Author: quynn

Spring brings more sunshine, more rain (or snow), and increased pressure to finish up those lingering writing projects.

To address the writing pressures our early- through late-career researchers and professional writers face in the spring, we have organized a collection of workshops with guest presenters that focus on writing Well. Look for these upcoming workshops in the Write Well series:

APRIL 2 | 12-1:30pm | LSC 304-306 (lunch provided; register early)

Writing with Ease and Grace with Dr. Roel Sneider

Dr. Roel Sneider is an award-winning Geophysicist and W.M. Keck Distinguished Chair of Professional Development at Colorado School of Mines. In this workshop, Sneider acknowledges that many of us face hurdles that keep us from writing with ease and grace. Examples include the curse of perfection, a wish to not be vulnerable and to keep a low profile, or a sense of having to do it all alone. These are barriers that can be overcome with effective strategies. Author of The Joy of Science, Sneider brings practical writing and interpersonal skills to CSU from his training as a theoretical physicist, building a career in the sciences, and practicing ease and grace.

APRIL 10 | 12-1:30pm | LSC 300 (lunch provided; register early)

Tell Your Story: Memoir Methods for Researchers with Ross Atkinson

What first brought you to advanced research or scholarly studies? What will be your research or scholarly legacy? How do you craft the story of your career to help others understand your work and contributions to a field of study?

Everyone has a story to tell—a memory held onto that begs to be captured and framed, or perhaps released or reframed. Whatever your memoir goals are, this workshop is aimed at helping you get your story out. Modeled after CSU’s Military-connected Writing Workshop, this event is aimed at extracting, through targeted writing prompts, memories about significant moments in life. Don’t know if you have a story to tell? Come find out! No experience necessary. This session is open to all writers on campus.

Lunch buffet for diverse food needs will be provided at each session. Register early at: csuwrites.colostate.edu/guest-speakers

show up & write.  Spring 2024 

• show up & write. has in-person (Walnut Bldg.) and virtual (Teams) locations
• Lead Writers are needed for all sessions! Commitment is 2-Hours 2xWeek
• Sign up to be a lead writer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F094FAEAF2CA3F58-48246254-show#/
• Contact CSU Writes intern Hana.Gatlawi@colostate.edu for more information

Showing up to a writing session is the first step to writing your article, proposal, thesis, or dissertation. The extensive research projects we write require that we build documents incrementally over time. We must show up & write. regularly if we are to be both successful and happy in academe.

According to Communications scholar, Joli Jensen, the recipe for a rewarding life in academe is “brief, frequent, low stress, and highly rewarding encounters with a project we enjoy.”

Ultimately, we write better when we “contain” our writing to specific times and places. We also write better when we have other writers for company. Rowena Murray and her collaborators have shown the benefits of “writing in social spaces” for reducing task related anxieties, improving overall mood, and increasing productivity (MacLeod et al. 2012; Murray 2014).

show up & write. is a CSU Writes offering that helps writers “contain” their projects in time and space AND provides a writing companion to enhance focus, wellbeing, and productivity.

After nearly a year of hiatus, show up & write. is launching anew this spring! You can find more information and locations at:

We currently need about 10 committed Lead Writers to host in-person or virtual sessions!!

Lead Writers (formerly known as “proctors”) host a 2-hour session for writing either in-person or virtually so that writers from across CSU can “show up and write.”

If you are looking for some additional accountability to show up & write. this semester, please sign up to become a Lead Writer.

If you are looking for an easy access strategy to contain and build momentum on your writing projects, attend the show up & write. times and locations that will work best for you this semester. The Lead Writers will love to have you at their session!

Writers who show up 10, 20, or 30 times can earn CSU Writes swag by using our “StampMe” app.

Until we meet again, may your writing be brief, frequent, low stress, and highly rewarding.