Workshops by Erin McTigue, President, The Positive Academic, Writing and Productivity Coach for Academics

Option 1: Choose one of the following three-hour workshops.

Efficiency with Style: Revising Your Manuscript at the Macro & Micro Levels

Fast-writing and “allowing messy drafts” is often recommended as a productivity strategy for academics. But … how do we most efficiently transform the resulting messes into coherent and powerful prose? In this interactive workshop, participants will take a “messy draft” of their choice and try out 3 macro-level revision strategies to hone overall logic and organization of the manuscript. Next, participants, working at the micro-level, will apply 3 revision tools for coherence and writing style. Participants will leave with both a sequential approach and individual tools for transforming their future drafts with efficiency. For those who don’t bring their own messy drafts, two sample messy drafts will be provided to practice strategies and apply the tools learned. 

Moving from Pesky to Productive: Designing a Healthy, Sustainable Writing Habit

“Darn -- that pesky writing habit!”  Wait, when have you heard a writer say that? While faculty are generally wanting good writing habits and research on productive faculty points to adopting such writing habits, these habits can be difficult to achieve.  Meanwhile, complicating the situation further, myths about habit formation circulate. In this interactive workshop, mythology is dispelled and findings from recent psychology research are translated specifically to writing habits.  Using personal insight, participants first analyze one of their own already strong habits (coffee drinking, toothbrushing, etc.).  Then taking such analysis, participants plan for the formation of a new writing habit starting with a trigger, growing from a micro-habit, and being reinforced by rewards, including social reinforcement and tracking. Then to prevent pitfalls, participants discuss and prepare for what may derail their newly designed habits.  Participants will leave with self-insight, energy and tools for remaking their writing habits.

Project Management for Writing: Gaining Power in the Process

It’s 3 AM.  Are you waking up to worry about a forgotten deadline to one of your grants or writing projects?  Or perhaps, you exhibit such chronic optimism about your ability to get writing done, that your calendar has begun to resemble a “wish list” instead of an accurate plan?  And then, of course, … managing collaborators … despite seemingly endless meetings, you find yourself chasing them down to get their contributions. If these descriptions sound like your current status quo, consider: Would you prefer to have a planning approach that moves you to a state of better focus, clarity and calmness?  If yes, then join for an overview of applying project management principles to one’s academic writing life. 

Option 2Two 90 Minute Mini Workshops Option

Choose two of the three above workshops to be presented in shortened 90 minute formats.


Presenter: After being a traditional academic for over ten years at Texas A&M University, Erin McTigue started her own business, The Positive Academicthrough which she mentors and coaches academics in writing and productivity, as well as runs workshops for faculty and graduate students. While at Texas A&M, she co-directed a university-wide writing support program and developed an academic writing course for international students. To keep up her craft, in the role of research scientist, Erin continues to write grants and articles with her colleagues at the National Reading Research Center of Norway at the University of Stavanger. In addition, in 2020 she was invited to be an Internal Productivity Coach at the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, as well as at the Center for Human Compatible Artificial Intelligence, UC Berkeley. Erin is widely published, has won teaching and mentoring awards, and continually aims to bring a lightness of spirit to the heaviness of academia. 


TAA can help your faculty move from writing to publication by sponsoring an expert-led workshop in textbook and academic writing at your institution. TAA's sponsorship covers the majority of the cost of bringing the presenter to your institution, including speaker fees and travel costs. The host institution is responsible for a fee of $1,950, which includes up to 125 TAA faculty memberships, available to faculty whether or not they attend the workshop. TAA provides an online institutional membership application process which makes joining TAA easy for both the institution and faculty. These workshops are offered on a first-come first-serve basis until program funding has been exhausted.

To schedule this workshop, please contact [email protected]