According to researchers interested in academic writing productivity, about 50% of doctoral students do not complete their degrees and only a small percentage of faculty publish most of the research in their fields. Yet, writing productivity is critical for academics at all levels, from graduate students who must write their theses to faculty who must publish articles, books, and grants to earn promotion and tenure. How can you develop a consistent writing habit? If you already write consistently, how can you improve your efficiency and keep your writing habit from growing stale? We will discuss how simple digital tools can bump your academic writing to a new level and keep your writing momentum going. Participants will have a chance to interact with some of the tools, ask questions, and continue their writing journeys with fresh ideas and insights. ® 2015 Margarita Huerta & Jennifer Travis

1. Jump-Start Your Academic
Writing: Simple Digital Tools
to Grow and Maintain Your
Writing Habit
Margarita Huerta, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Jennifer Travis, Lone Star College – North Harris
Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA)
June 2015

2. Why Writing is Your Profession
! Writing productivity is critical for academics at
all levels, from graduate students who must
write their theses to faculty who must publish
articles, books, and grants to earn promotion
and tenure.
! Your ideas and research do not “exist” if they
are not published.

3. The Problem with Academic
Writing Productivity
! About 50% of doctoral students do not
complete their degrees (Cassuto, 2013).
! Only a small percentage of faculty
publish most of the research in their
fields (Cole, 1981; Green, Bellin,
Baskind, 2002; Teodorescu, 2000).
! Why is this?

4. The Psychology of Academic
Writing & Writers

5. Academic Writers Often
Have High Writing Anxiety
! Anxiety - “an emotion characterized by
feelings of tension, worried thoughts,
and physical changes like increased blood
pressure” (American Psychological
Association, 2014 p. 1).
! Writing anxiety - the manifestation of
this emotion when a person is
confronted with the task of writing.

6. Writing Anxiety Example
! “I had what my physician calls a panic attack…
I felt like I was having a heart attack. The first
thing I did when I felt my heart pounding was
to reassure myself that I would not try to write.
That’s why I haven’t written anything for
[pause] years” (Boice, 1990, p. 25).

7. Academic Writers Might
Have Low Self-Efficacy
! Self-efficacy – One’s belief in his/her ability to perform a
given activity in a given situational circumstance
(Bandura, 1997).
! Writing self-efficacy - one’s belief in his/her capability to
write in a given situation.
! In a specific circumstance, people with higher self-efficacy
invest more effort in learning and applying skills — and
therefore perform at higher levels — than people with low
self-efficacy, especially if the situation is demanding,
uncertain and holds a possibility of failure (Bandura,
1982; 1997).
! (Sounds like academic writing!)

8. Low Self-Efficacy Examples
! “I’d rather not think about [writing], because
whenever I do, I think about how difficult it is
for me” (Boice, 1990, p. 22).
! “When I started graduate school…my first
quarter was tough… I began to suspect that
everyone but me knew how to organize their
time, do their research, and write successful
papers” (Belcher, 2009, p. 186).

9. Tools to Combat Writing
Anxiety and Low Self-Efficacy
! We want to:
1. Minimize writing anxiety
2. Maximize self-efficacy

10. Create a Personal
Online Blog

11. Why Blogs Help Your
Academic Writing
• Gets the writing flowing.
• Low-stress/not high stakes.
• Immediately “published
results” = motivation.
• Sense of “completion”.
• Can help with self-
reflection/metacognition
of your own academic
processes (including
writing!).

12. Our Blogs
! http://phdpudding.blogspot.com (Maggie)
! http://writinguphill.com (Jennifer)

15. Use a Stopwatch
When You Write

16. How a Stopwatch Can
Reduce Writing Anxiety
• Great for starting and
doing a task you do not
want to do (i.e., are
anxious to do)!
• Builds motivation.
• You can do more in 5
minutes than in zero
minutes.
• Gives sense of time.

17. Online Stopwatch Sites
Everyone: http://www.online-stopwatch.com
Mac Users: http://www.dejal.com/timeout/

18. Try it:
Spend ___ minutes writing on/
about your writing project.

19. Pomodoro Method
• Write for 25 minutes, then
take 5-minute break.
• Modify the ratio to work
for you (e.g., 35:10 or 30:5)
• Find an app to time it for
you.
• 4 pomos at 25:5 ratio => 2
hours of writing!
• 4 pomos at 35:10 ratio =>
3 hours of writing!

20. Set-Up and Use a
Writing Log with
Microsoft Excel

21. Multiple Benefits of
Logging
• Getting to know yourself
as a writer.
• Physical record of your
accomplishments.
• Personal accountability.
• Habit formation/tracking
• Analyze and improve your
writing habit.
• Double benefit: Also
reduces writing anxiety!
TOTAL WRITING TIME (hours) 31.3333
Color Key
Publications
Grants
For/Others
Teaching
Conferences
Personal/Blog
Job/stuff
Learning
DATE BEGIN END WRITIN
G TIME
(min)
WHERE
4/1/2015 11:00/AM 11:50/AM 50 College/Station
4/2/2015 2:25/PM 2:43/PM 18 College/Station
4/4/2015 12:00/PM 2:00/PM 120 Round/Rock
4/5/2015 2:40/PM 3:40/PM 60 Airplane
3:45/PM 4:00/PM 15 Airplane
4:20/PM 4:25/PM 5 Airplane
10:00/AM 12:00/PM 120 Starbucks
8:30/PM 8:50/PM 20 Home
4/8/2015 1:00/PM 2:30/PM 90 Office
2:30/PM 4:30/PM 120 Office
5:00/PM 6:30/PM 90 Office
4/9/2015 12:10/PM 12:50/PM 40 Autonation/Honda
1:55/PM 2:40/PM 45 Home
3:00/PM 3:30/PM 30 Home
3:45/PM 5:45/PM 120 Home
4/12/2015 7:30/PM 8:00/PM 30 Home
4:40/PM 5:45/PM 65 Home

22. Writing Log Examples
! Jennifer
! Maggie

23. ManicTime
! Tracks time spent on applications and
documents
! Eye-opening!
! http://manictime.com

24. ManicTime

25. FocusWriter
! Eliminate distractions from your desktop
! Set daily word or time goals. (Yes, it
tracks streaks.)
! Minimal editing capability (copy, paste)
! Keeps you honest!
! Free, but you can leave a tip.
! www.focuswriter.com

26. FocusWriter Screenshot
! What other tools do you use?

27. Build Accountability
In a small-sample intervention for
procrastinators,
• Faculty committing to write daily in short
sessions, and log their writing time: Wrote 4
times as many pages as comparison group.
• Faculty committing to write daily, log their
time, and meet biweekly with the researcher
for prodding and log-sharing: Wrote 9 times
as many pages as comparison group.
Source: Boice, 1989

28. Accountability
Ideas
• Email
• Social Media
Groups

29. Writing Group of
Friends/Colleagues
• Write together on Skype
or in person
• Use the Pomodoro
method and chat during
breaks
• Use social media to
arrange writing meetings

30. Example - Skype Writing Group

31. Recap
(Really, all of these tools go “hand-in hand”)
Tools to Minimize Writing Anxiety and
Maximize Self-efficacy
• Create an Online Blog
• Use a Stopwatch
• Use the Pomodoro Method
• Set up and Use a Writing Log
• Build Accountability

32. References
! “Anxiety” (2014). American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
! Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.
! Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
! Boice, R. (1989). Procrastination, busyness, and bingeing. Behavioral Research and Therapy, 27(6), 605-611.
! Boice, R. (1990). Professors as Writers: A self-help guide to productive writing. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press.
! Cassuto, L. (2013). Ph.D. attrition: How much is too much? The Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://chronicle.com/article/PhD-Attrition-How-Much-Is/140045/
! Cole, J. R. (1981). Women in science. American Scientist, 69(4), 385-391.
! Green, R. G., Bellin, M. H., & Baskind, F. R. (2002). Results of the doctoral faculty publication project:
Journal article productivity and its correlates in the 1990s. Journal of Social Work Education, 38(1), 135-152.
! Teodorescu, D. (2000). Correlates of faculty publication productivity: A cross-national analysis. Higher
Education, 39(2), 201-222.

33. Thank You!
Questions?
margarita.huerta@unlv.edu
jennifer.travis@lonestar.edu