Graduate Writing Support

Are you looking for structured writing time and a community of like-minded peers where you can make significant progress on your prospectus, dissertation, or other related writing projects? The Dissertation Writing Group (DWG), which convenes on Mondays, 10am–1pm ET, offers both! The beginning of each three hour session is devoted to setting achievable writing goals and sharing them with a small group of peers. The next 2.5 hours are devoted to writing, and at the end of each session, writers share progress made, writing challenges, and victories while setting concrete goals for the coming week. The DWG is facilitated by a professional staff member who will introduce guided reflections and share effective strategies you can build into your writing routine. Join us this fall to build camaraderie across disciplines and get words on the page!

ELIGIBILITY

You must be a BU doctoral candidate actively writing either your dissertation prospectus or dissertation to participate in the Monday Dissertation Writing Group. We encourage candidates who are engaged in fieldwork or data collection to apply at a later time. If you are a master’s, professional, or doctoral pre-candidate, please explore our other programs below!

APPLICATION (NOW CLOSED FOR SPRING 2023)

The application will ask you to:

• briefly describe your dissertation topic
• identify specific, attainable writing goals for the coming semester
• commit to regular attendance in the group. Those with significant conflicts are discouraged from applying. If a schedule conflict arises, communicate this promptly to the DWG facilitator

Accountability Partners matches you with an interdisciplinary group of 3–4 other graduate writers for one-hour, weekly writing check ins. During each meeting, participants report on their progress over the past week, reflect on challenges, and set goals for the coming week. Groups are also encouraged to maintain a shared daily writing log, and each group will be provided with a private Slack channel where members can share updates and resources throughout the week.

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all BU graduate students (master’s, professional, or doctoral) who are in the process of writing a scholarly article, master’s thesis, dissertation prospectus, dissertation chapter, or similar. Once the matching process is complete, each group is required to complete a one-hour, online orientation and submit a group contract.

APPLICATION (NOW CLOSED FOR SPRING 2023)

The application will ask you to:

• describe your research topic
• identify concrete personal writing goals for the coming semester
• specify your availability for weekly meetings

Workshop Circles matches BU graduate students in similar stages of their degrees into interdisciplinary groups where they can share their work-in-progress and receive feedback from scholars outside of their committee and department. Groups meet at least four times during the semester to workshop their members’ writing on a rotating basis. Please note: writing feedback will focus on higher-order concerns such as argumentation and structure rather than sentence-level proofreading. Workshop Circles will receive guidance and best practices for offering and receiving peer feedback.

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all BU graduate students (master’s, professional, or doctoral) who are in the process of writing a scholarly article, master’s thesis, dissertation prospectus, dissertation chapter, or similar. Once the matching process is complete, each group is required to complete a one-hour, online orientation and submit a group contract.

APPLICATION (NOW CLOSED FOR SPRING 2023)

The application will ask you to:

• describe your research topic and the specific piece of writing you would like to workshop in the coming semester
• identify concrete personal writing goals for the semester

Join our Write Together sessions for structured writing time in a quiet, goal-oriented space where you can write with the camaraderie and support of your peers! This hybrid (in person and virtual) writing space is open to all graduate and professional school students who are actively writing research proposals, scholarly articles, and chapters.

Write Togethers convene on Thursdays, 2-5pm ET in 100 Bay State Road, room 545. Alternatively, you may join us remotely (Zoom link, BU login required).

Each session will begin with a brief goal setting exercise, followed by focused writing time. At the end of each Write Together, participants will share their progress and reflect on their writing process. Please arrive a few minutes before 2pm to sign in & set up your work station. As a courtesy to your fellow writers, please plan to stay for the duration of the three hour session; late arrivals and early departures are disruptive to your fellow participants.

Fall 2023 dates: September 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19, 26, November 2, 9, 16, 30, December 7 and 14.

Save the Dates (Google Calendar)

Applications for our Spring Writing Retreat and Summer Dissertation Writing Institute is not yet open. Please check back in later in the Spring for information and the application, or join our Slack Channel for the most up-to-date information on programming and weekly resources.