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Writing Groups

Why is joining or creating a writing group a practical way to improve writing?

Because writing groups provide two elements which facilitate the writing process:

Synergy - When two or more people join efforts and provide suggestions or feedback on each other's writing, synergy happens! Synergy results from the interaction of two or more agents so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Not only are there more 'fresh eyes' to look for patterns of problems in the writing, there are also 'more brains' (as in 'neurons'), establishing connections, making meaning, and facilitating the creative process!

Support - When you become a member of a writing group, or when you form your own, you will be creating a support structure to provide invaluable assistance during the long, arduous (and often lonely) stretches of writing you will face in graduate school. The research literature on social support and its role in

  • improving quality of life outcomes
  • maintaining new behaviors or habits
  • providing a source of accountability, and
  • fostering motivation

is vast (check it out, someday)! Specifically, research done on academic writing has systematically shown that academics participating in writing groups tend to become more productive writers, and to view writing as less stressful, than their 'lone-ranger' counterparts.

How do I start a writing group?

  • Decide what type of support/help you would want from the group: For instance, do you want only grammatical revisions? Do you want people who are writing the same types of writing 'pieces' you are writing now (class papers, dissertation, research presentations)? Would you rather have a variety of fields represented, so you can have fresh, multidisciplinary perspectives on your writing? Do you want people who - you already know - are able to provide useful feedback? Do you want people who can keep you motivated, even if they can't provide high-quality feedback?
  • Brainstorm a list of people who, you believe, might provide the type of support you are looking for. In the case of academic writing groups, it tends to be more productive if all members have similar writing goals (e.g., writing a dissertation proposal; writing a research grant application).
  • Contact the people on your list, and propose your idea.
  • Check schedules.
  • Schedule the first meeting.
  • At the first meeting, decide on regular meeting times. Groups do not have to meet very frequently, but the ability to have more-or-less 'constant' feedback, keeps the writing moving.
  • Decide how the meetings will be conducted. Have a strategy: for instance, will writing samples be shared in advance, or at the meeting itself?
NOTE: Many writing groups function best when members do not have any 'homework' assigned to them, except to write their own work. In these cases, members agree to bring with them 1 page of their writing (perhaps a place where they are 'stuck' and everyone reads that 1 page during the meeting, and subsequently provides feedback).
  • Have someone in the group control the time. Be careful to allocate enough time for each piece (15 to 30 minutes for each piece, at least). The issue of time will also be affected by how many members the writing group has: larger groups will require more time to cover each member's writing at each meeting.
*Adapted from The University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center: Professors as Writers (PAW) Program. Available: http://trc.virginia.edu/Programs/PAW/WG

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