12 Weeks to an Article
Each spring the Robert Penn Warren Center offers the 12 Weeks to an Article workshop for graduate students who have a seminar paper that’s nearly ready for the presses.
The Spring 2025 workshop will run Fridays, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, January 17th – April 18th.
There is no meeting during Spring Break, but there is no break from the assignments.
Each week students will learn an attribute of a strong, academic article through workbook exercises while revising their own work. This workshop is for revising and submitting, not for generating new writing.
Upon submitting their article to a journal at the conclusion of the workshop, participants receive $500, processed by Vanderbilt as a financial aid award, which may result in a direct payment depending on a student’s particular aid package. Students should consult the Office of Financial Aid to review their position.
The workshop is based on Wendy Laura Belcher’s Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. (Participants receive a free copy.) Each week participants will complete read the assigned chapter, complete the exercises within, and revise their own article based on the chapter’s assignments
Chapters include:
- Week 1: Designing Your Plan for Writing…
- Week 6: Crafting Your Claims for Significance…
- Week 9: Strengthening Your Structure
Participants will:
- read the assigned chapter of the week;
- complete the activities contained within the respective chapter;
- revise their article associated with the chapter topic and assignment.
Ground Rules
- This workshop relies on a collaborative group effort: You’re all in this together. If you’re in, you’re in. If you’re out, you’re out.
- At some point during the twelve weeks you may receive feedback from your advisor/committee that is beyond the scope of the workshop. That’s up to you to navigate and does not excuse you from completing the week’s assignments.
- You must be available to meet in-person at RPW on Fridays at 11am-12pm. There is no remote option.
- Failure to meet these guidelines will result in dismissal.
- One “excused” absence may be taken in the form of one mental health week during the twelve-week program, but you must complete the week’s activities or risk falling behind and not completing the full workshop.
To inquire or register, contact RPW Associate Director Matt DiCintio.