Writing Support Group, Fall 09

Themes Emerging

• Writing support groups need to be free from any hierarchical relations, which means that while participants might use them to work on completing overdue work, that needs to be a voluntary choice and any instructor-student relationship around the overdue work needs to happen outside the group.
• Being able to rely on a consistent meeting allows serendipitous connections and sharing to happen among participants, which reduces the need for a pre-planned "syllabus" or sequence of topics.
• Coming each week allows participants to set concrete, achievable goals and not to lose sight of their writing among the rest of their work-life commitments.
• The writing support group is a way of creating a culture of writing. It addresses the social and affective dimensions of writing.
• Practicing different ways of observing and responding to the writing of peers can lead beyond judgement (by oneself and others).
• It is OK if not much writing gets done during the group meetings because the discussions (especially getting to peek at the interior lives of others) help push back against isolation and create a valuable sense of support when you do make clear time to write.
• Given that we work best with great passion and intensity, a writing support group sometimes needs to be an emotional place, opening up our greatest intensity and serving some personal therapeutic value. The ink on paper may then flow with a passion that follows not only our heart, but also our fluid speaking style, whether it be screaming in frustration one week or walking on clouds with delight the next. In this way we might find our voice, as Peter Elbow refers. (MJ)
• A group allows us to see what other people write and how they write. It's the compare/contrast, being around variety of thinking, ideas and writing styles. Makes it less lonely. (CC)
• Writing is more than generating words. In some ways it is a decision-making process that builds on reading, assessing, reflecting, imagining, remembering. In this light, when we assess how we spend time on writing, all of these aspects "count." (EO)
• The consistent meeting time also validates the commitment we're making, given that there's so much pulling us away. The group is taking a stand that the writing process and products matter—ultimately writers and readers count! (EO)

Winter break

30 minute conference calls on Tuesdays at 5.30
(starting the call & seeing who's there, 3-4 minutes writing to get present, chec-in, discussion of whatever emerges, 2 minutes writing to capture what's arisen, closing circle with commitment for the next week.)

• This may be a model for people who can't come to the face2face sessions.

Fall '09

Appointments with Peter
Email peter.taylor@umb.edu to be included in email list for updates on the support group
Group meets in W-2-157

more themes

• Writing buddies outside of the support group provided valuable feedback and nudging, (for example I have one who is a lawyer and provides me socratic dialogue and pushback in exchange for my analytic interpretation of his work and research; others in our group have buddies who provide mutual feedback on ideas and papers, as well as gentle reminders like "how's your writing coming along" and "what are you curently writing about"). (MJ)
• Our group time is a time I can count on as a breather and getaway from work and school, when I know I can meet regularly and frequently, write freely on whatever is on my mind at the time, and often get to hear back a general or specific messsage on what I said about my writing, either as I hear myself say it, ponder on it afterward or get response later from someone in the group. (MJ)
• need to get clear what kind or SUPPORT we need or that is meaningful. (Understanding that people can give what they can give and not what they can't , e.g., ideas, simple company, proof reading, reading response, logistical, bibliographical copy editing, structural stuff, recognition (which may be needed to do what is hard for us), appreciation of the "lesser" writing we're doing (which may help us to write and write much more clearly every day), connectedness, and more. (CC)

12/22

30 minute conference call -- Jeremy, Peter
topic emerged: deliberateness vs. play in online teching

12/15

30 minute conference call -- Jeremy, Scott, Peter

12/8

Group activities: Supportive listening/Freewrite to get present, Check-in, Discussion (focused on setting boundaries and getting support), Closing circle
present: Constance, Jackie, Mike, Peter, Fatmata, Scott, Jeremy

12/1

Group activities: Freewrite to get present, Check-in, Discussion (focused on trauma), Closing circle
present: Constance, Jackie, Mike, Peter, Fatmata; apologies from Scott

11/24

Group activities: Supportive listening, Check-in, Discussion, Writing towards steps ahead, Closing circle
present: Constance, Jackie, Mike, Peter; apologies from Scott, Mary, Fatmata

11/17

Group activities: Check-in + allow 10 minutes for writing before closing circle + (in 2nd half) 5 minutes writing before check-in to develop our thoughts for what we want to share and discuss. Focus for 11/17 on emotions, writing, and writing support.
present: Constance, Scott, Mike, Peter, Fatmata

11/10

Group activities: Check-in + what we have learned about how a writing support group works
2nd half: check-in & Erin O'Brien from the Grad. Writing Center: what she has learned about improving writing from several years of helping graduate students. [This led to the articulation over the next few weeks of for Writing Support Groups.]
present: Constance (by skype), Scott, Mike, Jackie, Peter, Fatmata, Mary, Jeremy S., Erin (2nd half when she found our room)

11/3

Group activities: Check-in.
present: Constance, Scott, Mike, Jackie, Peter, Fatmata

10/27

present: Constance, Mike, Jackie, Peter, Mary

Group activities: Check-in. +?

10/20

Group activities: Check-in. Read aloud. Consults with Peter.
present: Constance, Mike, Jackie, Peter, Mary, Fatmata

10/13

Group activities: Check-in. Buddy work. Consults with Peter?
present: Peter, Mike (&apologies to Fatmata for not redirecting her to W-2-157)

10/6

Group activities: Again, bring a piece of writing and practice one (or more) of Elbow's variety of responses, http://www.faculty.umb.edu/pjt/elbowresponses.html.
present: Constance, Scott, Marie, Mike, Jackie, Peter. Apologies from Mary and Fatmata.

9/29

Group activities: Bring a piece of writing and practice one (or more) of Elbow's variety of responses, http://www.faculty.umb.edu/pjt/elbowresponses.html.
present: Constance, Marie, Fatmata, Mike, Jackie, Peter, Mary

9/22

Group activities: Arranging a schedule of check-ins with a buddy (which may happen in or out of the Tuesday meetings) and identifying specific pieces of writing and revision you want (or need) to get input/support on from peers and from Peter.
To make best use of the time, come already prepared on these two counts.
present: Constance, Fatmata, Mike, Jackie, Peter. Apologies from Mary and Scott.

9/15

Group activities: Check-in; WritingSelfAssess.docSelf-assessment and Plans
present: Constance, Mary, Fatmata, Mike, Jackie, Yolanda, Peter

9/8

Group activity: Intro (groups as a structure to complete incompletes and a space to address why writing was a problem). Read aloud the Writing Competencies, f-w for writing support.docFreewrite and go-around.
present: Marie, Fatmata, Mike, Jackie, Yolanda, Kristin, Peter