As grad students, it’s hard to balance everything on our plates and schedule time for writing every week.

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Pictured: Grad students every day…

Writing groups can be a great source of accountability, support, and encouragement. Participating in writing groups can increase productivity and make people feel more comfortable sharing their writing, even if it is not “perfect.” This is a great way to start building on your strengths as an academic writer.

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Pictured: Increasing your writing productivity!

But what is a writing group?

Well, there are different types and approaches you can take - writing groups should be customized to best fit the group’s needs! Here are a few examples, which can be virtual or in-person:

• Meet weekly and write together. One person should be responsible for keeping time. Decide together how long you will write, and how long your breaks will be. You can use the “pomodoro” method (and the collaborative Marinara Timer) to write for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break, and repeat as many times as you’d like. Getting started with writing is usually the hardest part… setting a short timer can help you get going! The Graduate Writing Center hosts a weekly Digital Writers’ Room  using a format like this. Participants meet and share their goals, write for 90 minutes, and have a closing check-in about how the process went.
• Review your writing. This type of group might take more coordination but is useful in getting feedback from peers. Develop a schedule for group members to share their writing with one another and engage in an informal “peer review” process. For example, if your cohort is working on a program milestone like an MA thesis, you can all plan to meet on certain dates throughout the quarter to exchange papers. Alternatively, members can rotate each week. 1 person shares their paper ahead of time, and others read it to provide comments when you meet. Or you can keep it simple and do a “No Bad News” writing group. You don’t even have to meet! Find a writing buddy (or buddies) and make a commitment to share 2-4 pages of writing each week. Your partner will read and comment with an “!” on every strength they see in the draft. That’s it! There are many options for this style of writing group, and you can pick whichever works best for you.

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Pictured: Take your writing one page at a time. Everyone has to start somewhere.

• Create a writing accountability group. While almost all writing groups build in some form of accountability, these specific groups are meant to help you reflect on your writing process, goals, and barriers in the way of your success. Plan to meet weekly and check in with group members. Each person should be given 10 to 15 minutes to share: 1) what their goals for that week were, 2) if they met their goals, 3) their reason for not meeting their goals, if that was the case, and 4) their goals moving forward into the next week. Group members can share advice and support one another as they try to address their challenges with writing. Some grad students get this experience from their advisor or research team, but if not, you can build a community on your own with anyone who you feel comfortable with and who will help hold you accountable.

How can grad students get started with a writing group?

If you are interested in starting or participating in a writing group, there are several ways to get started. You can talk to your cohort-mates and more advanced grad students in your program to see if they are interested. Departmental GSAs, graduate advisors, and faculty mentors might also be able to help. You can pose the idea to them, and they can help connect you with other grad students looking for writing support. Friends outside of your program can also provide valuable perspective, so you do not have to limit yourself to your specific field.

You can also find writing group opportunities and resources online. Of course, you can always schedule a writing center appointment or join the Digital Writers’ Room! This is a great opportunity to build a supportive graduate writing community, and the GWC has already planned everything for you. Join each Monday (1-3pm) in Winter '22 to check in about writing struggles, set goals, ask questions, and write for 90 minutes. You can find the zoom link on the GWC’s website and contact gwcwrite@ucr.edu with any questions. Use these resources and your community of fellow grad students to accomplish your writing goals!

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Pictured: A reminder that you can do this!