Analytical autoethnography is a methodology that synthesises autobiography and social critique in order to resist, and also change, dominant authoritative discourse. Evidence from the author's autobiographical experiences and data from interviews with a variety of academics have been thematically analysed to inform a short autoethnodrama set in a university on the UK. The autoethnodrama considers the 'impact' of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and current such exercises, and the possible and real effects of the pressure to 'publish or perish' on institutional culture and individual lives. The author uses the autoethnodrama to identify staff development strategies that offer the potential for a less stressful academic writing process and democratic university environment including mentoring and other explicit institutional support. The process of producing this work is part of an emerging trend in academic research that seeks to further democratise conventional academic writing processes and progress the case for a more inclusive and expansive approach to academic writing and academic life.