Get Writing with #AcWriMo this November

If you’re currently looking to delve deeply into your thesis writing, then your timing is impeccable. November is #AcWriMo (Academic Writing Month), a time when academic writers band together online to commit to 30 days of intensive writing.

#AcWriMo is mainly a social media phenomenon (which means it’s not official or mandatory, and no-one’s scrutinizing your progress – yay!) Here’s how it works: you decide on a writing goal for the month of November. It might be a certain number of hours to spend writing, or a certain word count to achieve, or a chapter to complete. Whatever the goal, you declare it publicly; generally via social media using the hashtag #AcWriMo. During the month you can post progress updates if you like, and at the end of the month, you declare your results. Simple!

If you’d like to take part in #AcWriMo, here are some resources that could help:

  • Dr Lyn Lavery, who you may recognise from the NVivo courses she runs at AUT, is offering a free webinar on ‘Writing Tips for #AcWriMo’. It’s coming up next Tuesday 30 October, 11am – noon. Register here if you’re interested in participating.
  • There are AUT workshops on thesis formatting on November 17 and November 24, 9am – 2pm in WB412. Check out elab.aut.ac.nz to book.
  • If you’d like support from an AUT Postgraduate Learning Advisor, you can request a consultation here. They have particular expertise with academic writing.
  • Dr Margy Thomas of ScholarShape is taking a more reflective (and less word count-based) approach to #AcWriMo 2018. Join her here for daily video reflections about writing practice.
  • If your goal is more about mass word counts, then check out this blog post from Dr S. Scott Graham full of tips for binge-writing.

And if you’re going to be at the November Writers’ Retreat, be sure to keep everyone posted on your progress from Long Bay.

Happy writing everyone!

About Anaise Irvine

Dr Anaise Irvine is the Editor of Thesislink and leads the Researcher Education and Development team at Auckland University of Technology. Her PhD research analysed how contemporary films and novels represent genetic engineering as a social justice issue. These days she works with researchers at all levels to improve their research skills, and the most obscure of her own research skills is being able to turn novels into phylogenetic trees!

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