“My most productive days since the year began.” (3rd year PhD , Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics)

“It’s great! So nice to have regularity and a schedule.” (4th year PhD, Department of English)

“I love these, they are by far my most productive time of the week and I always come away feeling motivated to work even more.” (4th year PhD, Department of Geography & Planning)

“I love writing Tuesdays. Every time I have attended, I have gotten a lot done.” (6th year PhD, Department of Chemistry)

Protect your writing time! The Virtual Writing Camp is a forum for graduate students to schedule and structure their writing on a regular basis, and to get some of the advantages of working in a (virtual) social setting. The writing camp is designed for doctoral and master’s students actively working on writing their thesis, dissertation or article–or any other major writing task. That said, faculty and postdocs are also welcome to participate.

For three years, the camp has been running from 9am-3pm on Tuesdays. This schedule will continue until mid-December 2023. Starting on January 8, 2024, the camp will move to a half-day model, twice a week, running from 9am-12:05pm every Monday and Thursday. Some days, the camp will be followed (after a lunch break) by a one-hour open discussion of or lesson on writing issues that commonly affect graduate writers.

Participants are free to attend when they wish, and can come and leave as necessary, but sustained attendance is encouraged.

To join, please complete this form (https://forms.office.com/r/shz8VbAdyU) or contact me directly at daniel[ dot]newman[at ]utoronto[ dot]ca.

VIRTUAL WRITING CAMP SCHEDULE (January 2024 – )

9:00—Check in (join meeting), informal discussions on writing topics etc

9:10—Goal setting for the day. Everyone is expected to post their goals in the chat; these won’t be read or discussed, but the very act of posting them helps with accountability.

9:15—Writing Window # 1

10:35—Break

10:45—Writing Window # 2

12:00—Reflection on the morning’s successes (in the chat) and brief informal discussion.

12:05—Check out.

12:05-1:10 (selected weeks only)–Lunch Break

1:10-2:00 (selected weeks only)—Discussion of or lesson on writing issues that grad students find challenging(a list of potential topics and the option to suggest more is included in the signup form)