[OWL hoot]
Hi, my name is Kim, and I’m an Assistant Director of Content Development here at Purdue’s
Writing Lab.
In the Lab, we work with different kinds of writers.
From first year students to University staff, our trained consultants help writers in all
fields, and at all stages of development.
Today, Elizabeth - a graduate student and writing lab tutor - is going to share with
you ways you can build your writing skills to a graduate Level.
While we can’t tell you how to write at a graduate level in 5-10 minutes, we invite
you to discover your campus writing center and integrate it into your teaching and learning
experience.
Learn to talk to your advisor and department about disciplinary conventions, and advocate
for writing groups that support a culture of collaboration around writing and professional
development.
In the rest of this video, Elizabeth will provide an overview of four ways to think
about writing as you transition from undergraduate writing to graduate-level writing.
For academics, and therefore for you as a graduate student, writing is a form of conversation.
You will no longer be writing to prove mastery of course material; instead, you will be learning
to situate your research within the field as a whole.
Your audience is no longer just a professor and instead, all scholars within your field.
It took me a little while to realize that in order to situate my writing in the field,
I had to actually buy-into what I was writing.
I needed to connect the course assignment and course content to my interests as a scholar
in the field, and as I grew, I realized that’s almost always possible.
In some way, especially early on in grad school, I didn’t quite see myself as a scholar but
once I pushed past that imposter syndrome a bit, I realized that my best work comes
from adding to, challenging, or reappropriating the work that has already been started.
Even with innovative ideas, projects that have never been done before—there’s always
a connection to a theory, ideology, method, methodology, or approach that has paved way
for me to establish those innovative ideas.
One of the best par ts of being a graduate student is learning about my field and the
scholars within in it while at the same time, beginning my contribution within those conversations.
Graduate-level writing should not be considered the end-stage of a research project.
You won’t be doing the research and then sitting down to write it up.
Writing should be seen as a process, as something that you do on a regular basis throughout
the entire research project.
It will involve writing about other scholarship that you read, reflecting on the research
you are doing and the data you are collecting, reconsidering the trajectory of your project,
and, finally, producing a document with which to disseminate your data to the world.
This entire process involves thinking, writing, revising, rewriting, and polishing—sometimes
many times for a single document.
As a tutor, graduate student, and instructor of writing…
I’ve come to learn that “the writing process” or “writing as a process” is so dependent
and unique towards the writer.
I’ve had a lot of students, undergraduate, graduate, and even faculty come into the Writing Lab during a session
and be surprised when learning that there is not singular process, or group of processes they
can pick from.
Everybody works in different ways and even one person’s process isn’t always consistent.
Sometimes, I write two drafts and I’m ready to submit.
Other times, I write 5 or more.
And drafting for me, usually doesn’t have a clear start and end.
I might go back and draft while I set out to revise because I realized I’m missing
something really important.
I’ve learned to be patient and talk to others about my writing, what I’m feeling, and
what I’m stuck on.
Writing as a process can be messy, but I find that the messier the process, the more I’m
engaging in the end.
Because writing is part of a scholarly conversation, the act of writing itself should be seen as
a social endeavor.
You’ll want feedback multiple times throughout the writing of a single document, but you’ll
also want to talk to fellow students about writing itself—the act of writing, the difficulties
of writing, tips and strategies for completing long projects.
And for some of you, writing will go more smoothly when you do it in the company of
other writers.
I may be biased as a long-time writing tutor and aspiring writing center director, but
I believe that any writing won’t be as good if it sits in isolation.
Without sharing my work with others, I miss questions, theories, and ideas that I just
wouldn't see as an insider of my own work.
When I share my work early and often, that’s when I find the social component of writing
to be most productive.
If I wait until I’m ready to submit to share my work, I’m often disappointed when I come
to find new perspectives that I probably should have incorporated much earlier.
I think talking about writing is just part of my writing process and I see it as a
necessary component to reaching my final draft.
As an undergraduate, you may have thought of writing as its own thing, with rules you
could follow to end with a good paper and a good grade.
While graduate-level writing still has some of the same requirements for clarity and organization
and other such aspects of “good writing,” it also has aspects of good writing that are
specific to the academic discipline you are writing in.
What is considered an appropriate type of support?
How much support is necessary?
How does one hedge one’s claims?
What format or style is preferred?
For graduate-level writing, you’ll want to learn what your academic discipline considers
“good writing.”
As a Writing Lab tutor, I’ve come to find that discipline-specific writing isn’t a
super familiar concept.
There isn’t such a thing as the research paper, for example.
Research is such a broad genre that takes the shape of so many different genres and
sub-genres of writing.
Research also varies tremendously from discipline to discipline.
Some fields prioritize qualitiative research while others value quantitative.
And how research studies are carried out also varies in methods and methodologies.
So, when students look for a template on writing a methods section, for example, we have to
do some digging, together in the session, on what a methods section might look like for their specific
project, in their discipline, and maybe even their area of focus.
We hope you find these strategies helpful as you transition to graduate level writing.
Stay tuned to our Youtube channel for individual vidcasts on these four topics.
For additional resources, visit our website at
OWL.Purdue.edu.
All links can be found in the description of this video.
[OWL hoot]