If you’re a Postgraduate Student at Warwick, you’re probably familiar with the woes and delights of academic writing, but there are other writing opportunities at the University of Warwick that you may be interested in exploring…
During Welcome Week, the Library hosted a Creative and Blogging Workshop in support of the PG Community Engagement Team so as to encourage students to think Beyond Academic Writing.
Charlotte took over the Creative side of things as she is the face-to-know for Creative Writing at the University of Warwick. Charlotte had various exercises for students such as looking at an object and imagining its life-story, and writing stories by completing ideas given by other students sitting at your same table.
If you missed Charlotte’s guidance at the start of the term, you may still want to consider joining her sessions at the Creative Writing Group for Postgrads and Early Career Researchers. They meet fortnightly on Fridays throughout the year at the Wolfson Research Exchange Seminar Rooms between 2pm and 4pm. The next session is scheduled for Friday 17 November and there’s no need to book, but simply to show up with some creative disposition!
I addressed the blog opportunities at Warwick as I am the current Blog Editor for both The Study Blog and PhD Life. We’re currently in the final stages of recruiting our new official bloggers, but we always welcome guest posts so if you have any student experience you would like to share at any point on one of these blogs, please send an email to [email protected]
At the Beyond Academic Writing session, I was able to explain some of the key tips when it comes to blogging. One of the most important messages I shared was that bloggers must come up with a topic they are interested in and have some passion for so as to best connect with their readers.
An effective way to do so at this workshop was for participants to think about some of the hopes and fears new Postgraduate students face at the start of the year. Here are two brief reflections that Elena and Emily shared on the day (E&E – thanks for agreeing to share your words here!) and that would have served as a base for a fully-fleshed-out blog post as many other students at Warwick probably connect with the thoughts they conveyed:
So, now you know! When academic writing seems to be too overwhelming, you may want to move beyond it to continue to develop yourself as a writer, but in a different mind frame. I know that blogging has certainly benefited the work I do on my thesis and I never get tired of telling others to try it out for themselves! Remember: any creative writing or blogging that you do does not need to be shared with others, it could be a private exercise that actually helps you, and only you!
