At a recent meeting of the Women’s Writing Support Group, participants spoke of how helpful it’s been to write for a short block of time each week during the workshop. Each week, we spend 20 minutes working alone on our academic writing projects. There is something about this structure—regular, predictable, and brief (just 20 minutes!)—that students are finding remarkably productive. Why does this structure work so well? Some participants say that because the time is short, they don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what they’ll do. They get into the writing work faster and are willing to experiment and work sketchily. This attitude often pays off. Next time you’re working on a writing project, why not try setting aside small but regular blocks of time for writing?