&A.
Register →
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