08 December 2011

Winter Writing Workshop with the Dame

In the last ADNWG meeting of the fall term, I proposed a six-week winter intersession group for those of us who are trying to get some writing done over the holidays.

I'm in it because, as long-term readers know, I hate cold, winter, and the December holidays, and since I can't spend the entire month in Morocco or Malaysia, I'm going to distract myself this year with the Macedonian Marginalia Project, an article I had hoped to finish over a year ago.

It seemed so simple when I started; but this week when I was looking up call numbers for books I need to check out for the MMP, in addition to my usual DA, PR and Z suspects, we also have DF, LC, and Q. This probably says something about the complexity of what I'm trying to do.

So, anyway, this post is the invitation, advance warning, whatever you want to call it. Starting Monday, 12 December, when my grades have to be in, I'm going to post weekly goals and progress reports for myself. LRU starts up again the day after MLK Day, so January 16 will be the official end of the intersession. However, I expect I'll still be tinkering (how I hope it's only tinkering) till the end of January, so there will be a couple more "unofficial" Monday posts where late papers can trickle in.

I know we're not all on the same schedule; some of you may still be teaching. So this workshop will be less structured than ADNWG. You can start late and finish late, or drop in for three weeks and then drop out again.

If you're interested in taking part in the Winter Writing Workshop, please leave a comment, and I'll post the starting list of participants and goals on Monday.

16 comments:

Sapience said...

I'm in. I have an article due Jan. 15th, so this is perfect.

Anonymous said...

I'm in. For my sins. :)

- Highlyeccentric

Ink said...

Count me in!

Digger said...

I'm in... must get this project done!!! (And yay for hosting the WWW!)

Contingent Cassandra said...

I'd like to join, please -- and thank you very much for hosting this. I could definitely use the accountability. I still have exams and a lot of grading to go (with final grade deadlines just before Christmas), but classes are over, so my schedule is a bit more open, and I really want to start getting back into the habit of writing even as I plough my way through the grading. I'm doing some lose-end-tying and recovery this weekend, but starting next week, I want to get back to writing at least 3 days a week.

My overall goal will be the same as for the fall: complete a full draft of an article-in-progress. I'll be juggling this task with some other ones (especially a revision -- mostly cutting -- of a provisionally-accepted article, and correspondence -- mostly permissions -- associated with that), but if the article is going to get drafted at all, it needs to happen by Feb. 1, and preferably a bit sooner (so I can start on a conference paper due in late March).

zcat_abroad said...

You are a life-saver! I was just wondering how I was going to keep this writing impulse going.

I've finally got an angle on the article I've been trying to write (I think this appeared in the final week of ADNW), so I plan to have the article ready to send by the end of this 'winter' workshop. (I'm enjoying the summer arriving!)

Jodi A. Campbell said...

I'm in! I have to finish the rest of a book chapter before next semester starts. Thanks for hosting!

Matilda said...

Hello, all,

Could I join? I need some external help to keep me working on my research. Currently I have a couple of projects, which I hope to accomplish during this winter. I would like to finish a draft of my paper. This is the same goal I set for ADNWG, but I could not finish.

Thank you very much for hosting this.

Matilda

Good Enough Woman said...

I want to do it! It's going to be a busy winter break, so I can't do a LOT of work, but I want to make sure I don't come to s standstill. Thank you!

Sisyphus said...

I dunno if you'd call it intersession for me or doing an incomplete, since I have totally fallen off of everything except possibly dressing myself and eating sometimes by the end of this semester, but I (still) do need to get my article done, polished, and out.

I have break from 12/19-1/12, but those first few weeks of the semester aren't *too* bad anyway. And "some" is always better than "none" when it comes to writing!

Dr. Virago said...

I think my time is too broken up to be in the writing group, though I'll be with you all in spirit.

But I just have to say, I'm so jealous of your long winter break, Dame E! Our grades are due Dec. 20 and we're back in the classroom on Jan. 9. Hmph.

theologoumenathon said...

May I join in? I've only recently (and happily!) discovered this corner of the blogsphere, but I'm hoping not to lose my writing groove over the break. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I seem to be interested. I need a break massively, and we are traveling a bit, but I have to get on the ball with a few drafts that are in various states of being not-started to almost-done. Help?

Anonymous said...

Oh -- I would like to. I have things to do. It might not be all writing, but I would like to have goals posted and get to them. :-) I do have to finish revisions to this paper, and work on an R&R. But also two new preps and a re-vamp.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell said...

I would like to be included, as I need to do the literature review on an article, and that is about the amount of time it should take.

Thank you, Dame Eleanor, for taking this on. :)

Luo Lin said...

I would like to join in. I didn't finish my ADNWG goal, which was to finish and submit an article. I could use a little structure to keep me going over my winter break, which starts next week.