Writing productivity
Dr. Michael Rifenburg
Department of English
CTLL Faculty Fellow for Scholarly Writing
A comfort
"Productive writers don't have special gifts or special traits--they just spend their time writing and use this time for efficiently"
"Writing productivity is about actions that you aren't doing but could easily do"
--from How to Write A Lot: A Practical Guide to Academic Writing. Paul Silva, 2007.
What do we know?
Among faculty at Bacc institutions....
17.2 % have not published a journal article
63.2% have not published a book
16.7% spend 0 hours a week on writing & scholarship
32.8% spend 1-4 hours
An answer...
Research repeatedly shows
Writing productivity comes down to
Structure
&
Accountability
STRUCTURE
- Making a schedule
-
Setting clear goals
-
Keeping track of your work
- Rewarding yourself
--from How to Write A Lot: A Practical Guide to Academic Writing. Paul Silva, 2007.
- Assembly line!
- Funneling
my Assembly line
Page proofs on edited collection
Awaiting page proofs in October for book
Awaiting publication of Teaching & Learning Inquiry
Kinda final draft of article on Army writing
Received IRB approval for student-athlete writing study
Finishing book on cadets and writing book proposal Summer 2018
(when waiting, start writing)
My funnel
Funnel = how can research, service, teaching point to one or two interests?
How can what you teach inform your research, your service?
Army writing article cites work on exigence
Honors 1102 reads work on exigence
Rewriting FYC curriculum to add students' understanding of exigence
How can you make your life easier?
STRUCTURE
30 minutes a day
+
4.5 days a week
=
180 pages of revised writing annually
--from Dr. Tara Gray,
Director of Teaching Academy, New Mexico St.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Writing Groups
Shut Up & Write
Pomodoro TechniqueWriteIn
Structured or unstructured / F2F or remote, the goal =
sharing draftssupportingcreating / connecting / cultivating
MORE REFERENCES
Belcher, W.L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks.
Boice, R. (1990). Professors as writers: A self-help guide to productive writing.
Germano, W. (2005). From dissertation to book.
Germano, W. (2012). Getting it published.
Hayot, W. (2014). The elements of academic style.
Next workshop
Co-authoring, October 10th
Dr. Steven Lloyd
Dr. Ryan Shanks
and more...
Writing productivity
By mrifenburg
Writing productivity
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