Write On! Creating an Online Dissertation Writing Group

Objectives  Learn about the UCEA Graduate Student Online writing group.  Complete pre-writing group exercises in Writing Group Guide  Become leaders for your writing group- either through UCEA or through your own institution.

Purpose of a Writing Group  Somewhere in the range of 30-70% (depending on the area) of students who begin their dissertation don’t finish.  Being part of a group increases motivation, accountability, and decreases isolation.  Group members can give you a fresh perspective and valuable feedback A.B.D

Our Experiences  What experiences have you had in writing groups?  What was good? What was terrible?  What sorts of writing did you do?  How did you critique?  What was the format?

Format  3-5 students in each group, grouped by methodological or content interests.  Students can be from the same institution, or from different institutions.  Students will meet at least once a month in an online forum.

Possible Obstacles  Waning commitment  Competition among members  Unaligned expectations  For feedback  For timelines  Others?

Things to think about before the 1 st meeting  How often will the group meet and for how long?  How will the group meet?  Google hangouts, iChat, in- person, etc  Will members have roles? Will those be permanent or change? For example:  A facilitator keeps the discussion on task.  A convener sends reminders, sets locations and calendar, and holds a copy of the Ground Rules.  A time keeper monitors agreed upon time allocations. A note taker writes down keep points made during feedback.

Things to think about before the 1 st meeting  What format will you follow at each meeting? How much time is spent on the dissertation process and how much on writing feedback? Some possible 1 hour meeting schedules: 10 minutes for around the group updates, 2 minutes per person. 30 minutes of feedback each for Person A and Person B. 10 minutes of silent reflective writing 10 minutes to preview next week’s agenda 10 minutes for around the group updates, 2 minutes per person. 30 minutes of feedback each for Person A and Person B. 15 minutes of discussion about a “writing process” book 5 minutes reflection 5 minutes previewing

Things to think about before the 1 st meeting  What kinds of work will the group read?  Loose ideas, free writing, outlines, rough drafts, polished drafts, drafts that have been seen by outside readers? Dissertation ‐ related only? Or grant proposals, interview protocols, survey drafts, posters, conference papers, CVs and job letters?  When, how and how much work will members submit for feedback?  How many days are needed for thoughtful feedback?  How will feedback be given? Ie, track changes, written comments, just orally, etc.  How many pages can be given?  How will documents by shared? Ie, Drop box, , etc.

Things to think about before the 1 st meeting  What kind of feedback is reasonable to expect?  Feedback on ideas? Methods? Grammar? Flow?  How detailed should feed back be?  What is the initial commitment?  You should expect the group to take a bit of time to become normal. Perhaps commit for 4 weeks and then reconvene to see if members need to leave, rules need to change, etc.  Complete the documents:  Writing group ground rules agreement, Personal goals, Writing inventory, Group work inventory, and Schedule (included in packet).

The First Meeting  Introduce yourself  Discuss goals, habits, expectations, and prior experiences.  Establish ground rules  Set a schedule  End with reflective writing

Reflective Writing  Write about your take-aways from that day’s session.  Set goals  Things to do the next time you sit down to write  Things to accomplish in a week.  Things to do before the next session

Activities for Writing Group  Checking in: share what is going on with your work, obstacles, successes, etc.  Give feedback:  Prepare comments before and let author ask questions, work through issues with the group.  Provide feedback during your time  Go through a piece paragraph by paragraph.  What are some norms for constructive criticism? How can we be both good “givers” and “takers” of feedback?

Activities for Writing Group  Help a member brainstorm solutions to problems  Spend time writing  Discuss a reading- something from a writing book, a well written article, etc.  Suggestions are included in your guide  Help each other create a “writing plan”

Sharing tips and tricks  We are all in different phases of our writing process, and all come with different work flows, outlooks, etc. Share your process with your members- this can be very helpful!  Evernote  Prospectus  Writing Schedule  What are some tips and tricks you have discovered?

Intermediate Meetings  Once you have set up the ground rules, your meetings should stick to a certain format. Here is one way to do it:  Before meeting  Read and comment on person’s work  Read assigned readings if pertinent  During meeting  Touch base (3 minutes per person)  30 minutes of feedback for writer  10 minutes discussing reading or general problems (what are common problems we are having with writing? What are people’s strategies?)  Reflective writing 5 minutes

Evaluation Meeting  After a given amount of time, you may want to evaluate how the writing group is going, re-evaluate ground rules, set new priorities, etc. This meeting might follow this format:  Before meeting  Go through inventories again. Has anything changed? How can the writing group better meet your current needs?  During meeting  Discuss what goals you have reached in the last 10 weeks and what goals you still have  Determine if any members would like to leave the group- no judgment!  Go over ground rules again- does anything need to change? Should we revisit the structure?

UCEA’s Role  Tell people about writing groups and help pair them up.  Provide information about how to facilitate a writing group  Provide a sign up survey

Signing Up Go to the online sign up sheet: Answer a few questions so we know how to form groups.