AcWriMo starts tomorrow – see what we have planned
Established in 2011, Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo) is “a month-long academic write-a-thon that happens every November”. Here at TAA, we have continued to plan special opportunities for our members to engage in AcWriMo as a group to enhance their individual writing efforts. Some of our members have also created or sponsored additional AcWriMo events throughout the month.
This year, TAA has decided to focus on a theme of “Distinguishing features of academic writing”. Specifically, we have used a list of academic writing features to further focus our weekly TweetChat discussions and shared resources to include: academic precision, complexity, formality, objectivity, and accuracy. Below are several of the planned activities we have scheduled for AcWriMo 2019.
Writing commitment with TAA support
This November for AcWriMo, TAA wants to help you accomplish your academic writing goals! To this end, we are also focusing on helping with two other features of academic writing that many of our members express as personal concern: isolation and account
To combat the challenges associated with personal goal setting and accountability felt by many academic authors, we invite you to take an online pledge to meet your writing goals this November. Simply share with us your goals, anticipated challenges, and what TAA can do to help you succeed, and we’ll help move you forward with frequent email messages containing motivation, encouragement, and resources to advance your writing efforts this AcWriMo.
So this November, commit to your success, let TAA help you overcome the isolation and accountability issues textbook and academic authors often face, and get your writing projects done! Start by completing your online pledge to writing success now!
Weekly TweetChat events
For the past two years, we have partnered with Janet Salmons of SAGE MethodSpace to deliver special AcWriMo TweetChat events throughout the month of November using the Twitter hashtag #AcWriChat for discussion. For those unfamiliar, a TweetChat event is an hour-long moderated discussion on specific topics at a specific location on Twitter – in our case #AcWriChat. Participants in the chat simply tweet replies to the questions posed and enjoy the knowledge sharing and resources introduced during the chat.
Our five TweetChat events for AcWriMo 2019 will be focused on the five distinguishing features of academic writing, as follows:
November 1 – Academic precision- November 8 – Academic complexity
- November 15 – Academic formality
- November 22 – Academic objectivity
- November 29 – Academic accuracy
November 1 – Academic precisionEach event will be held on Fridays from 11am-12pm ET at the Twitter hashtag #AcWriChat. Simply login to your personal Twitter account at the designated time, search for #AcWriChat, and tweet responses and ideas using the hashtag #AcWriChat to participate in the conversation. See you there!
Webinar events
TAA is hosting two academic writing focused webinar events during AcWriMo 2019 – one on Thursday, November 7th from 10am-11am ET and the second from 1pm-2pm ET on Tuesday, November 19th. SAGE MethodSpace has another webinar opportunity on Thursday, November 14th from 11am-12pm ET that TAA is happy to support and share with our members as well. Details on all three events, including how to register is below.
Writing Your First Book: Developing Your Dissertation Into a Manuscript
November 7th from 10am-11am ET
Presented by: Margaret Puskar-Pasewicz, MargaretEdits
Publishing your first book is imperative for many early-career scholars, but turning your dissertation into a book can be a confusing and difficult process. Margaret Puskar-Pasewicz of MargaretEdits will discuss practical strategies and tips for bridging the gap between completing your dissertation and writing a compelling book manuscript. Along the way, she will discuss some of the most common mistakes that she’s encountered in her years as an academic editor and writing coach.
Among other issues, she will focus on the importance of staking a claim that you can defend consistently throughout your book as well as developing your scholarly voice. She looks forward to having a wide-ranging and honest discussion about the challenges of academic writing for early-career researchers and how to overcome them.
Write Your Book: From Acquisition to Publication
November 14th from 11am-12pm ET
Presented by: SAGE MethodSpace
The hour-long free webinar will feature Leah Fargotstein, SAGE research methods acquisition editor, and Eric Garner, managing editor of SAGE’s US book production. These book-savvy experts, in conversation with author and methods guru Janet Salmons, will explain how each step of the process works and discuss best practices for authors or those who want to be authors.
Responding to Reviewer’s Comments
November 19th from 1pm-2pm ET
Presented by: Mark Pedretti, Assistant Professor of English, Providence College
Whether submitting journal articles or book manuscripts, academic authors can expect their work to be anonymously reviewed by expert peers. Sometimes helpful, sometimes infuriating, reviewers’ comments can make or break a publication; a negative review can bring your piece to a screeching halt. This webinar will discuss strategies for engaging with reviewer’s comments — both positive and negative. We will explore ways to figure out the importance placed upon comments in a given publishing context, the relationship between editor and reviewer, and whether comments are in fact “make or break.” We will talk about strategies for documenting responses to suggestions, and how to politely decline to make changes that are off base. Our goal will be to equip webinar participants with a set of tools for navigating the unspoken rules of the review process.
Learn more and register today!
Other TAA resources
As you need additional motivation, guidance, and support throughout the month, we encourage you to check out the many resources available to TAA members through our website. Some key items to consider are:
Our growing e-book library – specifically of AcWriMo-related interest may be:
- “Open Access Opportunities: Deciding if OER Publishing is For You”
- “The 5 Ws of Academic Writing”,
- “Publishing in Academic Journals: Tips & Strategies”,
- “Dissertation Writing Tips & Strategies”,
- “Tips & Strategies for Successful Grant Writing”,
- “Tips for Successful Coauthoring”,
- “Time Management Tips for Textbook & Academic Authors”, and
- “Writing & Publishing Academic Journal Articles”
Our Presentation on Demand of the Week providing a weekly sample of 250+ webinar and audio recordings in the TAA Presentations on Demand library. Scheduled for AcWriMo are:
- The Academic Juggle: Managing Your Writing in a World of Commitments (through 11/3)
- The 10 Habits of Highly Productive Academic Writers (11/4-11/10)
- Strategies to Make Your Textbook Workflow More Efficient (11/11-11/17)
- 5 Steps to Creating a Publication Strategy (11/18-11/24)
- 10 Tips to Enhance Your Writing & Take the Stress Out of Polishing Your Work (11/25-12/1)
Our TAA blog, Abstract, with new articles published frequently, including ones in the following categories and more: academic book publishing, co-authoring, collaboration, dissertations, editing, grant writing, journal articles, open access, peer review, project management, time management, and (of course) writing.
Other TAA member-sponsored events
We continue to identify other TAA members who have organized or are actively promoting additional writing events this year for AcWriMo. As we learn of more, we will update the list below.
- Looking for a way to spark academic joy this November? Check out the writing challenge being hosted by TAA member Rose Ernst and Angelique M. Davis at https://sparking-academic-joy.mn.co/. For more details, view their introductory webinar recording.
- Dr. Katy Peplin, of Thrive PhD, is hosting a whole month of events, support, and community to help you meet your #acwrimo goals! Best part? It’s totally FREE! Sign up here to learn more and get the free resources!
Have an AcWriMo event you want listed? Let me know at eric.schmieder@taaonline.net.
Not a TAA Member?
Some of the above resources are restricted for access by TAA members, although many are open to the public. For complete access to all that TAA has to offer, we encourage you to join today!
Not sure if membership is for you? AcWriMo is a perfect time for a 30-day trial membership to further enhance your success this November. Get started for just $10 today!
