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Academic writing is hard.
Staying stuck is harder.
The thesis, the dissertation, the peer-reviewed paper — it’s been sitting there for months. Maybe years. You know you can do the work. You just can’t seem to start. Or finish. Or both.
Get it Done is a three-month coaching program and private community for academics who want to finish what they started.
You’re a professor who hasn’t published in too long. Teaching swallows your week. Service eats the rest. You keep telling yourself you’ll write over the break, but you never do. The next tenure or promotion review is closer than you’d like.
You’re a grad student with a thesis or dissertation that has stopped moving. You read more. You take more notes. You feel further behind every week. Your supervisor is patient, but you can hear the clock.
You’re an early-career researcher with a peer-reviewed paper that’s been “almost ready” for six months. The reviewers’ comments are open in a tab you don’t click on.
Whatever your background or ambition, you avoid opening your manuscript because you know how bad it will feel. You keep reorganizing your citations instead of writing. You say you’re “working on it,” but you haven’t touched the draft in weeks.
If you saw yourself in any of these descriptions, you’re in the right place.
The Get it Done program was so helpful to establish a real writing routine. I was surprised to see how effective it is to work on my projects each day, even for a short period of time. Daphne’s practical advice made writing less frightening, and being part of this group of amazing people breaks the loneliness sometimes associated with writing.
Sophie Bucher
Morges, Switzerland
Most blocked academics think they need:
Usually they need something else:
a way to write without triggering overwhelm.
Get it Done works because it replaces binge-writing and perfectionism with small daily sessions, external accountability and the separation of drafting from editing.
That’s the real mechanism.
More than 2,000 writers have succeeded with Get it Done since 2013.
Here’s what changes with 
After three months in Get it Done, members tell me the same thing in different words: writing stops being the worst part of the week.
Here’s what shifts:
This isn’t theory. I’ve run this program since 2013. More than 2,000 writers have come through it.
A 45-minute one-on-one coaching session with me to start. We map your project, your real available time and the habits getting in your way.
Regular group coaching calls on Zoom. We hold these meetings four times each month. Members join from around the world, so dates and times change regularly to reflect the current membership. But every call is recorded, so you always have access to it even if you can’t attend live.
Daily accountability reporting. Five days a week, you log your writing time and word count on the program site. This one habit changes more careers than anything else I teach.
A private chat community. Connect with other academics working on the same kind of project you are. Ask questions. Share wins. Read what other people are figuring out in real time.
Free access to my Power Hour library. Plus the chance to attend sessions live for as long as you’re a Get it Done member.
Three months of support from me. I’m in the chat and available to you via email every day.
I began Daphne’s writing program with terrible anxiety and fear, never anticipating the positive results I would have with my PhD dissertation. I no longer feel panic or tension every time I sit at my desk to write. Now, I most often feel eager to get my ideas onto paper.
Cathy Ringham, RN BSN PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary
I originally approached Daphne because I wanted to make my writing quicker, happier and better. She has helped me with all three. Daphne’s gentle enforcement of a consistent writing habit and her daily coaching have made the difference.
Jason Morris-Jung
Senior Lecturer, Singapore University
That’s one payment. No upsells. Everything listed above is included. Many members recover the cost of the program through a single accepted paper, grant application or career advancement opportunity.
Canadian members pay in Canadian dollars plus GST.
If you want to continue past the three months, you can stay on at a reduced monthly rate. Many members do.
I’m Daphne Gray-Grant. I live in Vancouver. I spent years as a senior editor at a large daily newspaper, and I’ve coached writers online for 25 years. I’ve written two books on the craft: 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better and Your Happy First Draft. I used to hate writing. My honours thesis was the worst experience of my writing life. Even after I became an editor, I procrastinated on every assignment. I figured out how to stop, and then I figured out how to teach other people to stop. That’s the whole program in two sentences.
People sometimes worry that Get it Done will make writing a full-time job. Or that it will take vast amounts of time. In fact, the opposite is the case. I ask participants to spend only 15 to 30 minutes per day writing (or editing) for five days each week. Yes, you can make serious progress with just 15 minutes a day!
Yes! Writing and revising/editing are entirely different activities, but both require discipline and support. This program provides support and accountability for whatever stage you’re at.
Yes, absolutely! Here’s a list of some of the places participants have come from so far: Australia, China, England, France, Germany, Israel, Singapore and Taiwan.
No problem. Everyone receives a recording of every meeting.
If you’re writing a paper for a peer-reviewed journal, the answer is, perhaps (depending on how much time you have and how diligent you are). But if you’re working on a thesis or dissertation, three months almost certainly isn’t enough time to finish it. But what you can do in this time is develop the writing (or editing) habit. Once you have the habit, you can work on your own, if you wish. Or, after the three months, you can continue with the program on a monthly basis, at a discounted rate.
This program doesn’t include manuscript feedback or line editing — but don’t mistake that for a lack of support. You’ll get structure, accountability, live coaching on the process of writing and a community of fellow writers showing up alongside you. You’ll also have access to a virtual library of hundreds of blog posts and videos covering every aspect of writing, researching and editing. What most writers need isn’t another opinion on their pages. It’s the conditions to actually write them. That’s exactly what this is built for.
This program will not do the writing for you. Whether you ultimately finish your writing project depends on your own hard work. That said, if you do the work and find the program doesn’t help you, there’s a generous and detailed refund policy described above.
Join the waitlist now to get first dibs when Get it Done reopens.
Everyone on the waitlist will receive a free copy of Daphne’s video on creativity and mindmapping ($65 value).
By entering your info, you’ll become a subscriber to Daphne’s FREE Power Writing newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday. (Unsub anytime in a click.) You also agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
