Are you like me? Having another person with whom to be accountable helps me to write more, think more, and research more. But it can be difficult to find individuals with whom we can share writing. As we head into Academic Writing Month (#AcWriMo), where people pledge to write every day (including Thanksgiving and for me, my birthday), consider who in your life can be your readers. Get them ready now. Here are some tips to find your writing people.
So what can one do?
First, check out your institution’s teaching and learning center. Often they sponsor writing groups (which last for weeks or an academic term) or writing workshops (often one or two day events). The former usually involve sharing of one’s work for critique whereas the latter is more “writing alone, but together.”
A second way is to see if your disciplinary groups sponsor any writing groups (often now, virtual ones). They sometimes have groups depending on one’s status (e.g., doctoral students, newer scholars, post-tenure scholars, etc.).
A third way–and one that likely most of us have figured out–is to find people with whom you trust sharing your less-than-perfect drafts. This may happen during graduate school–peers bond and form a writing group in order to make it through writing papers, theses, and dissertations. Or it might be that you found a like-minded person at professional meetings.
Find your first reader, or what Stephen King in his book On Writing calls his “Ideal Reader” (who for him, is his wife, Tabitha). Write for that person to read and enjoy what you have to say.
I want to advocate for widening your “circle of persons” beyond your academic sub-discipline. My husband is a physicist and I am a sociologist but he is my first reader and the one I trust the most. We’ve learned (a bit the hard way) that we cannot be in the same room as he reads and then edits what I have written, because I will question every mark he makes on the paper. But if I let him alone, to edit in peace, he can hone my writing in helpful ways. He makes my writing more terse–I could take (okay, have taken) a few pages to just say “Hello.” That’s not a physicist’s way of writing. Most of the time, shortening my prose is a good thing. He also spots sociological jargon, often circling it and asking “could you say this differently?” That helps me to remember the importance of audience and understanding the readers for whom one is writing. It’s not that I agree with all his comments or follow through on them, but his insights help me to step outside of “me as author” to see my prose from the perspective of a possible reader.
I live for a side comment that shows he got my joke or enjoyed a story I shared. That helps me to gain confidence in not only what I am saying, but how I am communicating it.
So I encourage you to find your first reader. It will take time to develop the trust and confidence in that person’s critique. Think about what kinds of other readers you might need. I’m a qualitative sociologist (an ethnographer primarily) and so I often get asked to read qualitative manuscripts. Got a highly statistical piece of writing? I might not be your best choice, because that is not a specialty of mine. So consider that your “writing people” might need to change depending on the topic, the audience for which you are writing, and the type of writing you are doing.
As you expand your circle of “writing people” beyond your first reader, I encourage you to consider individuals who are not just friends. Friendships can become strained with a difficult critique, so think about choosing colleagues who might not be close friends. The difficulty, of course is the act of building up trust often shifts the colleague to a friend.
One way to minimize harsh feelings after receiving a critique is to play a role in constructing what kind of advice you will receive. Tell these early readers of your manuscript the types of feedback you might want. What do I mean? Here are some “hints” I have given readers:
-“I feel my argument broke down about p. 7–how do you feel there? If you agree, do you have any suggestions?”
-I feel my transitions between paragraphs in this section are not strong. Any thoughts?
-“What would you think if I reorganized these paragraphs in this order (then tell them the alternative order)–would that be better?”
-“Where did you feel I ‘lost you’?” Again, I believe that even scientific writing should tell a story, so learning where the reader “lost the plot” is crucial feedback to receive.
-“I hate this manuscript right now. Do you think that is just me ‘hitting a writing wall’ or is there something fundamentally wrong with it, in your opinion? Help me to see it how you see it.”
-“I’m not looking for grammar or style edits right now; I would, however, welcome ‘big picture’ comments.”
My last suggestion about finding your “writing circle” is to not be stingy. Don’t just ask for their time but then never step up and return the favor. These kinds of arrangements are built on reciprocity. If you have to beg off once (say, during finals week, if your institution’s calendar goes longer than your colleague’s) that is okay (but always offer the explanation) but be sure to reach out when you can to see if it is too late to help. If it is–do the next request. The person who always asks for and receives feedback but never reads and offers it back will quickly be dropped from these kinds of informal writing groups. Don’t be that person.
I’ve been leading two online writing groups for the last 18 months. I have learned so much about people’s writing processes and how I can best give feedback. One way that I hope members of these groups would agree with, is that I try to give feedback as soon as I see they uploaded a document. I know what it feels like to wait, and wait, and wait and I don’t want to be that person to someone else. I’ve also learned that I struggle to turn off my synesthesia–I’ll catch typos and extra spaces for them.
If you struggle finding your writing persons, that could be one reason to find an editor. Part of our job is to read and give feedback about argument, flow, organization, and readability.
Of course–finding your writing people first means that you have to write. Are you? If not, start. Maybe it is two sentences or three paragraphs. It doesn’t matter–just start. Don’t think about what it says–just write. And for November, join with lots of us who will write every day.
Please visit the Pedagogical Thoughts website to contact me about institutional or individual consulting, dissertation editing, or coaching about writing and editing faculty manuscripts.
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