[Plsgs] FW: June Gradfunding Advice - Forming a Writing Group

[Lambert, Georgina M - (glambert)]

From: gradfunding-request at list.arizona.edu [mailto:gradfunding-request at list.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Shelley Hawthorne Smith
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 1:51 PM
To: gradfunding at list.arizona.edu
Subject: June Gradfunding Advice - Forming a Writing Group

Summer can be a great time to move forward on fellowship applications. But academic writing is hard. Sometimes mopping the floor or pulling weeds in 105 degree weather sounds more appealing than sitting down and writing.

The good news is that helps is close by. Simply working with those around you in a writing group will greatly increase your ability to accomplish some writing.

One of the primary advantages of working in writing groups is deadlines. Life as a graduate student is busy and it is difficult to make time for working on fellowship applications. But by imposing early deadlines on yourself you will be much more likely to complete an application.

In an email exchange, Christine Hamel-Brown, UA THINK TANK writing specialist, shared some insights about writing in groups. Hamel-Brown encourages writing groups for many reasons. But, in particular, she points out that as part of a writing group, "you learn to be more aware of different rhetorical conventions and situations and how they impact a piece of writing; you can thus respond more effectively to the demands of your immediate writing task and audience."

Her point is particularly important in the process of writing a fellowship application since reviewers will seldom come from your area of specialty. Having readers outside of your area of specialty or even your discipline is helpful in terms of seeing what reviewers might see.

If you are interested in starting a writing group, here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Decide on a group
Often a writing group begins with one or two core people who decide to work together. Consider how many people you want in the group. At times, working with one other person is most helpful. But it is often beneficial to work with at least three or four. Be careful that the group does not expand to everyone and their brother; having too many people will make the process of reading and responding unwieldy.

Hamel-Brown recommends that groups should always have some sort of official facilitator, be it a member of the group who simply agrees to keep the schedule of meetings and responses, or someone outside the group with expertise in the level of writing the group will be doing. The leader can do the basic organizing of the group and offer concrete and specific guidance as regards developing critiquing rules, information on different genres and conventions, or analysis of audience expectations.

2. Agree on an approach
The most bare-bones way to work is to simply meet (even over email), share writing goals for the coming two weeks, then meet in two weeks to share your progress on the previous goals and make new goals for the coming two weeks.

If you want more from a writing group, you can also agree on deadlines, exchange drafts, and give comments to one another.

3. Iron out specifics
Hamel-Brown explains that, "groups require commitment on the part of each member to be effective. Everyone has to be on the same page as far as the group's expectations regarding time commitments and schedules, kinds of feedback and support given, willingness to take critiques and questions from others, openness to sharing and taking apart your own writing." Here are some suggestions for making expectations clear:


*         Consider asking writers to accompany their draft with questions for the readers. This can make the feedback process more effective.

*         Be sure the official review criteria of a particular fellowship are clear to your readers if you are preparing an application.

*         Agree to either write out comments or to discuss them in person.

*         Hamel-Brown suggests agreeing on ground rules for language use, tone, and overall respect for each other's abilities, thoughts and attempts to put those in writing.

Writing groups can be helpful for short term projects such as fellowship applications. But they are also helpful for your major writing projects.

Hamel-Brown is currently recruiting participants for fall Graduate Writing Circles. These writing groups, held by the Writing Center at the THINK TANK, support dissertation writers at any stage in their process.

Graduate Writing Circles (GWC) are an opportunity for graduate writers across disciplines to provide feedback, support, and an accountability system toward their dissertation writing. As a member of a GWC, you'll meet weekly with a dedicated group of writers to share your work. Graduate consultants from the Writing Center will facilitate these groups to help guide the feedback process.

Students who are not yet dissertating, but would like a writing group to support other graduate writing projects (articles, course papers, theses), can also fill out a form. If there is enough interest, they will set up a group for other projects as well.

If you're interested in joining a GWC, please fill out this form: http://bit.ly/1miG05f.

If you have any questions, please contact Chris Hamel-Brown, Writing Specialist, at chamel at email.arizona.edu<mailto:chamel at email.arizona.edu>.

_______________________
Shelley Hawthorne Smith, PhD
University of Arizona Graduate College
Office of Fellowships and Community Engagement
University Services Building #204E
888 N Euclid Ave
Tucson, AZ 85721
520-626-087ssmith at grad.arizona.edu<mailto:520-626-087ssmith at grad.arizona.edu>

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