The Academic Writing Virtual Retreat Video Series
In collaboration with Nicole Shea, Ph.D. and Adeline Boettcher, Ph.D., I am very excited to be co-leading the Academic Writing Virtual Retreat Video Series–coming soon! These free “bite-sized” videos will be aimed at promoting our retreat’s mission: providing you with the tools and confidence you need to improve the quality and clarity of your academic writing. More details coming November 2020.
*The Academic Writing Virtual Retreat was originally scheduled for early April 2020; with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent uncertainties, we chose to postpone the retreat in order to be able to serve the academic writing community more effectively. In October 2020, we chose to transition from a real-time virtual event to a new format in order to offer even more versatility and accessibility.
Academic Writing
As a reader of this blog, you likely have some interest in writing or editing. And if you are a regular reader of this blog, you also know that my posts range from the technical side (e.g., grammar) to the creative side (e.g., ideas) of writing. I also tend to throw in a bit of literary and book fun here and there as well. Today, though, I’m going to focus strictly on academic writing. That, however, doesn’t mean you should stop reading if you’re not an academic writer. Learning about the nuances of academic writing will make you a stronger writer overall, regardless of what kind of writing you typically do.
What Is Academic Writing?
“Academic writing” is a term that is thrown about somewhat loosely on college campuses. Undergraduate students I’ve worked with tend to want to “sound more academic.” In that way, many of them worry primarily about grammar and vocabulary, not even thinking about content. For other students, the term “academic writing” brings to mind thesis statements and using a specific type of organization in their papers. But other essential aspects of academic writing include research (very important!) and effectively and persuasively presenting information by synthesizing the research with your own thoughts, theories, or ideas. Academic writers of a certain level eventually focus on publishing their work in scholarly journals, too. Clearly, there’s a lot that goes into academic writing.
Not everyone has to be (or strives to be) a great writer. Writing takes a lot of practice. It can be a time-consuming and daunting task. Those who are highly skilled in their academic fields certainly have the knowledge of their discipline, but they may struggle with writing their ideas clearly and cohesively. This can be especially difficult if the highly knowledgeable person is writing in their nonnative language. The key takeaway here is, as I remind everyone who visits my website or Facebook page: You don’t have to write alone.
Retreat Information
A retreat is typically a formalized “getaway” of some sort. If you want to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city, you might go on a yoga retreat up in the mountains, an activity that will likely allow you time for meditation and self-reflection. On such a retreat, you generally have a guide to lead you in sessions (e.g., yoga sessions) or study. Such a retreat may allow you to garner new insights or deepen your understanding of an idea.
The Academic Writing Virtual Retreat is, as the name suggests, a virtual (online) retreat, but its purpose is still to allow participants to get away from their scholarly stresses by helping them more effectively meet their academic writing goals. By transitioning from a real-time virtual event to a free video platform, we hope to provide short bursts of useful information, alleviating your academic stress bit by bit when it’s most convenient for you. We also hope that our videos will help you reflect on your writing process and give you a chance to deepen your understanding of academic writing.
The video series will include a variety of information related to academic writing.
The Retreat’s Mission
The Academic Writing Virtual Retreat’s mission is this: We aim to provide you with the tools and confidence you need to improve the quality and clarity of your academic writing. Our mission is to meet you where you’re at and—with compassion—offer resources that support your needs for planning, goal setting, grammar and organization improvement, and cohesiveness and concision. Our goal for this retreat is to help you understand how you can improve your writing and partner with you as you practice strategies that we will be sharing. We hope you join us for this writing journey.
My own personal goal as an editor and writing consultant is quite similar. Among other things, I’m a stickler for clarity and cohesion. To that end, I aim to help my clients improve the quality of their work in those–and other–aspects. I do this by meeting each client where they are as a writer and guiding them to the next level(s). In this retreat, we will be offering you specific strategies (e.g., self-editing techniques) to help you become better writers, guiding you to the next level(s) in your writing. Truly, you don’t have to write alone.
Additional Information
For additional retreat information (including leader bios), click here. There is also a Facebook page that you can follow to learn more about the retreat and the retreat leaders.
[Post updated on 9-23-20 by the author.]
[Post updated on 10-19-20 by the author.]
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