Discovering Thursdays Writing Collective
When I first arrived in Vancouver, Canada, I was desperate to join a writing collective. My experience with the Dublin’s Writers Forum and the Oregon’s Write Around Portland taught me the power of writing groups. I observed that collective writing fosters motivation and provides a way out of the isolation that this solitary activity can otherwise induce, making writing communal. It shows that though we’re able to write alone, we don’t have to. We can write together, too, and this changes the stereotype—and daunting nature—of being a solitary writer!
Read the OpEd article at the ViA website: http://vancouverisawesome.com/2016/10/05/discovering-thursdays-writing-collective/
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| photocredit: thursdayswritingcollective.ca |
Time to write simply
How junior researchers can write effectively and simply? Use simple style in all your writing, whether it’s an email, an invitation or a reference letter.
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| photocredit: universityaffairs.ca |
I am so tired of reading badly written science. I barely finish reading articles that runs over one page. None of my friends read (my) articles. The feeling of failure spreads in me like cancer. Firstly, I’m worried that we have failed everyday people who need our answers the most. Secondly, I fear that I, my colleagues and my mentors have failed future scientists by passing our bad writing habits on to them. How junior researchers can write effectively and simply?
Read my latest article in the Career Advice section of the University Affairs magazine website:
http://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/
Making scientific writing something that sticks to the brain
Have you ever wondered about what makes science articles memorable? How come that some writers are remembered while others forgotten?
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| photocredit: sciencewriters.ca |
One might say that the aim of academic papers is generally not to make the best argument and have the most interesting ideas, but rather to demonstrate that something is both statistically significant and those findings were derived from a sound methodology which others can duplicate and arrive at the same result. If the statistics and the methodology are no good, it doesn’t matter how evocative the descriptions are, does it? So it seems that the most basic science communications question is how to integrate the two very different ways of conveying “the truth,” in a way that both are understood and remembered. Remembered facts turn into knowledge that can be used to change the world – the ultimate goal of science. Read the full article in the members’ blogs section of the CSWA website: https://sciencewriters.ca/page-966358/4072583
Strangers on a TRAIN poetry reading
Strangers on a Train is a monthly reading series, hosted by the Langara College English department, devoted to creating dialogue between writers and writing groups that would not typically interact with one another. Each event features writers from a variety of genres and backgrounds: from spoken word to highbrow prose – the up-and-coming, the student, and the venerable. The goal of the series is to encourage discussion and promote collaboration within Vancouver’s diverse literary community (or with members of other Canadian literary communities).
Join us on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 for the next installment of Strangers on a Train. All events are free to attend and are open to the public (19+ years).
- Reg Johanson (Mortify; Courage, My Love)
- Juliane Okot Bitek (Words in Black Cinnamon)
- Emily Davidson (Best Canadian Poetry 2015 Anthology; Grain Magazine)
- Jano Klimas (Langara Student Writer)
Where: The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver
When: Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00pm
For more information: Contact Heather Jessup at [email protected]
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Writing Together: Do Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth?
July 29: Nurse Liz Charalambous has shown how a Facebook group can really help boost writing (careers, June 3). We would like to take this idea one step further and argue that, contrary to a commonly held notion, ‘too many cooks do not spoil the broth’ when it comes to group writing. Instead, this approach fosters collaboration between writers, as Ms Charalambous suggests, and which has also been our experience.
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| Nursing Standard is the UK’s best selling nursing journal and the ultimate resource for students and fully qualified nurses. |
The University of Limerick and University College Dublin primary mental healthcare research writing group recently skyped bimonthly to discuss a short piece of research written by one of four post-doctoral members.
The group read the sample in advance and discussed it with the author, facilitating her to think through her ideas in a supportive environment. Once the group reviewed and discussed the text, the author revised it, combined it with the rest of the article, and emailed it to the principal investigator.
The principal investigator and the author then finished the paper and emailed it out for review to all named co-authors. This way, the authorship was clearly defined, managed and assigned as per the necessary guidelines. The broth was ready and we had all helped to cook it.
J Klimas, D Swan, G McCombe and AM Henihan, University of Limerick, University College Dublin, Kings College London and University of British Columbia
Read the article in the Nursing Standard Volume 29, Issue 48, 29 July 2015 at: http://journals.rcni.com/loi/ns