Supporting Writing

Ready to strengthen your writing habits and make steady progress on your scholarly goals?

Where is Oakley Writing (WOW) is a flexible writing initiative designed to help faculty carve out protected time for scholarship—on their own schedule. Whether you have a full week or just small pockets of time, WOW supports consistency, momentum, and meaningful progress.

This summer, WOW shifts to a continuous, come-as-you-can format. Join at any point, log your writing sessions, and follow Oakley’s journey across new destinations—from New Zealand to the Azores and back to Denton.

For every 20 minutes of focused writing, Oakley travels six virtual miles—turning words into flight. Along the way, faculty continue to make progress on articles, grants, creative works, and course development.

All WOW participation takes place online through Canvas.

👉 Access the self-enroll course

In most faculty members' long "To Do" lists, "Write that [article / book / collection of poems / promotion narrative / symphony / grant proposal]!" is often demoted when urgent but less important tasks pop up, so writing perennially disappears from calendars from August until June. If you're looking for a sustainable writing practice during the academic year—and if accountability, structure, and community sound like helpful writing support—apply to the Writing Accountability Group (WAG) Program.

WAGs are writing accountability groups (not peer review groups, writing exchanges, or time for chatting) that focus on the process and prioritization—not the content—of writing. If participants follow the process below, they work.

Participants develop personalized writing plans, track their progress in a shared accountability document, establish and celebrate milestones, and cultivate a writing practice they can live with.

Participation Options

Pick one of the following formats:

Regular WAG

A traditional WAG is a group of four faculty members who meet every other week for seven one-hour sessions to support each other's writing progress. Each WAG schedules its own meeting times and follows the structured WAG meeting format described below. This format works well for faculty who want ongoing accountability across the semester and the flexibility to schedule meetings with their group.

4-Week Intensive WAG

A 4-Week WAG follows the same model but meets weekly for four weeks. Groups of four faculty meet once per week for one hour, using the same WAG meeting structure and shared accountability document. This format works well for faculty who prefer a shorter, more intensive burst of writing accountability.

Hosted WAG

In this format, Nancy Chick schedules and hosts the WAG meetings on Zoom. Hosted WAGs follow the same meeting structure as regular WAGs but eliminate the need for participants to coordinate schedules with one another. This format works well for faculty who want the structure and accountability of a WAG without the logistical work of finding other participants or scheduling meetings. Hosted WAGs will begin in June and will be on Thursdays from 10–11 a.m., starting on June 4.

What Do Participants Do?

• Attend the scheduled WAG meetings for your chosen format.
• Track your writing plans and progress in our shared accountability document. (See what it looks like here. The real version is shared only with participants.)
• Set and work toward writing goals between meetings.

Because WAGs depend on consistent accountability and shared commitment, full participation is essential. Participants who attend and track their progress for at least 6 of the 7 meetings in a Regular WAG, all 4 meetings in an Intensive WAG, or 5 of 6 meetings in a Hosted WAG receive a $300 stipend and the progress that results from a consistent writing practice. (Individual faculty may participate in as many WAGs as they want, but they will receive the stipend for only one WAG per semester.)

How Do I Join?

There are two ways to join a WAG:

• Apply as a pre-formed group of four faculty members and identify whether your group will be a Regular WAG or a 4-Week Intensive WAG.
• Apply individually to join one of the Hosted WAGs that fits your schedule.

This is an ongoing opportunity, so there's no deadline for forming or joining a WAG.

Apply here.

WAG Tools & Resources

Writing Project Planners

• Choose among these writing plan templates to break your project into manageable phases, goals, tasks, and timelines.

Structure of WAG Meetings

Each WAG meeting is 60 minutes, tracks its activities in our shared document, and follows this precise schedule:

• 15 minutes: Report on the progress toward your goal since the last WAG meeting, and set a goal for today's 30-minute writing session.
• 30 minutes: Write. (Mute and turn your camera off if you're virtual. One person may also share their screen with a virtual timer like these.) You'll be surprised at how much you can do in a 30-minute writing session!
• 15 minutes: Report on today's progress, and set a goal you'll work toward before your next WAG meeting.

Shared Accountability Document

• WAGs track their plans and progress in a shared accountability document. (Participants will have access to the live version.)