This is a guest post written by Charlotte Haines-Lyon, PhD Student in the School of Education.

Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo) – “Write like there’s no December”

November is not just the month when men grow moustaches, it is also the month of writing. Building on the successful NaNoWriMo , when writers across the globe endeavour to complete a novel in a month, AcWriMo provides a similar event for academic writers.  Originally set up by Charlotte Frost, as AcWriBo to encourage academics to write books, AcWriMo has a wider remit to encourage academics to simply write, whether it is articles, theses or books.

The concept is simple; publically state what you are going to do (via twitter and/or the NaNoWriMo or AcWriMo websites) and write every single day of November.  Keep in touch with other academics (for encouragement and accountability- not procrastination!) via Twitter using the hashtag #ACWRIMO. This year, some of us at York St John are going to attempt it– including myself @newnortherner. The School of Education will also be cheering you along via their @YSJSoERes Twitter account.

For further encouragement this Thesis Whisper blog post is worth a read, as she challenges us to see the month as a time to recalibrate how we think about writing.

Keep writing – and let us know if you are joining #ACWRIMO

Charlotte