Academic Writing Month

November is Academic Writing Month! This annual event is a month where writers support each other by pledging to work on their writing project(s), either through word goals or time spent writing, recording their progress and sharing writing tips with each other.

Overview of the Month

During November 2024, we will hold a series of events to help bring together members of the Wolfson community with the aim of building sustainable, healthy writing practices and celebrating academic writing. Drawing upon the aims of WriteFest, the academic writing month activities at Wolfson aim to provide a protected space and a time to help writers in the following areas:

  • Habits: To develop good writing practices and strategies
  • </Blocks>: To overcome blocks and take a proactive approach
  • Protect: To keep academic writing as part of the working day
  • Social: To spend some time out writing with others

 How to get involved

Academic Writing Month Programme

Week 1

  • 1 November Academic Writing Coffee Afternoon from 15:30 - 14:30. Need some help with your writing but unsure who can help you with writing support? Join us in the Library foyer for coffee, tea, and biscuits as we welcome the Writing Consultants. You can ask questions regarding the support we offer and book a one-to-one appointment for future support.
  • 2 November WolfWorks: Searching for References and Stress Free Bibliographies.

Week 2

  • 6 November Write Here, Write Now in the Sir David Williams Room from 10:00 - 12:30
  • Join us on Saturday, 9 November, in the Sir David Williams Room from 10:00 - 17:00 for Wolfson Writes, an all-day event in the College Library where the College Librarians and Wolfson College Writing Consultants will hold an all-day write-a-thon, and offer drop-in writing consultations.

Week 3

  • 13 November Write Here, Write Now in the Sir David Williams Room from 10:00 - 12:00.
  • 16 November WolfWorks: Critical Reading and Note Making from 10:00 - 11:30 

Week 4

  • 19 November Why writing at PG level is hard (and what you can do to make it a bit easier) from 17:30 -19:30
  • 20 November Write Here, Write Now in the Sir David Williams Room  10:00 - 12:30
  • Join us on Saturday, 23 November, in the Sir David Williams Room from 10:00 - 17:00 for Wolfson Writes, an all-day event in the Lee Library where the College Librarians and Wolfson College Writing Consultants will hold an all-day write-a-thon, and offer drop-in writing consultations. 

Week 5

Setting Writing Goals for the Month

When thinking about your writing goals for the month, remember the importance of setting SMART goals:

  • Specific- Make your goal or objective as specific as possible. Say exactly what you want to achieve in clear, concise words.
  • Measurable- Include a unit of measure in your goal. Be objective rather than subjective. When will your goal be achieved? How will you know it has been achieved?
  • Achievable- Be realistic. Ensure that your goal is feasible in terms of the resources available to you.
  • Realistic-Your goals should align with your values and long-term objectives.
  • Timely-Give yourself a deadline. Include a timeframe such as a week, month or year, and include a specific date if possible.

By setting SMART goals throughout this month, you can give yourself a challenging, achievable goal and celebrate every achievement be it on a daily, weekly or end-of-the-month basis.