SMP Online Writing Workshops – Summer school

This series of online writing workshops has been organised by the Sustainable Growth, Management and Economic Productivity (SMP) Pathway and is open to both ESRC funded and non-ESRC funded PGR students across the 7 WRDTP partner universities.

Structured Writing Workshops are facilitated writing sessions. The aim of the retreats are to progress writing projects in a supportive environment. Most of the time will be used for writing, with everyone writing, including the facilitator. Breaks often generate solutions to writing problems, develop drafts, lead to research-oriented conversations and provide feedback on writing-in-progress.

Please ensure that you arrive in good time to register and set-up as the retreat follows strict timings in order to maximise the opportunity for writing time. The half-day workshops will be facilitated by Jo Garrick, the NARTI Network Manager and Research Administrator based in Leeds University Business School.

Writing workshops works best when you:

• Focus exclusively on writing.
• Agree not to use internet in the writing room.
• Define specific goals and sub-goals, i.e. sections of paper/chapter, number of words.
• Define and discuss content and structure for writing sub-goals.
• Take stock of your achievements of these goals throughout the programme.
• Discuss your writing-in-progress –> mutual peer support.

Planning your writing session:

• Decide on a writing project or projects.
• Read Murray R. & Newton M. (2009) Writing retreat as structured intervention: Margin or mainstream? Higher Education Research and Development, 28(5): 527-39.
• Review the retreat programme: plan your writing tasks for each timeslot.
• Do reading and other preparation before retreat.
• Get notes, plans, outlines etc. together. Outline the structure of your paper/chapter.
• Download anything you need before you go, e.g. journal’s instructions for authors.

Registration links

Additional reading you may find useful

Brennan, Niamh M. 2019. “100 Research Rules of the Game: How to Make Your Research World Class; How to Successfully Publish in Top International Refereed Journals.” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 32 (2): 691–706. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-02-2019-032.

Murray, R (2012) It’s not a hobby: Reconceptualizing the place of writing in academic work, Higher
Education. DOI: 10.1007/s10734-012-9591-7.

MacLeod I, Steckley L & Murray R (2011) Time is not enough: Promoting strategic engagement with writing for publication, Studies in Higher Education, 37(5): 641-54.

Moore S, Murphy M & Murray R (2010) Increasing academic output and supporting equality of career opportunity in universities: Can writers’ retreats play a role?, Journal of Faculty Development, 24(3): 21-30.

Murray R (2011) Developing a community of research practice, British Educational Research Journal, 38(5): 783-800.

Murray R & Newton M (2009) Writing retreat as structured intervention: Margin or mainstream?,
Higher Education Research and Development, 28(5): 527-39.