AcWriMo

This is what devoted faculty writing looks like.

As the Director of College Writing, I have been discovering a fair amount of events that happen across the country that I had never heard of before!

Of course I’ve heard of (and celebrated) NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but did you know that AcWriMo (Academic Writing Month) as sprung up, too?

Because I wasn’t exactly on the train for this one until about 4 days before November started, I decided our writing program could host something to encourage faculty writing if not a full-out AcWriMo campaign. Today marked the beginning of that “something.”

So, what are we doing? AcWriMo faculty writing drop-in sessions. We have five of them throughout the month, and each

one accounts for at least a three-hour block of time (hours range from three to seven hours) with coffee and snacks provided. The first ten to fifteen minutes are taken up by a brief discussion focused on one of several workshop themes, including “strategies for getting to your writing,” common reasons for article rejections,” and “getting feedback on your article.” Then, the rest of the time, we write.

This is actually a really great thing at Hope’s campus for a few reasons. First, it helps develop a culture of writing from

a faculty perspective. Second, it highlights the resources we already offer faculty for their own writing. Third, it reminds faculty of our Faculty Writing Camp (a week-long, eight-hours-per-day competitive camp that helps faculty write their research by providing an adequate, dedicated venue for writing in a semi-social atmosphere). Fourth, it reinforces an active presence for the writing progr

am on campus.

Today was the first (and longest) drop-in session. We’ve had people come and go, but everyone has commented on how helpful just having the space away from their offices has been. I’ve had a few r

equests, too, to make this a weekly thing throughout the academic year. It’s a possibility.

Here’s to AcWriMo and your writing and research endeavors! May you always find time to write.