Each semester about a dozen CSU graduate students, postdocs, and faculty dedicate a few hours of their week to proctor “show up” and write in an MSTeams virtual meeting space so that writers, like you, can “show up” and not write alone.
This simple CSU Writes offering has an ancient history and offers some low-stakes but powerful support. The term “show up & write.” comes from a modification of Judy Bridges’ imperative to the writers she taught to “shut up and write” so they would stop talking about the novel they wanted to write and sit down and get to it. Yet, the notion of setting a time to gather and write together can be traced through early-twentieth-century writing center models back to writing groups of ancient Greece. Rowena Murray’s studies of “writing in social spaces” and Robert Boice’s data on the value of “accountability” for research writing productivity confirm that when we “show up” for each other and write together, we each tend to make more progress on our work than we would on our own.
You can show up & write. via a link on CSU Writes website. When you do, you will connect with a proctor in a Teams meeting room who will be there for a couple hours to write with you. One of our faculty proctors, Dr. Lindsey Schneider, has hosted a twice-weekly session for Faculty and Researchers of Color (FROC).
This semester’s proctors hail from a range of departments, and all are making fast work on their writing projects!
Those proctors are:
- Emily Amedee (Communications & Media Studies)
- Susan Clotfelter (Journalism and Media Communication)
- Annie Halseth (English)
- Teri Gadd (Horticulture and Landscape Architecture & Horticulture)
- Marta Rowh (Public Health)
- Lindsey Schneider (Ethnic Studies)
- Lauren Vilen (Health & Human Sciences: School of Education)
- Abby Ward (Chemistry)
- Halie White (Philosophy)
We are grateful for their dedication to writing in social spaces. When you show up & write. be sure to thank your session proctor for their service and for being there for you. The low-stakes accountability can do wonders for keeping you “on writing task.”
Writers who show up for 20 sessions earn their choice of a CSU Writes mug, pint glass, or thermal wine cup.
If you are interested in proctoring a session during the spring 2022 semester, reach out to CSU Writes via a form on the webpage or by emailing csuwrites@colostate.edu.