The Festive Season is a good time to clean up and clear out the pile of paper collected throughout the proceeding year. One the many pieces of potentially useful information I archived was a three-page article from the April edition of the monthly magazine Prima [1]. Most certainly not the most academic magazine, but useful all the same, as it was a piece encouraging readers to write their own book.
The six steps or recommendations in Prima were:
- Figure out what you want to write;
- Make time to write;
- Find your writing method;
- Forget about perfection;
- Keep going (even when the going gets though);
- Find writing buddies!
I found it interesting as these six steps in this piece overlap a lot with the advice we have been giving to budding academics for years [2]. 
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
References:
- Gibson, F. (2024) How to write a novel and get published, Prima (April edition): 38-40.
- Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. (2022) Writing and Publishing Academic Work, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books
New BU publication on academic writing
Latest BU publication on academic writing
Writing academic papers: Workshop in Nepal










Geography and Environmental Studies academics – would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?
Reminder: Recharge Your Research Routine Next Week for World Wellbeing Week
Boost Your Research Toolkit: Digital Confidence & AI Literacy Workshop – Friday 26 June 10am-12pm
BU students’ publishing success
BU presentation at the University of Bristol
Horizon Europe Cluster 3 (Civil Security for Society) 2026 Calls Now Open
MSCA Doctoral Networks 2026 Call Information Webinar
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026: Application Deadline Extended to Thursday 25 June 2026
Reminder: Register for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026 Information Session
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Apply now
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease