Writing With Others, Part I: What Does It Look Like?

This post is the first of two posts exploring what it looks like to write with others and the benefits of this practice. To start, let’s clarify what I mean by writing with others. Here, I am not talking about collaborative writing projects—that’s a topic for another day. Instead, I am talking about writing with colleagues or in groups rather than writing on your own.

Multiple approaches organizing writing groups exist, but I am going to focus on two here: (1) the workshop model and (2) the accountability model. Both have advantages, and their benefits might depend on your development as a writer or personal writing goals.

The Workshop Model

The goal of this type of writing group is to facilitate the development of a particular piece of writing or support the writer's overall development. Colleagues come together for weekly meetings during an academic term, responding to one or two short submissions from group members during each session. Elizabeth Rankin offers a good model for organizing this type of group in her book, The Work of Writing. An hour-long meeting might include two 20-minute feedback sessions that would follow this basic format:

1. Clarification of purpose, intended audience, and context. Here, group members ask the author to provide any additional context to support their review that they may not have gleaned from the author’s cover memo.

2. Positive comments. Group members share what they admire about the piece they read, what is working well, etc.

3. Response to the author’s concerns. In the cover memo, the author will have raised specific issues or problems they would like reviewers to attend to. Here, the reviewers respond to those concerns directly.

4. Additional feedback. Reviewers have the opportunity to offer other constructive feedback to the author as time permits. Here, the comments should consider where the draft is in the process. For example, for a first draft, offering suggestions about sentence-level edits is probably not very helpful.

Writing workshops might follow a different format depending on the desires of the group. However, Rankin suggests that offering positive feedback and addressing the author’s questions are essential as they demonstrate mutual respect among group members and help build trust.

In addition to regularly workshopping short drafts, the group might occasionally take time for members to share progress notes on pieces reviewed in the group (e.g., manuscript submitted for peer review, disposition received on a manuscript). These updates are opportunities to celebrate progress and achievement and offer encouragement and support.

While not the primary driver in the workshop model, these groups support productivity by encouraging members to have a draft ready for group review several times during the semester.

The Accountability Model

Another type of writing group focuses less on developing the text or the writer and more on creating a structure for accountability and productivity. The frequency, length, and design of these sessions may be more variable than the writing workshop. It might involve a weekly or biweekly half-day session, an entire day once a month, or a multi-day retreat once a semester. Like the workshop model, writing accountability groups usually adhere to a basic structure regardless of the length of the session. For example, a typical agenda might look something like this:

1. Goal setting. Group members might open the session by talking about their goals for this particular writing session. It helps to have specific writing tasks in mind (e.g., I’m going to complete the methodology section of the research manuscript vs. I’m going to work on my current research manuscript).

2. Independent writing. Participants spend a set amount of time working on the writing tasks identified in Step 1.

3. Wrap-up. A closing check-in session provides an opportunity for group members to reflect on progress made and consider aspects of the process that went smoothly and those that created more friction. The wrap-up discussion is an important time for group members to celebrate the progress made on specific writing projects, provide space for group members to process challenges, and offer support and encouragement for those who may feel stuck or disappointed by a lack of progress.

For day-long writing events, the group may plan to intersperse work sessions with meal breaks or times to touch base on their progress, discuss challenges or accomplishments, and refine goals for the next writing period.

In both approaches, the writing group will typically have a designated leader who is responsible for organizing the meeting location(s), sending out reminders, and facilitating the creation of group norms. In some cases, the leader may also serve as a mentor for group members (e.g., faculty member leading a dissertation writing group or tenured faculty member facilitating a writing accountability group for junior faculty). In other cases, the group facilitator will simply be a leader among peers.

A common question about writing groups is whether participants need to be from the same discipline. While some groups may be organized within a particular department or disciplinary unit, pulling in a range of disciplines or specialties in the same group is a valid organizational strategy. This will likely be the case if the college or university center for teaching and learning sponsors the writing group. The exposure to different disciplinary approaches to writing and analysis, varied theoretical and philosophical frameworks, and new genre perspectives can offer the writer new insights into their own work.

The most important part is finding a group of colleagues you trust and who offer you the kind of support you need to meet your writing goals.

In the next post in this series, I’ll reflect on some of the benefits of writing with others. In the meantime, feel free to reach out and share your own experiences with writing groups.

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