Speakers
Spring 2024 Guest Speaker and Writing Retreat
Day 1: Tuesday, May 14th
Workshop 1
Efficiency with Style: Revising Your Manuscript at the Macro & Micro Levels led by
Dr. Erin McTigue
9:30 am - 11:00 am | online via Zoom
Fast-writing and “allowing messy drafts” is often recommended as a productivity strategy for academics. But … how do we most efficiently transform the resulting messes into coherent and powerful prose? In this interactive workshop, participants will take a “messy draft” of their choice and try out 3 macro-level revision strategies to hone the overall logic and organization of the manuscript. Next, participants, working at the micro-level, will apply 3 revision tools for coherence and writing style. Participants will leave with both a sequential approach and individual tools for efficiently transforming their future drafts. I will model this approach on a recent manuscript of my own.
What to bring: A messy draft of a paper/book chapter/grant proposal. Sections written with a more narrative style, such as introductions will be most applicable, compared to more technical sections.
Workshop 2
Project Management for Writing: Gaining Power in the Process led by Dr. Erin McTigue
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm | online via Zoom
Summer is just around the corner, promising the flexibility to dive into those projects waiting for your attention. However, past experiences might remind us that our optimism can outweigh our actual capacity. Let's embrace a realistic approach this summer by identifying our most crucial projects and focusing on one for success! Join us for a transformative workshop where we apply project management principles to pinpoint one 'important' project. Together, we'll break it down into manageable sections and action steps that fit seamlessly into your calendar, to-do lists, or planner. By the end, you'll walk away with a clear strategy for tackling your chosen project and a realistic timeline, empowering you with the confidence to make meaningful progress. Create a powerful and productive summer – invest in your productivity and success today!
What to bring: Nothing is required! Having a brainstormed list of potential projects and access to your calendar may be helpful.
Day 2: Wednesday, May 15th
Boot Camp with Benefits
8:30 am – 3:30 pm | AC Campus, AC 310 and online via Zoom
Breakfast, lunch and snacks provided.
Each spring semester, FAWN hosts a writing workshop led by nationally recognized writing
coaches. Workshops provide dedicated writing time, organizational help, and discipline-specific
support to increase writing productivity.
Past Speakers
Workshop Presenter: After being a traditional academic for over ten years at Texas A&M University, Erin McTigue started her own business, The Positive Academic, through which she mentors and coaches academics in writing and productivity, as well as runs workshops for faculty and graduate students. While at Texas A&M, she co-directed a university-wide writing support program and developed an academic writing course for international students. To keep up her craft, in the role of research scientist, Erin continues to write grants and articles with her colleagues at the National Reading Research Center of Norway at the University of Stavanger. In addition, in 2020 she was invited to be an Internal Productivity Coach at the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, as well as at the Center for Human Compatible Artificial Intelligence, UC Berkeley. Erin is widely published, has won teaching and mentoring awards, and continually aims to bring a lightness of spirit to the heaviness of academia.
