Reflections of a Novice Academic Writer

This article is a narrative account of my experiences as an emerging writer engaged in the process of writing an article for submission to an academic journal. As a novice academic writer, I was supported by my doctoral supervisor and another senior lecturer who has published several articles. I draw on this first experience of writing an article to disseminate findings of research done at undergraduate level as material for this article. The reflective journal written when I was an undergraduate student, the drafts of the article, as well as my supervisor's comments were used as data, which I analysed. Mezirow's (1991) transformative learning theory with the categories of challenges, learning, and emotions was used as a theoretical lens for analysis. The findings point to the process of scholarly writing, the challenges that I faced, the academic learning I experienced, as well as the emotional development on my journey towards becoming a scholarly writer. I conclude that deep reflection on the process and the action of writing enhanced my own development as scholar. This has implications for other novice writers who are forging their way in academia.