I’m currently in the middle of a blog writing challenge.
It’s a lot of words.
A lot of staring at the computer screen.
A lot of brain fatigue and wondering why I decided to sign up for this (of my own free will!).
…But am I making more progress on posts for 2025 than I ever would have otherwise?
Absolutely.
Brain fatigue aside, I’d honestly forgotten how much I enjoy writing challenges.
In my doctoral program, I used to complete a challenge about once a year—typically around the end of a semester.
I found that I thrived on the challenge writing sprints.
It’s how I knocked out a large portion of several of my dissertation chapters.
Note: These types of challenges are not to be confused with regularly saddling graduate and doctoral students with unrealistic writing expectations.
E.g. “If you’re going to finish your thesis or dissertation, you HAVE to have a daily writing routine! Get up at 5:00 AM every single morning of the semester and write for 4 hours. You must!”
Now, of course, there are those who thrive on writing every day at a set time (and if that’s you, that’s awesome).
But many can’t squeeze their academic writing into a strict daily routine because of individual schedules, family responsibilities, work styles, etc.
That’s why I don’t encourage that kind of routine as the only approach to finishing your thesis or dissertation.
For many students, it's just not sustainable (and can lead to burnout).
A short writing challenge, however…
…offers a great way to knock out some critical work on whatever academic writing project you’re trying to complete.
I loved the progress that writing challenges helped me to make on my dissertation.
These challenges were usually hosted by my university’s graduate school—and typically lasted for 3-5 days.
On each day of the challenge, participants would log in through a shared Zoom link at 8 a.m.
Someone—usually a graduate school staff member or someone from the writing center—would offer brief writing or productivity advice.
We would then drop our writing goals into the chat.
Example goal: “My big goal for today is to finish writing the first draft of one section of my literature review. For the next 45 minutes, I’m going to focus on drafting one paragraph that’s connecting three of my primary sources.”
The moderator would set a timer for the first writing sprint.
And then…
…We would write.
(Or research. Or revise. Or whatever else we planned to knock out during that period.)
After the first sprint, we would take a quick break.
Then write again.
Repeat until around 2 p.m.
Slam the laptop shut.
Resume the next day.
Did my brain always feel as though it was going to melt by Day 3?
Yes.
Did I literally flop into bed and sleep for 10 hours each time I completed one of these challenges?
Also yes.
But by the end of the challenge, I would walk away with actual, tangible progress on my dissertation.
This could look like:
- A very rough draft of my methodology chapter.
- A revised section of my study discussion.
- A completely rewritten introduction (that finally made sense).
So, why am I bringing this up now?
It’s December.
Many graduate and doctoral students are in the throes of working on final research papers, thesis/dissertation chapters, etc. right now.
Maybe that’s you.
And maybe you’re feeling stuck—like you’re never going to finish.
Take it from me: a writing challenge could be just what you need to break through and get some serious work done.
It can help you:
- Push aside distractions.
- Set goals (and complete them).
- Work alongside peers who are facing the same types of writing hurdles (honestly, the sense of community that a challenge offers is valuable in itself).
If you’re not sure where to find a writing challenge, browse your university’s website—many host these events regularly.
Or, if you don’t find one, create your own.
Find a few cohort members or colleagues who also need a writing push, set a timer, and get to work.
If you’ve never participated in one before, I really do encourage you to give it a try.
The progress you can make is worth it.
SPEAKING OF BLOG POSTS...
...Many of you responded to last week’s question about which post you would like to see next on The Academic Writing Coach blog.
But…
…There was a glitch.
Okay, fine, user error. 😬
I accidentally set the hyperlinks up incorrectly.
While I can see that there were a lot of clicks, I can’t see which individual posts were selected (whoops).
Help a gal out (again) and know that you have my endless thanks?
Pick the post you'd like to read first:
- Annotated Bibliography vs. Literature Review: 8 Differences
- Literature Review Writing Software: Top Tools to Save Time
- The Questions I Was Asked During My Dissertation Defense (and How I Answered Them)
- 5 Key Tools to Boost Your Academic Writing Productivity
All right, I’m signing off to head back into my blog writing challenge.
Send coffee.
All write, all write, all write,
Erin Schleiden, PhD
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💻 Ditch the Literature Review Writing Stress:
Is the literature review the one roadblock standing between you and writing the rest of your thesis/dissertation? That's exactly why I created Lit Review Writing Bootcamp. In this course, I walk you through the exact process of researching, writing, and submitting a well-written literature review.
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The Academic Writing Coach
