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Graduate Writing: Creating a Writing Toolkit

Creating a Writing Toolkit

As your development as a writer will be unique to your voice, your needs, your discipline, and your goals, it is important that you take deliberate steps to create a personalized writing toolkit. This toolkit will contain the resources and strategies that you can return to when you are planning or puzzling over a writing project.

First, take stock of your current needs. What concerns do you have? What feedback have you received on your writing? How do you want to or need to improve?

Next, gather your resources together. These could include:

  • Reflective practices (e.g., journal writing)
  • Exemplars (annotated or otherwise)
  • Books and articles with general and specific advice
    • E.g., Anne E. Greene’s Writing Science in Plain English (T11.G7814 2013) or The Thesis Whisperer
  • YouTube videos with general and specific advice from reputable sources (e.g., universities)
  • Webinars/workshops and workshop recordings
  • Writing programs and AI (e.g., Scrivener)
  • People (e.g., supervisors, peers, tutors)

Lastly, put the resources to use! Be intentional about applying the strategies to your writing, revising, and editing process. Sentences seem choppy? Try the old-new information technique to improve flow. Prose seems convoluted? Replace passive sentences with active constructions. Writing advice abounds—use it to build your confidence and improve your text.

 

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