Backstage at The Scholarly Kitchen this week we got into a discussion of the different approaches our authors (“Chefs”) take in writing their posts. Some like to let an idea slowly percolate over time, and then work toward a deadline to put things together. Others wait until inspiration strikes and immediately put down words in a draft. We all have our individual ways of working, and with that in mind, I came across the video below where Roald Dahl offers a tour of his “writing hut”, his backyard shed where he did his work. Apparently it was modeled after Dylan Thomas’ writing hut, and Dahl explains in detail the particular quirks of his writing approach. As far as I know, none of our Chefs require six sharpened pencils, nor do they usually need to sweep out any goat droppings, but then again, none of us come close to approaching the heights of Dahl’s brilliance. So perhaps we should start budgeting for huts.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

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