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Writing skills: tips learnt during the pandemic which will last a lifetime

Author: Dr. Margrethe Holm Andersen, Senior Advisor and AfricaLics PhD VFP academic coordinator, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University and Ariadni Zormpa, AfricaLics Secretariat and Aalborg University, Denmark.

25th March 2021

Introduction

Like other students, AfricaLics PhD students are heavily impacted by the COVID19 pandemic with limited possibilities to do ordinary fieldwork. In such times, it is crucial to make use of alternative methods and e.g., look out for other ways of doing fieldwork (see here). Many (PhD) students are also losing motivation because they have to work from home and cannot interact in the way, they would normally do with peers, supervisors and others. Creating creative and collective rooms for interaction online and building up a structure that supports your writing process is critical under these conditions. But it is also crucial to make use of the time available for e.g. improving your knowledge and publishing skills through online measures e.g. in the form of attending webinars, online courses or just looking up assistance on the web (see some useful links at the end of this blog). We draw on AfricaLics experience to show how this may be achieved in the context of learning and teaching relating to a PhD oriented to innovation and development in Africa. 

AfricaLics (African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems) brings together scholars, researchers and policy analysts who study development, innovation, learning and competence building in an African context. The overall vision of AfricaLics is to facilitate the production and use of high-quality research in the field of innovation and development with a view to promote inclusive and sustainable development in African countries. The AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellowship Programme (VFP) is organized jointly by the AfricaLics secretariat and researchers at the Faculty of Social Science at Aalborg University, including members of various research groups such as IKE (Innovation, Knowledge and Economic Dynamics); GRS (the Global Refugee Studies research group); and DIR (Research Centre on Development and International Relations). The programme also includes collaboration with scholars from other universities such as Lund University in Sweden (Department of Economic History) engaged in Globelics – the Global Research network on Learning, Innovation and Competence building. The aim of the VFP and scholarships is to help African PhD students working in the field of Innovation and Development to strengthen their academic/research qualifications; improve quality of their dissertations and prepare for a career in innovation and development either within academia or outside (e.g. in the private sector or in government/policy making). The VFP increases the international mobility and level of exposure of the PhD students to international knowledge in the field of innovation and development. The programme forms part of the efforts by AfricaLics to contribute to the development of a vibrant research community in Africa in this emerging and highly multidisciplinary field.  The Swedish Development Agency, Sida (Stockholm) provides funding for the visiting scholarships as part of the project Enhancing research capacity on Innovation and Development in Africa through the African Network on Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics) – Phase II (2017-2021).

In an attempt to help AfricaLics PhD visiting fellows deal with the challenges faced during the pandemic, we organized an online Writing Course for the AfricaLics PhD visiting fellows (2020-21 cohort) + a few other PhD students related to AfricaLics. This blogs tells you a bit about the methods taught and how we followed up on the course through a number of joint writing sessions. The tools and writing sessions can be useful not only for PhD students, but also for others.

The AfricaLics experience: improving writing skills through online support

Mirjam Godskesen from Write Concept facilitated the virtual Writing Course and introduced several writing tools. The key tools were:

  • Speedwriting – where you simply start writing on a topic of your own choice and write for five minutes as a ‘warming up exercise’. This helps you get started and overcoming your inner critics.
  • Setting realistic writing goals – e.g. for a writing slot of 45 minutes; could be to develop a paragraph on a key concept in your PhD; write the first draft of an abstract (idea) for an up-coming article or revise a specific section of an article (break down the task into smaller pieces).
  • Rhetorical grips of the text: content, structure and language – and how to deal with these three elements of writing a text.
  • Efficient structuring of your time, including awareness of when you are in the ‘creative writing mode’ and when you are in the ‘critical revision mode’.

All these tools aim at helping participants become better at writing and make the writing experience more efficient – but also more fun! The Writing Course also included time to practice the various tools and tips + some feedback on what constitutes a realistic writing goal for a 45 minutes writing slot!

As a follow up to the Writing Course, we organized weekly online writing sessions, where PhD fellows and other participants had a chance to practice the methods learnt. We agreed to have three writing sessions with 2-3 writing slots of approximately 45-50 minutes each.  Each writing session had the following structure:

  • We first met briefly to say hello and then divided into smaller groups to set individual and realistic writing goals for the first writing session.
  • In the small groups, we agreed on exact time to reconvene and turned off video and microphone during the writing slots.
  • After the first writing slot we met to compare experiences and set goals for the next writing slot.
  • After a break, we returned to the small groups and started the second/third writing slot.
  • Towards the end of the writing session, we met again in the larger group to discuss achievements and problems encountered.

Important takeaways from the process:

  • You must be aware of where you are in the process of writing.
  • It is important to set relevant and realistic goals.
  • Allow yourself some flexibility – but also try also to be strict with yourself and focus on the set goals.
  • Practice the goal setting, the writing process and the reflections on what works for you in terms of improving your writing.
  • Being part of a writing group can be highly motivating, but if it doesn’t work for you, you can still think about using some of the tools.

All participants highlighted that setting writing goals and tips re: structuring of time and contents of a text were the most efficient writing tools they learnt from the course, but they also highly valued the collective experience of joining a writing group. As one participant mentioned “The PhD journey is a lonely journey, so any opportunity that gives chance to more interactions is warmly welcome”. This holds true even if students and other participants worked on very different topics. COVID-19 has made interactions even more challenging, so the virtual writing sessions managed to keep the PhD students’ motivation and break some of the distance.

Another main advantage of the weekly writing sessions is to help increase student’s own commitment to writing and the setting aside a dedicated time period for writing. It is normal for people to be distracted by responding to e-mails, reading online stuff and participating in online events and meetings – of which there are plenty. However, if participants are joining a writing session with a group of peers or others, they know they will be expected to meet their writing goals. Students can easily practice some of the methods by themselves in peer-groups and could share their experiences thereafter.

Other online support

Below are a few links to sites that provide support to you as a PhD student to improve your writing skills, write academic papers and publish:

Online events on I&D

During the pandemic, a lot of organisations and universities have started online webinar series. Here are a few links to some that students interested in the field of Innovation and Development might find particularly useful:

References:

  • Haas, S. (2014): Pick n mix: a typology of writers’ groups in use in: Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond, Ed. Aitchison, C. & Guerin, C. Routledge
  • Michelle Maher , Amber Fallucca & Helen Mulhern Halasz (2013) Write On!Through to the Ph.D.: using writing groups to facilitate doctoral degree progress, Studies inContinuing Education, 35:2, 193-208, DOI: 10.1080/0158037X.2012.736381
Writing skills: tips learnt during the pandemic which will last a lifetime
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