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Writing is not something that comes natural. And starting to write a complex document (journal article) following complex instructions (author guidelines) is daunting. In contrast, speaking comes natural because it is how we as a social species perform many of our social interactions.
We speak and write to communicate. Speaking and writing share with each other that both are forms of social interaction. Yet, when we are writing, we cannot monitor our reader’s reactions and respond to them as they read. Unless we are writing to ourselves, such as in a journal or a reflection.
We write to help us think. Scholars write not only to communicate their ideas to other. Before a scholar can write to communicate their ideas, they first need to develop their ideas. So scholar initially write not to communicate but to develop their ideas.
We peer mentor each other by writing and through writing. Scholars have always reached out to their colleagues and friends to serve as sounding boards and peer mentors. There is a long tradition among scholars to correspond with each other to develop ideas and manuscripts. In academia, this process has been formalized as the peer review process.
Make your voice heard. Academic writing can seem like a style of writing that is rigidly controlled by others who require you to speak their language. Yet science writing needs many voices so it can serve its purpose—to support the scientific process. Science is not a body of knowledge but a process of discovery and learning, and science thrives when many voices contribute to the conversation.
Free writing - overcoming writer's block
Free writing - overcoming writer's block
“The consequence [of writing] is that you must start by writing the wrong meanings in the wrong words; but keep writing until you get to the right meanings in the right words. Only in the end will you know what you are saying.” Peter Elbow ‘Writing Without Teachers’
What is freewriting
Freewriting, a writing strategy developed by Peter Elbow in 1973, is similar to brainstorming but is written in sentence and paragraph form without stopping. Thus, it . . .
increases the flow of ideas and reduces the chance that you’ll accidentally censor a good idea.
helps to increase fluency second-language learners—i.e., the ability to produce written language easily (as opposed to accuracy, which is of course important but which is better addressed later in the process).
Instructions
Take out pen & paper or your keyboard.
Set yourself a writing prompt and a time limit.
Suggested time limit: 3 minutes
Suggested writing prompt: what I am most proud of about the work that is going into my manuscript ...
Then write without interruption what comes to mind, even if it’s “I can’t think of anything”. Yep, you must continue to write until time is up.
Message box - guard rails for your manuscript
Message box - guard rails for your manuscript
"The Message Box helps you take the information you hold in your head about your work and communicate it in a way that resonates with your chosen audience."
This tool creates guard rails for your manuscript that help you stay on message and keep your target audience in mind.
Reference
text from: https://www.compassscicomm.org/leadership-development/the-message-box/
Form writing groups - overcoming procrastination
Form writing groups - overcoming procrastination
Form a writing group to hold each other accountable.
Convenor: will contact all team members to build consensus on how often the team should meet; then finds meeting times; sends out calendar invites and video links for virtual meetings.
Recommended frequency: hold meetings once a month, increase frequency during editing phase closer to submission deadline
Chair: sets agenda for each meeting; facilitates meetings; scaffolds peer feedback by providing guiding questions (see feedback tools below; slide decks under the Workshop tab)
Reminder: helps team members stay on track by sending reminders, encouraging messages, and feedback.
Recommended frequency: send messages once a week
Reference
Starting your own agraphia group. In 'How to write a lot' by Paul J. Silva. American Psychological Association, Washington DC. 2007
Getting feedback
Getting feedback
Life Pro Tip 1. Give your reader guiding questions. Add feedback instructions to your manuscript, such as "Am I explaining ideas in enough detail in this section?" or "Read this paragraph for clarity and logical flow" or "How do you feel about the order of these sub sections?"
Life Pro Tip 2. Color code the level of polish. Such as:
black text = close to final version, edit for clarity and mechanical errors
blue text = draft text, edit , not yet copy edited, focus on clarity and logical flow, ignore mechanical errors
red text = early drafts and notes to self; not ready for feedback
Feedback pairs. In your writing group, use the technique described in this YouTube video by John Spencer (2:20 minutes). This technique requires 20 minutes, 10 minutes per author receiving feedback.
Myriad messages. Answer the following four questions about what you just read and share your answers with the author: (1) What were you curious about? (2) What did you push back against? (3) What messages did you take from it? (4) Anything else? This technique requires 3 to 5 minutes per author receiving feedback.
Just 2 questions. After you read a peer's writing, complete the following two questions and share the questions with the author: "Is the main point of your story ...?" and "Have you thought about ...?" The first question may only be answered by the author saying either "Yes" or "no", nothing else. The second question should lead to a conversation between reader and author. This technique requires 1 to 3 minutes author receiving feedback.
Procrastination
Procrastination
Publishing Pipelines and Productive Procrastination. A blog on how to plan your writing (by Dr. Jennifer Kelly, University of California, Santa Cruz).
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