{"id":5,"date":"2021-02-01T08:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T08:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/cmc\/?p=5"},"modified":"2024-03-22T14:39:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T14:39:14","slug":"how-writing-workshops-have-lifted-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/cmc\/2021\/02\/01\/how-writing-workshops-have-lifted-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"How Writing Workshops Have Lifted Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Beth Woollacott<\/strong>. Beth is a third-year PhD student at the CMC at Loughborough University. Her research focuses on textbook design. If you are interested in this post and would like to get in touch, please email her directly at B.Woollacott@lboro.ac.uk<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a writing workshop?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was November 2019 when fellow PhD student, Theresa Wege, recommended Barbara Sarnecka\u2019s book The Writing Workshop. I was initially dubious \u2013 at the time, I did not see writing as one of the biggest challenges of my PhD, and I could not imagine how a book could teach me more than the feedback from my supervisors and other mentors. But, fast-forward two weeks, and I was telling everyone to get a copy: Sarnecka\u2019s book was (and still is) the best self-help book that I have read during my PhD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarnecka\u2019s book is an incredibly honest and eye-opening read into academic writing. I was so enthused that by the 5th of December, we had launched our own writing workshop. We meet weekly, for one hour, and the structure follows Sarnecka\u2019s recommendation. We spend the first 15 minutes individually reporting both the struggles and successes of our week\u2019s writing. This has become an integral factor in building our writing community, normalising failure, and sharing struggles that otherwise might provoke feelings of embarrassment or shame. This aspect of the workshop became even more important during the Covid-19 pandemic. This community certainly developed into an important support network for me during those initial weeks of UK Lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next fifteen minutes, we discuss an article, report, or blog post about academic writing. We started with posts from Sarnecka\u2019s blog or book then moved on to other writing-related skills, such as data visualisation or journal articles reviews. The most important part of this discussion is the conversation it provokes; members do not need to have read the articles to join in with the conversation. The workshop is not meant to add another task onto everyone\u2019s already overflowing to-do lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spirit of tackling to-do lists, the final half an hour is dedicated to writing so that we all sit and write together in an encouraging silence. Of course, everyone can stay and write for longer but an hour workshop is minimal enough to feel like an acceptable use of time in a busy day of meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our collective wisdom: what have we learned so far?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a recent meeting, we discussed the writing advice we find most helpful. The following is a summary of that advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n