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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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, email, etc.

Things to think about before the 1st 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:

http://tinyurl.com/mwfuq5e

• Answer a few questions so we know how to form groups.