Hi Highlanders! We hope you are having a relaxing winter break! This upcoming quarter, GWC will be hosting a number of online writing workshops. We hope many of you can make it!

Perhaps, recently in your own writing experience you have come across some challenges. I think most of us in graduate school experience moments of writer's block and periods of trial and error. While we may have some strengths in certain areas of our writing, we may need some improvement in others. 

Sometimes we see an end product of writing and wonder: how in the world did this author achieve this? 

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[Image description: An owl who is amazed]

Pictured: A strong piece of writing can "wow" the audience.

Well, like many of us they had to seek the advice of others and revise their own writing multiple times. The suggestions they received along the way and the multiple revisions they made ultimately produced the end product. Though we would all like a magic wand to solve our various writing problems, in the end it takes some practical work.

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[Image description: The Fairly Odd Parents dancing]

Pictured: A magical wand won't improve your writing, but practice will!

At times our first or second drafts are not too shabby and have some strengths. Yet, there may be some areas that need further revision. In my own experience, areas that I could always improve on include organization, clarity, and of course, grammar. 

With that being said, this upcoming winter quarter GWC will be offering some helpful workshops that can help strengthen aspects of your writing. Whether you need help with persuasive writing, professional forms of writing or basic grammar, this quarter we will be covering a range of topics including: Pitching in the Arts, Humanities & Arts Grant Writing, Graduate-Level Argumentation, Alt-Ac Job Search, and tips on English Grammar. 

Below are the following workshops and their dates. Make sure to mark them down on your calendar!

Pitching in the Arts 

1/16

4-5pm

If you work in the arts, or happen to be working on a creative project, this workshop is for you! In this workshop we will discuss the basic components for pitching an art project in concise, simple, and engaging terms. 

Humanities & Arts Grant Writing

1/18/2024

12-1pm

Applying for any grants soon? Need some tips on where to look and on how to write a strong grant proposal? If this is on your horizon, I encourage you to join this workshop and to start planning early! This workshop will offer an overview for applying for grants in the humanities and arts. Those who attend will learn about different types of funding, where to find funding, and the basic components of the application. 

Graduate-Level Argumentation

1/22/2024

4-5pm 

Need some help refining your argumentation skills? Here is a workshop I definitely recommend! Now that we are in graduate school, we need to think through our arguments on multiple levels. To help with this, in this workshop we will review the main components for graduate level argumentation. Several topics will be discussed, including: surveying the literature and locating a debate; narrowing your topic; rhetorical strategies; organization; using sources effectively; and revision and editing.

Alt-Ac Job Search

2/8/2024

1-2pm 

If you are a student currently on the job hunt, this workshop will be very relevant and helpful. Though we are being trained to be academics, we may need some extra training on how to approach the work industry. In this workshop we will discuss specific elements of the alt–ac job search. Those who attend will learn strategies for reframing research and teaching experiences into focused skill sets. We hope that the strategies you learn from this workshop can prepare you for that upcoming interview!

English Grammar: Parallelism/Sentence Structure

2/28/2024

10-11am

Lastly, because we all need refreshers on the nitty-gritties of grammar, in this workshop we will offer an overview of sentence structure with a particular emphasis on sentence fragments, parallelism, and dangling modifiers. 

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[Image Description: Ralph Wiggum needing some help with his grammar]

Pictured: Join our grammar workshop to help you refine your sentence-level skills!

Please mark the dates on your calendar and join us this upcoming winter!

We hope to see you there!