Writing Groups

Looking for support and structure for writing projects?

Join a facilitated group of colleagues this year to focus on the writing process and advance your writing projects, including articles, book chapters, and grant proposals. Writing groups provide a peer environment to help you carve out regular writing time each week and give you an opportunity to acquire skills to grow your writing practice.

We invite full-time faculty of all ranks (tenure-track/tenured/non-tenure track) to participate in this initiative. We also encourage groups of faculty from particular disciplines or units to apply.

Writing groups for the 2025-2026 academic year will formally begin on Monday, August 18, 2025 and will run through Friday, April 24, 2026.
Registration is on a rolling basis throughout the academic year. Participants will be placed into their selected group upon registering.

Register

The 2025-2026 Faculty Writing Groups are:

  • All Disciplines
    • This group welcomes full-time faculty members of all disciplines and will meet weekly to create space and accountability to promote progress on writing projects. Sessions will begin with a brief goal-setting exercise followed by 90-minutes of uninterrupted social writing (each person writes alone alongside colleagues). At the end of the session, attendees debrief on their progress and share strategies for common writing challenges. If the group agrees, members may share their writing projects.
    • This group meets on Mondays at 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. virtually.
    • Facilitator: Emily Avery-Miller, Associate Teaching Professor in English, College of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Full-Time Non-Tenure Track (FTNTT) Faculty
    • This Writing Group is for Full-Time Non-Tenure Track (FTNTT) faculty who meet weekly to advance writing projects. Sessions will begin with a brief goal-setting check-in followed by 90-minutes of uninterrupted social writing (each person writes alone alongside colleagues). At the end of the session, attendees debrief on their progress and share strategies for common writing challenges.
    • This group meets on Mondays at 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., Tuesdays 2:00-4:00 p.m., and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. virtually.
    • Facilitator: Peter Fraunholtz, Assistant Teaching Professor in History and International Affairs, College of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • (Re-)Writing your First Proposal for Funding
    • This is a facilitated peer-mentoring group designed to guide faculty writing their first grant, regardless of funding agency and discipline. The goal is to demystify the grant writing process and to build community amongst a diverse and interdisciplinary community of scholars.  Participants can join with only an initial idea, a first draft, or with agency feedback from an earlier submission; all will conclude the series with a proposal that is ready to submit! Each session will begin with an overview and tips on grant writing fundamentals. After tips, participants will engage in self-paced writing, and those who wish may also incorporate an accountability exercise, where session writing goals will be listed at the beginning of the session and then checked at the end of the writing session. Prior to each session ending, there will be a 5-10 minute discussion of what went well, what challenges were encountered, writing goals for the coming week, as well as time to answer any questions.
    • This group meets on Fridays at 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. virtually.
    • Facilitators:
      Andrea Stith, Director, Research Development, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
      Kate Duggan, Associate Director, Research Development, College of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • STEM
    • Intended for STEM Faculty, this group will meet weekly to create space and accountability to promote progress on writing projects. Sessions will begin with a brief goal-setting exercise followed by 90-minutes of uninterrupted social writing (each person writes alone alongside colleagues). At the end of the session, attendees debrief on their progress and share strategies for common writing challenges. Members may share their writing projects if the group agrees.
    • This group meets on Mondays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. virtually.
    • Facilitator: Michael McCluskey, Associate Teaching Professor in English, College of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Women of Color in the Academy (WOCIA)
    • The Women of Color in the Academy (WOCIA) Writing Group provides a weekly supportive, non-surveillance environment to progress on writing goals. Sessions will begin with a brief goal-setting exercise followed by 90-minutes of uninterrupted social writing (each person writes alone alongside colleagues). At the end of the session, attendees debrief on their progress and share strategies for common writing challenges.
    • This group meets on Tuesdays at 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in a Hybrid setting. Location TBA.
    • Facilitator: Nicole N. Aljoe, Professor of English and Africana Studies, College of Social Science and Humanities

Contact

Email northeasternadvance@northeastern.edu to start your own group.