Experience with Dissertation Writing Groups

[ZeChocMoose]

As I'm in the throws of writing my dissertation proposal, it can be an isolating and sometimes frustrating process that it would be helpful to get feedback on certain sections before I submit them to my chair. I recently came across advice to create a dissertation writing group to help with the process.  Does anyone have experience with dissertation writing groups?  Did you find it helpful?  How did you structure it?  Did you commit to ground rules in the beginning or did they form organically as you went along?

 

The one group thing of this nature that I was involved in I have mixed feelings about.  My cohortmates and I studied for our comprehensive exams together two summers ago.  Overall, I think it was positive, but ended on a meh note. At the end of the summer, it got to a point where people's schedules did not align anymore and there was a lot of back and forth trying to find alternative times, but we couldn't seem to satisfy a decent number regardless of the time proposed so eventually the group dissolved which was unfortunate because when we did meet it was helpful and productive. I am concerned that something similar will happen again and I am trying to figure out how to reduce this possibility.  I *really* don't want this group to turn into a time suck where I am spending a significant amount of time trying to find a time to meet that it takes away from working on my dissertation.

Edited April 3, 2015 by ZeChocMoose

[rising_star]

There are several different models. For example, the Summer Academic Working Groups model is a virtual one where one week you send in something and then the next week, people give you feedback on what you sent. So, you might send in 1000 words and then get about the same from each of the 3 others in your group to review. Because it's done via email/dropbox, you don't have to worry about having a defined meeting time.

 

If you're really worried about working with your cohort, you might decide to form a group that spans across disciplines. You'll also want to schedule meeting times in advance and just meet anyway even if 1-2 people can't make it.

[zephyri]

As I'm in the throws of writing my dissertation proposal, it can be an isolating and sometimes frustrating process that it would be helpful to get feedback on certain sections before I submit them to my chair. I recently came across advice to create a dissertation writing group to help with the process.  Does anyone have experience with dissertation writing groups?  Did you find it helpful?  How did you structure it?  Did you commit to ground rules in the beginning or did they form organically as you went along?

 

The one group thing of this nature that I was involved in I have mixed feelings about.  My cohortmates and I studied for our comprehensive exams together two summers ago.  Overall, I think it was positive, but ended on a meh note. At the end of the summer, it got to a point where people's schedules did not align anymore and there was a lot of back and forth trying to find alternative times, but we couldn't seem to satisfy a decent number regardless of the time proposed so eventually the group dissolved which was unfortunate because when we did meet it was helpful and productive. I am concerned that something similar will happen again and I am trying to figure out how to reduce this possibility.  I *really* don't want this group to turn into a time suck where I am spending a significant amount of time trying to find a time to meet that it takes away from working on my dissertation.

 

I completely understand your concerns.  I too had a comps study group that ended up being kind of a blah time suck.  BUT the good news is, that with comps and/or dissertation writing groups, you can always extricate yourself if it becomes too time intensive and not the kind of help you're looking for.  One idea would be to set up a diss writing group that meets only once a month for a semester.  Then you can reassess at the end of the semester and see if you want to continue.  That way you're locked into 4 meetings max.

 

I belong to a writing group with two faculty, which is turning out to be really helpful.  One of them is on my committee and invited me to join the group.  We meet once a month- the writer for that month sends her/his chapter/article one week ahead of time, and then each of us provide 'discussant'-like comments on the paper.  A friend of mine was involved in a grad student writing group for a few weeks, but it ended up being a time suck as they met every week, and one of the students dominated the conversation.  In the end my friend and I agreed it would be more helpful to exchange drafts of our writing on an as-needed basis, sending each other feedback using track changes in Word.  This allowed us to avoid having an extra time commitment each week/month, and still get feedback from someone we know cares about our work.

 

I suppose the best advice I could give is to think about who you'd like to invite to your writing group- do you have classmates that you know provide good feedback to others?  People you think you can rely on to meet monthly group deadlines?  It would probably be easiest with a small group, say 3-4 people including yourself.  What do you think?  What kinds of writing groups are your cohort involved in?

[juilletmercredi]

I was in a dissertation writing group (that I started) for a time. It wasn't a group to get feedback on your writing; rather, it was a group that was about ensuring that we had at least 2-3 productive hours per week doing writing and keeping people accountable.

 

We did set some minimal ground rules at the beginning. We'd set the amount of time (I think it was originally 2 hours and grew to 3). We started with a very brief summary of what our goals were for the 2-3-hour session. Then we wrote and did very brief (30-second) check-ins every 30 minutes. The check-ins were the accountability part - it was to make sure you were actually writing rather than fooling around on Facebook or whatever during the time.

 

Eventually the group splintered because people got busier and some people wanted to write really early in the morning, which I cannot do, so we had two smaller groups - the early morning group (I think they met at like 6:30 or 7:30, which is just...no lol) and the evening group that met around 5 or 6. That was too late for me, honestly, as my most productive writing time was generally between 9 and 5, so I eventually stopped going.

 

I've been in other writing groups, too, and that's generally the model they've followed. (Mostly because I have started most of them.)

 

I found the writing groups helpful, but it's because I am the kind of person who performs well under peer pressure. It was the "knowledge" that everyone else around me was busily working and the potential "embarrassment" of not having anything productive to say at the check-ins that motivated me to write during those periods. Cognitively, I knew that those things might not happen - everyone goofed off occasionally and it wasn't really embarrassing to say so, but for some reason this kind of peer pressure works well for me. (It works for other things, too, like working out or publishing or cooking dinner more often. I'm weird.) If you are not motivated by other people, then the writing groups might not work well for you

 

Also, a writing group for accountability and a guaranteed session of time is totally different from one in which you give each other feedback on sections and help in progressing. I did not need or want that in a writing group (and my work was substantially different than everyone in my cohort who was writing at the same time, because of my interdisciplinary program). I just needed to be motivated to write. If you are choosing the latter kind of writing group, you need to be more careful in who you choose - you need people who are going to read your drafts and give you helpful comments. I will be the first to admit that I am the kind of person who won't read the drafts, or will wait until an hour before the session to read the drafts, which is why I did not join or start those kinds of writing groups. I don't mind giving feedback on other people's papers for publication or something- I do that frequently - but the papers are in my field and they're shorter.

[ZeChocMoose]

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions!  I really thought a lot about what you all said, what I wanted to be the goals of the group, and whether I still wanted to propose such a group.  In the end, I decided on an modified version of what I was thinking about originally and I put in some very minimum guidelines in my initial invitation email (attendance, amount of work expected) with the hope that people who didn't feel like they can meet the minimum requirements will decide not to join. I also just proposed it for the summer so if it is not working out it can be easily dissolved.  Hopefully, it will be a productive experience!

[rising_star]

For summer, you might also look into the Summer Academic Working Groups that are organized each year by Leanne Powner. http://jayandleanne.com/lpowner/pages/sawg/ This year's information hasn't been posted yet but I included the link so you could get a sense of what it's all about. FWIW, I'll probably be participating this summer.