Services
Not sure what would work best for you? Need a ‘mix-and-match’ approach?
Just contact me for a free assessment of your needs.
Grant-writing workshops, retreats and writing groups
As your workshop or retreat facilitator, I will design and lead a session tailored to the grant-writing needs of a small group of participants.
Grant-writing sessions are effective to:
give those new to research essential tools to start on their research funding journey
motivate a group of academics to start or progress a funding application
target a specific funder or call, to generate ideas, synergies, and work on developing a proposal (sandpits)
focus on a specific stage of the application process (eg structuring an idea/ writing a first draft/ reviewing and refining)
allow participants to come together and work on their own project while sharing experiences, challenges, and best practice
strengthen participants’ support network and their confidence
Workshops will typically use a more directed approach, while writing groups and retreats will easily cater for mixed abilities and writing stages. Both will propose practical tools and exercises that participants can use in their work.
As your facilitator, I will typically meet with the organiser and participants (online or over the phone) to understand their needs. I may also ask participants to prepare something (small) before the event. I will normally have a brief follow-up with participants after the session.
As your workshop or writing group facilitator, I will design and lead a session tailored to the academic writing needs of a small group of participants.
Group work is useful to:
focus on a specific project, skill, or challenge - for instance, structuring an argument, visualising data, or refining an argument
focus on a specific stage of a project - for instance working on a first draft
allow participants to come together and work on their own project while sharing experiences, challenges, and best practice
strengthen participants’ support network and their confidence
As your facilitator, I will typically meet with the organiser and participants (online or over the phone) to understand their needs. I may also ask participants them to prepare something (small) before the event. I will normally have a brief follow-up with participants after the session.
Academic writing groups and writing retreats
Coach and critical friend for academic writing
As your writing coach and critical friend, I provide guidance, assistance, and a sounding board throughout your academic writing project. Whereas your supervisor/ mentor/ colleagues help you with your disciplinary content, I will help with the practical aspects of writing and question your content so that your writing meets its purpose in the best possible way:
Understanding your writing habits and time management practice
Tailoring your writing to your purpose and your audience
How to construct your argument to enhance its impact
How to clarify your language and use visuals (flowcharts, graphs, etc) to support your meaning.
Coaching and critique are most useful at the early and mid-stages of your writing project. At our initial discussion about your project, we will agree how often we should meet (online or in person) to review how you are doing, and timescales for you to forward me drafts that I can review.
The minimum time you will need for coaching and critique to be most effective is 4-5 weeks before you submit your MA dissertation, paper or funding application, or 5-6 months before you submit your PhD - so you have plenty of time to re-draft, edit, and refine.
Academic editing for grant applications
As your editor, I will proofread your funding application to make sure everything makes sense and is consistent throughout. I will point out and make suggestions for:
Formatting changes
typos
grammar
alternative words and phrases
brevity and word/page count
Editing is most useful at the stage of your final draft, so that after corrections, you are ready to hand in your work.
As your editor, I may not need to meet with you, but it is useful if I can get in touch in case I have queries about your work.