At CSU, writing is not just a task on our to-do lists. Writing is how we think, how we collaborate, and how we create the research that advances our disciplines. Writing is also how we occasionally spiral into existential doubt before bouncing back stronger (often with coffee in hand).
Writing during calm times can be a heroic feat. Writing during stormy times? This requires additional courage and fortitude. Research and scholarly writing demands that we simultaneously be both seasoned experts and brave beginners. It takes guts to confront the blinking cursor, resilience to face revision after revision, and a dose of humility to learn as we go (berry chantilly cake helps, too).
And sometimes? Sometimes the words just do not come. That is okay. They will be back (like boomerangs or well-meaning reviewers).
In these unpredictable times, we keep showing up (blatant plug for show up & write.). We write because it matters. Our research, our teaching, our ideas are part of a larger conversation that makes the world a little smarter, a little more just, and a little more human. And at CSU, we do not do this alone. We write in community—in labs, classrooms, writing groups, and write-on-site gatherings (like retreats and “Research Acceleration Fridays”–a shout out to our indomitable colleagues at the FORT USGS).
These days, we would do well not to underestimate the power of encouragement (or a well-timed bit of humor). Enter: CSU Writes’ Keep Calm and Write On postcards and stickers.
You can now post a Keep Calm and Write On reminder in your writing space or on your computer as a gentle cue that writing flows more easefully when you are both emotionally calm and mentally alert. Give a Keep Calm and Write On sticker to a colleague as a pick-me-up after a particularly difficult revise/resubmit (the “r&r” that often necessitates additional R&R: Rest and Relaxation).
Send Keep Calm and Write On postcards to your mentors, your mentees, your co-authors, and your administrators with words of gratitude for their strength and their ability to show up on challenging days. Or post a Keep Calm and Write On card to your office door as encouragement when all other words fail.
We take our cue from across the Atlantic from another century. In the late 1930s, as Britain braced itself for wartime upheaval, the Ministry of Information printed a simple poster meant to steady the nation: Keep Calm and Carry On. It was not widely seen at the time, but decades later in the early 2000s, its message of resilience and perseverance gained popularity and inspired countless parodies. Keep Calm and Eat Cake and Now Panic and Freak Out are a couple of my favorites (or favourites for our British colleagues). As historical and cultural contexts changed, so too has the message.
Putting on my literary critic’s hat, I suspect the popular revival of this WWII slogan in the twenty-first century has much to do with its rhythmic and rhetorical properties. (Bear with me. You have already come so far, and it will be worth it!) First, Keep Calm and Carry on is an isocolon—a figure of speech where two or more parts of a sentence are grammatically equal in length, structure, and rhythm. (Basically, it is fun to say and hear.) And second, its coupled directives deliver a dose of pithy wisdom capable of transcending historical contexts to speak sagely about how we might continue with purpose and meaning during times of adversity.
As 2025 unfolds, writing remains central to our work as researchers, scholars, and educators. For no one at CSU writes alone. In solitude, yes, because we all need solitude to think, and a higher-than-average percentage of academics are introverts who need a lot of solitude (not a scientific fact, so do not quote me, but an observation…or this writer’s projection). Either way, the point is we write together in solitude and solidarity.
We created Keep Calm and Write On postcards/stickers for you, for all of us to reach out to one another and connect during times that require courage and fortitude. They are designed to be signs of solidarity and tangible encouragements (just the kind of mischief your writing desk might be missing).
Currently available at writing retreats or by request. Pick some up and share with abandon. If you or your department would like cards or stickers, complete this request form. We will pop them in the mail for you as soon as we can.
Let us keep showing up for each other: calmly, courageously, and, when we can, with pen (or laptop) in hand.