In a survey of this summer’s TAA Writing Gym, 45% of respondents said they used the gym 2-4 days a week. “The TAA Writing Gym helped me move from writing sporadically to writing every day,” said one respondent. “My writing approach has improved as well since I am now thinking about my projects regularly and I can work through ways to approach topics even when I am not actively writing.”

Ninety-five percent of gym members who responded to the survey watched the Writing Classes. Writing time tracking and the Workout Plan tied for the second most used resource, with 65% of respondents saying they used them.

The first Writing Class, “Eye on the Prize: Create Goals That Move You Forward,” presented by Susan Robison, a faculty development consultant with Professor Destressor, was the fan favorite, with 90% of respondents rating it a 5 (highest score). Said one respondent: “Even when the advice offered was not new to me, it made me think about each step for an upcoming writing course I am teaching. It was all useful.”

While most respondents said that the Writing Class topics offered were spot on, some suggested the following topics for future writing gyms:

• Article and proposal writing
• Dealing with writer’s block and procrastination
• Juggling professional responsibilities and writing time
• Satisfying dissertation chairs and journal reviewers
• Self-publishing, monographs, reports, online/website
• The process of writing

Seventy-five percent of respondents said summer was the best time for the gym, with 37 percent saying Spring, and 45 percent saying Fall. Forty-five percent of respondents plan to continue to use the gym’s Writing Time Tracking Tool to track their time beyond the six formal weeks of this summer’s gym. View the full survey results here.

Thank you to all of the gym members who took the time to respond to the survey. We will be using your responses to improve future Writing Gyms.

Congratulations also to the gym members who received certificates for logging a high number of days in the gym and/or a high number of consecutive days. Gym member Michael Howell logged 34 continuous days in the gym, the most of any other gym member! Gym member Soumia Bardhan logged a total of 39 days in the gym; Rafael Almanzar logged a total of 37 days; Iris Hewitt-Bradshaw logged 36 days, 19 of those continuous; Sharon A. Stringer logged 31 days, 24 of those continuous. Several other gym members logged between 15 and 29 days in the gym.