Academic Writing Month (also known as "AcWriMo") is an annual
Web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
-based writing event challenging participants to meet a self-set writing goal during the month of November. It is based on
National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo ) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes creative writing around the world. Its flagship program is an annual, international creative writing event in which participants att ...
("NaNoWriMo") and other variations of this model including National Blog Posting Month ("NaBloPoMo") and
National Poetry Writing Month ("NaPoWriMo").
It was established by Charlotte Frost and the academic resourc
PhD2Published a
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
geared towards helping early-career
academics
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
learn how to get published. Sites such as Chronicle of Higher Education, The Teaching Tomtom, and Get a Life, PhD, have featured the project.
Participants register for AcWriMo by signing up on the Accountability Spreadsheet, and by posting an initial declaration of intention on the PhD2Published blog post announcing the start of the project, on the site's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page, or by using the
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
"#AcWriMo."
History
The project was originally called Academic Book Writing Month (or AcBoWriMo) and was created by Charlotte Frost when she was a
Provost International Post-
Doctoral
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
at the
Center for 21st Century Studies at the
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...
(UWM). Frost aimed to develop an event that would push her and her colleagues to work on their respective academic writing projects and create a writing “team” among them and the wider global academic community.
The inaugural event took place November 2011 with over one hundred participants sharing their progress on their blogs and social media accounts; such blogs includ
GoanatreeSound & FuryFinds and FeaturesThe Ambulant ScholarEmily and the LimeRead React ReviewGlorious GeneralistStandardized TeacherA Dozen Pickled LimesDacia Takes Note an
Constance Kassor Frost also discussed the start of AcBoWriMo on her ow
blog
The vast majority of participants claimed to have enjoyed the month-long writing support group who communicated primarily on Twitter. A few
dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
voices argued that writing quality might be compromised by working intensively or that the project could give the impression that academic writing can and should be a fast process. As noted on UWM's website:
"
Criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
has come mainly related to the name. 'A couple of people took it a little too literally and thought I was suggesting you could write an entire, quality academic book in one month, which of course I’m not,' notes Charlotte. Such criticism has been
constructive
Although the general English usage of the adjective constructive is "helping to develop or improve something; helpful to someone, instead of upsetting and negative," as in the phrase "constructive criticism," in legal writing ''constructive'' has ...
, though, as Charlotte considers ways to improve next year’s event and continue the movement. One possibility is the inclusion of a broader discussion on the nature of academic work. Different subject areas have different demands, and some tasks can be completed quickly while others require a slower and more considered process. While Charlotte has been quick to embrace
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
as a
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
and team-building tool for the challenge, she also acknowledges that the
juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.
Speech
Juxtaposition in literary terms is the showing ...
of instant communication with a discipline that may not move at that speed is a challenge and worthy of a
dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...
."
Frost responded to critics while the project spoke for itself: many participants continued with the project through December 2011 and adapted a new Twitter hashtag (#AcWri) to refer to the project's more general focus on academic writing. Additionally, other participant
defendedFrost and the project.
In 2012 Frost decided to widen the remit and removed the ‘bo’ (referring to book) dedicating the event to all forms of academic writing
Participation
Each year AcWriMo is organised by Frost through her resource PhD2Published. The PhD2Published website publishes a variety of blog posts on academic writing. Other components include a public accountability spreadsheet and th
hashtag #AcWriMo There is even an application designed with AcWriMo participants in mind called the PhDometer. Although there are far fewer resources than the unconnected NaNoWriMo event.
Every year participants abide by the set of 6 rules:
# You have to decide on a goal where you count either words, hours or projects.
# You declare your goal by signing up on the ‘Accountability Spreadsheet’
# You then draft your approach to the month, making sure you have done enough preparation to write a lot.
# You discuss your progress on social media like Twitter and Facebook.
# You have to work really hard and not get distracted.
# And at the end you must publicly declare your results on the spreadsheet or on social media.
AcWriMo has been featured in the Guardian, the Chronicle, and over a hundred other online articles and blog posts.
In 2013 Frost partnered with Dr Jesse Stommel to conduct a live workshop in Google Docs on writing collaboratively using Google Docs, from their respective locations Hong Kong and the United States.
In December 201
Digital Humanities Nowmade this project their ‘editor’s choice’.
AcWri hashtag and community
At the end of the 2011 event founding members of the Academic Writing Month community decided to use the shortened ‘#AcWri’ (Academic Writing) hashtag for communication about academic writing all year round. Following this, live ‘#AcWri’ discussions were organised by then editor of PhD2Published Dr Anna Tarrant and Dr Jeremy Seagrott.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
November observances
Writing contests
Recurring events established in 2011
2011 establishments in the United States
Month-long observances