Frequently Asked Questions

What if I can't participate every day?

It's okay.  No one will come after you!  It's understood that conflicts arise.  In this Challenge, you determine how hard to push yourself.  It may be that you get up 30 minutes early to fit your writing in.  Or, write 15 minutes instead.  Or write 60 minutes the next day.  Or, take a day off.  Keep in mind that one of the purposes of the Challenge is exploring the value of "regular writing." Ultimately, you need to determine what "regular" means for you.  It might be every other day. Or M-Th, etc.  What works and creates routine time-on-task?

Do I need to write Saturday and Sunday?

No.  It is suggested that at some point in the weekend you set writing goals for your work and schedule your writing time for the next week in your calendar, if you haven't already.  But, this could also be done on a friday before leaving.  While some may want to write over the weekend, finding it productive and enjoyable, it is not required.  In fact, we're hoping that people will feel productive over the week and can have a "guilt free" weekend that involves relaxation and celebration.

What if I'm not on Twitter?

Our Twitter feed is also posting to Facebook. We're posting on both as "@RxWritersUnite." If you're not on either, you can always peek in on our Twitter feed. Feel free  to let us know if there's anything you'd like us to post on your behalf.

What are some ways that school/organization contacts are getting involved?

We're hearing all sorts of creative ideas.  Here's a few:

  • a "launch event" to get the week started
  • a "celebration event" near the end of the challenge.
  • connecting with communications and/or social media folks at the institution to profile participants and their writing topics
  • running internal competitions
  • creating an institutional goal that everyone contributes to (e.g. 6000 minutes)
  • creating an 'enroll a buddy' incentive
  • reserving a room and time for those that like to write with others
  • distributing "fuel your writing" treats
  • connecting with existing local academic writing groups within pharmacy or outside (e.g. seminar on productive writing, ongoing writing events)
  • promoting the Challenge to authorship teams, graduate student-advisor pairs and/or committees with scholarly work to complete

What are the advantages of signing up?

We’ll communicate with everyone via email, including distribution of the daily advice and tips.  These are short message drawing from the academic writing literature.   You can use them immediately or tuck them away.  We'll also be using email to distribute resources and webinar announcements.  In the weeks leading up to Challenge, we’ll be reviewing the tips that were circulated in the spring '18 challenge, which was focused on the behavioral habits of successful academic writers.  Make sure to sign up early so you don't miss these.

In addition, lots of folks are interested in this grassroots effort.  It's been fun to see how it's spread and grown through organizations and countries.  We'll be releasing statistics and maps during the Challenge.  So, make sure you're included on our roster - your presence counts!

If I've participated before, do I need to sign up again?

No.  We maintain our lists for each subsequent Challenge.  Just let us know if your email address changes!