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 Technique
WriteIn

Structured or unstructured / F2F or remote, the goal =
sharing drafts
supporting 
creating / 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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