Writing productivity









Dr. Michael Rifenburg
Department of English
CTLL Senior Faculty Fellow for Scholarly Writing

throughout


positive

viewing yourself as a writer

viewing your work through p&t guidelines

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.







STRUCTURE, cont'd

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
Write Now Academy

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



Guiding Words


Connect

Cultivate 

Create


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.

Activity


Three posters:

academic writing barriers

work barriers

life, non-work barriers

what you love about academic writing / research

fill in the posters--no names

Activity, cont'd


been there and got a thought = +

feel you but got nothing = [triangle]

am there and want to talk = !

add your name next to your symbol

Group name activity


4 index cards per person.

on two index cards write a noun

on two index cards write a verb

mix them up, pick a noun and a verb = group name

Overview of academy and book


Belcher's Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks

Google docs

4 meetings

Week 1 starts Sept 3

my work 


Wide-variety of publications. Single and co-authored.

What can I help you with?

next meeting


led by Dr. Paul Raptis

Sept 28, same place and time

Write Now Academy

By mrifenburg

Write Now Academy

1st meeting

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