Writing Support
Our writing support programme offers courses to help you improve your academic writing as well as guarded productivity time to ensure you meet your submission deadlines
Courses
Academic Writing, Made Stylish
write clearly, with compelling prose that appeals to your audience
Write A Successful Paper
this workshop focuses on writing research papers that editors want to publish
Creating Narratives About Your Research
using screenwriting techniques to craft impactful narratives about your research
Refer to expanded descriptions below.
All courses facilitated by Chris Simms FHEA, Royal Literary Fund Consultant Fellow, published author. These courses may run in-person or online. Please the CPD-Training listing for the specific offering.
Writing / Productivity Retreats
our half-day retreats are intended to give you over 2.5 hours of strutctured time to work on your writing or research outputs.
Academic writing needn’t consist of turgid prose that is laborious to read (and to write). Complex ideas and abstract concepts can be expressed in clear, compelling language that appeals to all interested readers.
Through guided discussion, practical exercises and small group activities, this workshop will help you adopt the techniques of those who write with elegance, whatever their discipline.
What to expect
This half-day (3-hour) session opens with an overall view of what distinguishes academic writing. It then offers a variety of ways to inject style into your prose – and how to avoid the traps into which many academic writers stumble. Full of practical activities and guided discussion, the session involves bringing along a sample of your own writing to analyse from several perspectives.
By the end of the session you should be better able to:
- Form sentences with a natural flowing style
- Spot the writerly techniques that create ‘voice’
- Identify the stylistic choices of successful academic writers
- Approach editing as both a process and a set of practices
To book on to Academic Writing, Made Stylish, visit CPD-Training
What does it take to write a paper journals will want to publish? How can describe your research so it demonstrates strong originality, significance and rigour? The better the quality of your paper, the greater its contribution to building your career and creating impact in the wider world.
Writing a publishable paper involves understanding what will entice editors, reviewers and your target readers. This workshop considers how to do that. It will offer ‘hands on’ techniques and strategies, applied to your own work, to inspire you to plan and manage the successful writing of a research paper.
What to expect
This half-day session starts by encouraging you to consider how your own research meets the criteria of significance, originality and rigour. It then examines the part those elements play in papers which deliver on consistency, authority and persuasiveness. There will also be time to compare and contrast components such as titles, abstracts and conclusions.
By the end of the session you should be better able to:
- write a research article that is strong on the vital elements of originality, significance and rigour
- consider your article in relation to the appropriate journal and audience
- craft elements such as the title and abstract to engage prospective readers
- deal with rejection as a healthy part of the process
To book on to Write a Successful Paper, visit CPD-Training
You've read widely and researched deeply: now you want to write. So how do you structure your piece to capture a reader’s attention? Conventions may vary by discipline, but all academic writing can benefit from a strong narrative thread.
By using screenwriting techniques to de-mystify what storytelling is, this workshop will help you identify the message at the heart of your writing, while offering simple ways to develop a clear, coherent and compelling writing style.
What to expect
Taking inspiration from the worlds of fiction and film, this half-day (3-hour) session will show you how to apply storytelling techniques to your own academic writing, including CVs and funding applications. At times light-hearted, but always thought-provoking, there will be ample opportunity to think about framing your research in an engaging way – then structuring your piece so the reader is smoothly carried to your conclusion.
By the end of the session you should be better able to:
- Identify the elements at the heart of your research
- Capture attention from the opening line
- Craft a narrative that clearly tells your research story
To book on to Create Narratives About Your Research, visit CPD-Training
Looking to get started on that paper you've been meaning to?
How about that grant application you should be editing... how's THAT coming?
Then these are 3-hour writing and general productivity retreats are for you!
What to expect
Half-day (3-hour) sessions of structured productivity time. You will briefly be asked to set a goal for the session for us to help you keep accountable, and then the time is yours.
We'll be using a modified pomodoro technique (25 min productivity sessions + short breaks).
You'll have an opportunity to check with fellow writers for quick support.
