Many scholarly writers are educated at the School of Hard Knocks, but it’s not the only school, or even the best. Much is known about how to become a better, more prolific scholar—and any scholar can. Even when you can’t work harder, there are important ways to work smarter. Previous participants who took these steps increased productivity by a factor of three.
Every scholar can become more prolific and these steps will show you how:
Manage Time
- Differentiate between the urgent and the important.
- Write 15–30 minutes daily.
- Keep records of writing daily; share your records weekly.
Write
- Write from the first day of your research project.
- Post your thesis on the wall and write to it.
Revise
- Organize around key sentences.
- Use your key sentences as an after-the-fact outline.
Get Help
- Share early drafts with non-experts and later drafts with experts.
- Learn how to listen.
- Respond to each specific comment.
Polish and Publish
- Read your prose out loud.
- Kick it out the door, and make ’em say, “No.”
Participants bring a rough draft of their own writing to the workshop and learn a technique for getting meaningful feedback from others. Writing teams are established so that writers can give and receive ongoing feedback.
What Participants Say
“Your methods changed my writing life. For the four years before the workshop, I wrote or revised 44 pages a year, but in the four years after, I wrote or revised 220 pages per year—five times as much!”
• University of Texas-El Paso
“I have adopted the 15 minute model along with other suggestions from Tara Gray. It has been about two weeks and I have hammered out a publication for submission and started the next one.”
• University of Texas-El Paso
“I decided to try these steps on a paper I had been trying to put together for five years. Four weeks later, the paper is out for review.”
• New Mexico State University
“You ignited a passion and a fire under me. Ever since your workshop, I have been working furiously.”
• Texas Woman’s University
“Awesome! If I put one-quarter of what you said to use, it will increase my productivity exponentially!”
• University of Texas-El Paso
“The best workshop I have attended in 24 years of university teaching. It will result in measurable and real-world change.”
• Texas Woman’s University
“Your openness about your own struggles as a writer and how you solicit and use response is absolutely inspiring.”
• New Mexico State University
“In all honesty, you probably have provided me with all the tools I need to get tenure and even a full professorship.”
• University of Georgia
Workshop Formats
The workshop can be presented in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 9 hours.
The workshop is based on a book, Publish and Flourish, and on published articles, including one published in To Improve the Academy 2000 (19:268–284).
The workshop helps scholars flourish. The writing teams help build a community of scholars.
Who Should Participate
Any scholar who wants to become more prolific.
Location
The workshop will be conducted at your institution and tailored to your specific needs.
Workshops