First CEI Online Writing Workshop Wraps Up

The first CEI Online Writing Workshop, The Politics and Practice of Writing for Community Economies, has just wrapped up.

The workshop was run over three weeks in June, with three 3-hour sessions each week. 

There were eleven participants from Australia, Brazil, Europe and the UK, India, the Philippines and South Korea. Most were working on publications based on recently-completed PhDs, though several brought practitioner-oriented materials to work on.

The first two sessions focused on the politics of writing for Community Economies and explored motivations for writing and the role that writing can play in contributing to change in the world. 

The rest of the workshop focused on strategies for achieving clarity in writing, and especially techniques that writers can use to pinpoint what they are trying to say and how best to communicate this to their readers. 

CEI Member and principal facilitator of the workshop Jenny Cameron said, “We draw on a range of resources from Joseph Williams’s lessons on clarity and grace in writing, to Wendy Belcher on crafting an argument, Helen Sword on ‘zombie nouns’ and Rachael Cayley on committing to extensive revisions.” 

“In combination, these materials take participants on a journey from focusing on clarity of writing—and thinking—at the level of the sentence through to clarity of writing—and thinking—at the level of an entire piece, whether a journal article, book chapter or book, even a research or community grant application.” 

“The workshop introduces participants to a new 'language of writing' that breaks down what many of them intuit as good writing, and we apply this language to a series of exercises and then to their own work."

At the end of the workshop one participant wrote “I have learned how to identify what good writing looks like. Before, I had a ‘feeling’ when the writing was clear or not. Now I can use the techniques taught in the workshop to spot what is working or not. This is now reflected in my confidence to write.”

Jenny Cameron added, “A special treat was that after the first two sessions Emeritus Professor Katherine Gibson joined the workshop as a participant, and this meant that the other participants got to see how their struggles were shared by an experienced writer who was also trying to figure out ‘what I am trying to say?’ in a piece of writing.” 

One participant commented, “It was great to know that I am not the only one who is struggling to write. It may have something to do with the stage of my career, language issues, etc., but, regardless of all that, writing itself is a challenging task for anyone who takes writing seriously. I was expecting the workshop to be about practical skills and tips, but it has turned out to be much more.”

Other participants report on how they are able to immediately transfer the strategies learned to other contexts, “I presented at a symposium today and my script was so much clearer this time. I could see how I was able to put into practice what I learned in the writing workshop. The presentation was a hit but also I enjoyed writing and editing it. Writing anything has been a challenge since the PhD but something has certainly shifted after the workshop.”

The next CEI Online Writing Workshop will run in November and December at times suited to the Americas and Asia-Pacific. There are still places open, contact info at communityeconomies dot org. The workshop is capped at twelve participants.