Shut up and write

Shut Up & Write (SU&W) is a writing group meeting. You may find these meetings useful to:

  • make your research writing more focused, efficient or effective
  • protect or ‘quarantine’ time for your research writing, away from distractions
  • build a sense of community around your writing
  • overcome procrastination and increase motivation

Times and dates

The schedule of 'Shut Up & Write' meetings is below. Choose the session(s) you're interested in and show up – or contact one of the organisers for more information. We’ll be glad to see you.

Day & Time Mode & LocationContact
Monday, 10:00am Online Monique Shephard
Tuesday, 10:00am Online Sandra Stewart
Wednesday, 10:30am Online Cassily Charles
Thursday, 2:00pm Online Cassily Charles
Friday, 11:00am

Online

Cassily Charles

Attending online

We use Adobe Connect for the online SU&W meetings. Go to the: 'Shut Up & Write' Meeting Room to join a meeting. Get instructions for Adobe Connect if you haven't used it before.

How often you can attend

Some people are ‘regulars’, but many people come to meetings only when they are in an intensive writing stage, or when there is a deadline coming up. Everyone is welcome to come to one or more meetings whenever it suits them.

Who attends

  • Doctoral candidates and other research students
  • Staff who are undertaking research degrees at other universities
  • Staff who are working on publications and other writing projects
  • Other people working on writing projects, such as honours students and creative writers, or anyone else who would like to join us
  • People who are on campus, off campus, interstate or in Japan, India or Germany

Meeting structure

  1. Meetings start with a brief chat, for each person to say hello and to record their writing goals for the session.
  2. We then set a timer for 25 minutes of uninterrupted writing (or reading, data analysis, or other work).
  3. After 25 minutes we have a 5 minute break to chat and check our progress.
  4. We repeat this pattern 3 or 4 times = 1.5 or 2 hours.

This timing system is based on the Pomodoro technique, which has been used for close to 30 years, to boost focus and productivity.

History of the concept

The idea of ‘Shut Up & Write’ comes from San Francisco. Originally it was aimed at non-academic writers such as creative writers and journalists. Writers would (and still do) meet in a cafe for a solid hour of writing, followed by a break and coffee and then another block of writing.

The popularity of this technique among academics has been spreading in Australia and the rest of the world in the last few years, particularly for doctoral candidates and other research writers.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact Cassily Charles, Academic Literacy Coordinator.