Have you ever wondered who is behind the scenes at CSU Writes? Look no further! Meet the CSU Writes interns who make all the work here at CSU Writes possible.
The end of fall semester draws near to be followed shortly by the holiday season. Some academic writers will put current projects on hold to turn attention to family, friends, and festivities. Some will work intermittently, and others will work intensively through break.
Unless you are in the latter group writers who plan to write regularly over break, you will benefit by taking care to pack up your writing projects by leaving detailed notes on the next steps, task, and ideas that will guide your return.
“Break” need not be a break from your devotion to your projects. You may find that a couple days of rest provides you with renewed energy to reengage with a languishing project or offers a new perspective on a previously troublesome section. Welcome the revival!
If other duties of travel or relationships will keep you from writing as regularly as you might like. Jot down a few lines of appreciation, insight, or desired next steps as time allows. These intermittent notes can both keep you connected to your project while on break as well as provide you with opportunities to make speedy progress once you resume your semester writing schedule.
May your winter break writing bring you much joy, and, if you wish, many pages, too!
Graduate students wear many hats throughout the course of their program… student (of course), teaching and research assistant, maybe instructor or part-time employee, and writer. A writer, you say? Identifying as a writer may seem unfamiliar to students, yet we aim to publish refereed journal articles, books, and other bodies of work. Aren’t we hoping to effectively share our research with the world?
Each writer has different writing habits that work for them. Try different techniques to find what works for you as you build a sustainable writing practice. Next, have a writing plan. Start with a simple outline of the project, steps in the writing process, and a reasonable timeline. You are your own project manager.
Write every day. If this isn’t possible, make a specific weekly writing schedule that works for you. Make sure to ‘show up and write’ on a regular basis. Don’t wait “until the Muse strikes” or for a looming deadline to approach. This isn’t a practical way to sustain work on a large project like a thesis or dissertation. Read good papers written by effective authors and study styles that resonate with you. Reach out to published authors in your field. They are real people, too! Build a small network of fellow writers and mentors to guide your writing efforts in grad school.
Consider joining a supportive writing community or organize your own group. Find solidarity with a small writing group formed from your research group, program cohort, or other writers. Collaborative writing sessions, whether in-person or virtual, provide a sense of accountability, build community, and maybe some free editing. To learn more, find resources at CSU Writes.
With Fall Break behind us and the end of the semester in sight, it is an appropriate time to offer gratitude to those who have helped with your writing journey and gratitude to yourself for what you have accomplished along the way.
A writing project of any kind can seem daunting, and many people choose to have an accountability buddy or group to keep them on track. Reflect on who has helped hold you accountable this semester for your writing projects and consider thanking them for their support.
Thank yourself for the incredible work you have done this semester. Whether you finished several writing projects, worked on one big writing project, have a piece in publication, or attended a symposium for your work, you have accomplished so much. The drafts and revisions you have worked tirelessly on have resulted in perfected works that you should be proud of.
Finally, thank you to you all for engaging in CSU Writes events, workshops, and retreats! If you attended any of CSU Writes events this semester from citation management to writing retreats to show up and write sessions, we value your appreciation and feedback so that we can improve our office’s offerings. We have enjoyed providing you opportunities to work on and enhance your writing endeavors and look forward to the spring semester with another great line up of events and workshops. We hope to see you then!
The 4-Hour Article Experimental Workshop Asks: Can you produce a draft manuscript in a short period of time with ease (or at least with less stress than deadline-driven binge writing?)
For most of us, we spend far less time drafting an article for publication than we spend on preparing to write or on revising and polishing what we have written.
Truly, we spend far less time with fingers to the keyboard generating a draft of article than we spend on the early stages of gathering data, analyzing and interpreting evidence, reading relevant literature, or pondering of how best to arrange thoughts on the page for readers.
The early stages of the writing process can take weeks and sometimes months or years—depending on our projects. Likewise, the iterative stage of revision and polishing a draft can take
If you’ve ever put off writing a paper to the last minute and cranked out a version under the duress of an impending deadline, you know you can produce a lot of text in a short period of time. But who like duress or the queasiness of post-binge-writing sessions? There is an easier way.
CSU Writes offers “Write at Speed” workshops most semesters to help writer generate text regularly and with greater ease so that the writer can focus more effort on the polishing and revising of their work.
This fall semester’s experimental workshop on the 4-Hour Article Draft workshop is designed to for writers to practice “writing at speed” to generate the draft of a manuscript. Participants have committed to attending two 2-hour drafting sessions through which they produce a draft of 2500-3000 word article. As with all high-quality research and scholarly writing, most of the hours the workshop writers put into their articles will happen in the preparation (pre-workshop) and revision (post-workshop) stages.
CSU Writes checks in via email to provide tips and asks for feedback about what’s working and what’s not. CSU Writes has asked participants to share their insights and experiences to continue improving the workshop over time. We are grateful to be part of such a dynamic and generous writing community. Look for future article drafting sessions in Spring 2023!
Dinaida Egan from CSU’s Research Acceleration Office will speak about the grant landscapes and resources for postdoctoral fellows. This session is also open to graduate students who may are considering postdoctoral fellowships and wish to learn more about future grant funding and writing options.
Learn more about DOC Writes here.
We hope you enjoy this short interview with Gözde, a visiting scholar from Turkey (and) who became a new mother this September. She talked with CSU Writes intern, Emma Lynn, about balancing academic life with the love of family and research, and the support of a writing community at CSU.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Emma
Can you tell me a little bit about who you are and your background?
Gözde
I finished my BA in English Language and Literature in Turkey. During my studies, I’ve been to Boston for a semester at Boston University. I had an MA American history, but I wanted to further it, so in my PhD I’m analyzing American culture and British culture comparatively. I’m here actually accompanying my husband who is doing research and engineering. We are here for a year, and I gave birth to Can and it’s such a good experience. It’s challenging, but everyone in Fort Collins makes it easier for me to adapt to this new life as a new mom and also a researcher who is trying to juggle in between. I’m really happy that I have such a network of people.
Emma
That’s wonderful. What university is your PhD connected to?
Gözde
It’s in Turkey, Ege University. I am doing research about women travelers. I feel that women are underrepresented. In Turkey, I feel the difficulties women go through. Traveling makes women free. I wanted to look at how women made themselves free by traveling during the 18th and 19th centuries. I specifically wanted to look at British and American women travelers. I just wanted to integrate my research interest to my academic life. Also, CSU Writes is feeding me on my academic desires, and they help me just stay grounded in academic studies. I was stuck when I first came here, and I met them, and I kept going. I even submitted the second chapter to my advisor because of them. And then the next day I gave birth.
Emma
Wow, that is incredible! How did you discover CSU Writes as a resource?
Gözde
I knew that in Boston University there was a writing center, and I just thought that here there should be a writing center as well. I Googled it and I found them. One day I saw an announcement that they were [CSU Writes] having a workshop. I immediately called Annie and…she said, “Well, we are open to everyone, so please come and join us.” I started to attend the workshops and Kristina told me about this noncredit course and I immediately got registered. In the third week, I gave birth, but still, I’m going on with Can. And it’s fun actually! Because you want to do something for yourself while you’re raising a kid. You shouldn’t forget yourself, your desires, your pursuits, so I’m trying to do all of them.
Emma
That’s such a wonderful sentiment. How has CSU Writes helped with your writing?
Gözde
I attended workshops and they helped me realize I was perfectionist and that’s why I couldn’t start at some point. They told me all the things that you should have in mind while you’re writing a thesis, and you should start at some point and go back and just correct it and not come up with the perfect thing at the first sitting. This mentality, this mindset, has helped me a lot. And also, the people that attended this workshop, they also addressed their own problems, and I had the same problems. It helped me to gain self-awareness as a writer. They even had a session about procrastination. Just the whole session was about how to overcome it. It was like psychological guidance for academic procrastinators.
Emma
That’s wonderful. I’m glad that you were able to find something like that. How does your family participate in CSU Writes?
Gözde
My son is just watching the online courses and he’s getting familiar with the English language. And my husband also tries to watch the lessons because he’s doing research and he needs that know how. We are trying as a family under the lessons of and guidance of CSU Writes.
Emma
I love that. How would you describe your approach to writing?
Gözde
It’s a kind of self-expression. Making sense out of the world and making sense out of yourself. I really think that it helps you to reflect on your experience while you are taking a look at others’ experience, so you thrive both as an individual and as an academic. I would like to continue writing forever, as long as the life permits me to do it, because it’s not just academic, but it’s psychological, sociological, and philosophical sometimes. I’m trying to understand myself while trying to understand others, because writing involves reading, thinking, producing something. All of these make me happy and I’m in pursuit of happiness.
Curl up to the Fall Edition of the CSU Gold Papers with a large, sustainably sourced pumpkin latte. This edition features topics ranging from mental health to vaccine development to food systems and more. Contributing authors come from the School of Medicine and the departments of Health and Exercise Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition, as well as Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology.
Gold Papers is a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow publication that riffs on the genre of the white paper. Fall 2022, CSU Writes welcomed becoming the institutional sponsor of the Gold Papers. Director Dr. Kristina Quynn alongside Dr. Stu Tobet the Director of Biomedical Engineering provide behind the scenes support for this phenomenal publication.
Like what you read or want to contribute? If so, please reach out to the CSU Gold Papers team with your interest and any questions or comments. The Gold Papers team is accepting articles from graduate and post-graduate level trainees (i.e., graduate students, postdocs, medical students) involving research or topics near and dear to your heart. We are also looking for interested editors, no experience necessary.
Are you a faculty member interested in serving on the Gold Papers editorial advisory board? Please reach out to the Gold Papers team at csuwrites_mail@colostate.edu.
Learn more about Gold Papers here.
Don’t forget to subscribe!
Raj Trikha, Jessica Hill, and the CSU Gold Papers Team
Join CSU Writes Communications Intern, Emma, as she walks you through how to attend your first show up & write. session.
And just like that! We’re halfway through the Fall semester. If you find yourself losing momentum or suffering mid-semester fatigue, CSU Writes is here to help you refocus with writing sessions and retreats. Here is what CSU Writes has in store the remainder of the semester.
FACULTY WRITES RETREATS
NOV 4 – 5 Virtual
DEC 9 – 10 Virtual
Please visit the FACULTY Writes page on the CSU Writes website for more detailed information.
GRAD WRITES RETREATS
FRI 4-5pm Prep Session (Zoom)
SAT 8:30-4:30 Full-Day Session (Zoom)
NOV 4 & 5 Virtual
DEC 9 & 10 Virtual
Please visit the GRAD Writes page on the CSU Writes website for more detailed information.
