The Summer Writing & Research Kickoff

This interactive workshop will help you get your research and writing organized, avoid or embrace the (sometimes inevitable) summer crash, and establish a clear, concrete plan of action for completing what you want and need to get done over the next few months.

I remember always feeling a sense of excitement and relief when the summer came, because I thought I’d have more time for research and writing. And then, about mid-June, I’d start feeling a sense of guilt and dread because I hadn’t accounted for the fact that I was exhausted from the semester, nor that I had a billion other things I wanted and needed to do.

The summer can open up a lot of free time, but it also still requires a lot of us. We have to:

• Build in (hopefully ample) time for rest, relaxation, and restoration.

• Earn money (Maybe you’re working retail like I did, or you teach summer school because you’re not paid during the summer, despite the fact that you still have to do parts of your job during this time).

• Work on job applications to move on from academia, or to secure another position to earn supplemental income or gain more specialized experience.

• Begin working on job market materials.

• Take care of our children. (Yup. They are home for months and are already bored, apparently.)

• Engage in other carework.

• Write syllabi for the fall, and get classes up and running on the LMS.

• Spend time in the archives, or interviewing, or conducting field work.

• And...do all the other things we do everyday, summer or not, because the dishes and laundry still need to be done and the lawn needs to be mowed.

Join me, a former academic turned developmental editor and writing consultant, as I guide you through the process of setting up your summer writing and research practice. At the end of this workshop, you will have a concrete, manageable, attainable, and followable personalized plan of action.

The 2-part workshop (OPTION 1) requires one hour of preparation prior to each session.

The 1-part workshop (OPTION 2) requires about 1 hour of preparation prior to the session.

Here is the assignment.

Though the workshop is geared toward independent scholars, graduate students, contingent faculty, pre-tenure faculty, and tenured faculty working in the humanities and social sciences, it could also be appropriate for some undergraduate students who would like to spend the summer preparing graduate school applications or honors theses.