GRADUATE WRITING GROUPS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO WRITING PRODUCTIVITY
Abstract
Graduate students often delay writing tasks and binge write because of the complex nature of their projects. This can lead to poor work, frustration, and feelings of writing anxiety and isolation. We therefore suggest that writing centers facilitate an interdisciplinary, peer-exchange writing model called graduate writing groups. Such groups consist of four graduate students who commit to write daily and provide weekly feedback on each other's writing. By using a writing group, we increased our writing consistency, minutes of writing per week, and pages per quarter. We also increased our amount and quality of feedback to one another. We explain how graduate writing groups function, report on our writing gains, and show that writing groups can help graduate students and the writing center.
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