{"id":1851,"date":"2017-10-19T10:25:22","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T09:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2017-10-19T10:25:22","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T09:25:22","slug":"do-writeshops-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2017\/10\/19\/do-writeshops-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Do writeshops work…?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jon Lawn<\/em><\/p>\n

Do writeshops work…?<\/strong><\/p>\n

…this was my first thought when the idea was floated! Do we really need to take people away to get them to concentrate on their work? I soon found out we do!<\/p>\n

Despite my initial scepticism, the DECCMA Northern Team Writeshop has been a great success.\u00a0 We have gathered colleagues from around the country (and some from further afield), who would’t usually have the time to sit together for three days. Situated in a picturesque village in the New Forest, we are surrounded by delightful English countryside and autumnal colours. Stick your head outdoors and you hear birdsong and smell the rustic smell of an open fire.\u00a0 Look around and you see ponies, cattle and birds. Peace at last!<\/p>\n

The silence in our meeting room is unnerving.\u00a0 I am so used to DECCMA meetings being full of talk, presentations, lively discussion and debate \u2013 this eerie quiet reminds me of an exam hall.\u00a0 All I hear hour after hour is the gentle \u2018tap tap\u2019 of fingers on keyboards and occasional hushed whispers of collaborators discussing how many words they\u2019ve written and the order of paragraphs. \u2018Are they really working\u2019 I think\u2026?<\/p>\n

show more<\/p>

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Regular gatherings and updates from the team prove my continued scepticism to be unfounded.\u00a0 Thousands upon thousands of words have been written, entire papers have gone through multiple reviews with \u2018track changes\u2019 an essential companion.\u00a0 Thoughts have changed and evolved, analyses have developed and clarity has been sought.\u00a0 The amount and speed of progress is amazing.\u00a0 Papers have gone from being a mere idea and structure to almost complete.<\/p>\n

We punctuate our writing sessions with forays into the damp countryside \u2013 some fresh air to revive frazzled brains and to invigorate the soul.\u00a0 Topics of conversation enlighten each other on progress and share trains of thought \u2013 with valuable contributions and insightful comments received in return. Even the drizzle doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm for ploughing on, both with the walks, and with the writing.<\/p>\n

I will admit to be unnerved about the lack of agenda items going into this meeting.\u00a0 With the majority of the sessions titled \u2018Writing Session\u2019 with the instruction \u2018Self-Organise\u2019 next to it \u2013 my usual planning and control of meetings is removed. There are no presentations to prepare and no minutes to write! When asked in our introductory session about my goals for the meeting, my reply is simply \u201cto make sure you guys write stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n

The dedicated time given to writing is key. Providing an environment where academics and researchers aren\u2019t disturbed by the busyness and demands of an office environment is proving efficient.\u00a0 Email is not banned (although I contemplated withholding the WiFi password!) \u2013 but self-control and discipline is displayed, and even encouraged, by the participants. They have grasped and bought into the ethos of the writeshop, and in many cases appear to crave the quiet, uninterrupted time to put their head down and focus solely on one area of analysis.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the key to an effective writeshop? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Planning in advance \u2013 there is no point having people sitting around for three days with nothing to write!\u00a0 Participants must come with goals in mind, and a clean schedule to devote time and effort to the cause. \u00a0We asked the team to complete templates, stating the papers they would be working on and with whom they needed to collaborate \u2013 both on writing and reviewing.\u00a0 This planning forced the team to focus in advance, and not just turn up with no idea what was going on.<\/p>\n

Variability is also important.\u00a0 I found you should not overestimate the concentration span of a person \u2013 to get someone to focus on one activity for an entire day is unrealistic! More than an hour is pushing it for the average person.\u00a0 Hence we built in times where we went for walks, ate lunch together in a different location and generally made purposeful attempts to switch our focus to different tasks to provide intervals and a change of pace.<\/p>\n

Within the variability we also provided flexibility. I was amazed on Day 1 that these grown-ups kept asking me for permission. \u2018Can I work on this task Jon?\u2019, \u2018Can I not go for the walk now as I\u2019m in the zone Jon?\u2019, \u2018Jon, can I pop out and get a coffee\/go for a run\/phone home?\u2019. It was obvious I was the keeper of the meeting!\u00a0 But, in all reality, we aimed to provide an environment that was best for people to work, and this would be different for different individuals.\u00a0 My response to (virtually) every request was \u2018sure, whatever works best for you\u2019.<\/p>\n

We have seen a real step change in the amount of writing achieved during these three days. Plans have already been mooted to continue the momentum next year.<\/p>\n

show less<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jon Lawn Do writeshops work…? …this was my first thought when the idea was floated! Do we really need to take people away to get them to concentrate on their work? I soon found out we do! Despite my initial scepticism, the DECCMA Northern Team Writeshop has been a great success.\u00a0 We have gathered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8jyTh-tR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2601,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/deccma\/2018\/10\/29\/new-release-climate-change-migration-and-adaptation-in-deltas-key-findings-from-the-deccma-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":1851,"position":0},"title":"New release “Climate change, migration and adaptation in deltas. 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