Finding a Writing Community
By Luke Wink-Moran
Photo Credit: ©Pormezz - stock.adobe.com
The English author Douglass Adams once said, “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”
For those of us who, like Adams, have trouble sticking to deadlines—or who need help improving any other aspect of our writing—the University of Arizona offers programs and resources to improve one’s writing skills at any stage of graduate education.
The newest program is the Graduate Writing Lab (GWL), a collaboration between the Graduate Center and the THINK TANK. The lab is led by Dr. Shelley Hawthorne Smith, Assistant Director of the Office of Fellowships and Community Engagement, and Nick Cenegy, THINK TANK’s Assistant Director of Writing Support. Every day of the work week, trained graduate writing tutors are available in the Graduate Center—both in-person and online.
Nick Cenegy explained how the GWL helps students improve their writing: "What our tutors are trained to do is read through a piece and identify patterns—what’s working and what might need development. If there’s some larger connective issue, they’ll focus on that. It’s not a proofreading service or a fix-it shop. Writers often think what they want is a proofreader, but they actually benefit most from someone to help them shape and connect their ideas.”
Graduate Writing Lab tutors offer objective and interdisciplinary perspectives— which are invaluable for any piece of work destined for a broad audience. As Adrianne Beer, a GWL tutor and a graduate student in Library and Information Science, explained, “All the tutors are in very different fields. I think it’s really helpful for writers to have different eyes on their work.” Another tutor, Edwin Baldwin, who is a Ph.D. student in Biosystems Engineering, added, "It’s really rewarding to offer students a perspective they couldn’t get from anybody else.”
In addition to assistance with specific projects, the Graduate Writing Lab provides a broader form of support. “Cultivating productive writing habits is one of our main aims,” noted Dr. Hawthorne Smith. “These writing habits combat the isolation and other challenges that graduate writers face.”
To that end, the Graduate Center also offers Writing Efficiency Sessions which provide a structured yet relaxed atmosphere for students to work on intensive writing projects. Cenegy called the Writing Efficiency Sessions “instant writing communities. You show up every session, in-person or over zoom, and for two hours you feel that momentum of everyone working.”
The Graduate Center isn’t the only source of writing support available to students on campus. “Collaboration is important to us,” said Dr. Hawthorne Smith. “And we encourage use of other resources on campus, such as the Writing Skills Improvement Program.”
The Writing Skills Improvement Program (WSIP) has worked for many years with students from all levels to improve their writing, while staying true to their authentic voice. WSIP provides fee-based services in copy editing and job market preparation. Their programs include weekly and custom workshops with interactive activities, grammar improvement, and other useful information. WSIP also offers drop-in and scheduled tutoring sessions.
And for doctoral students who have completed all requirements except their dissertation, there are the ABD to Ph.D. Writing Workshops. These workshops address the challenges involved in writing a dissertation and the strategies to overcome them. This semester’s workshops focus on effective planning and working with faculty, writing in-depth analysis to support your research, and literature review.
So whether you need help with your syntax or with assessing your writing habits, the University of Arizona has a program for you. Not only will you discover a group of writing professionals dedicated to helping you succeed, but you’ll also find a community.