by Tara Kraft

Writing is often seen as a lonely task, a task to be completed by oneself in a quiet space. When people think of “good writers” they often imagine an inspired individual whose pen creates balanced sentences and flawless pages every time they sit down at their desk. However, this image could not be further from the actual process of writing. In fact, writing takes many errors, many do-overs, and many people to bring ideas and thoughts onto tangible pieces of paper.

During my few months as a WIP TA, I have come to believe more than ever that it takes a community—a community of learners, instructors, and peers—to complete the writing process. We create this community in our classrooms, and this year in our virtual spaces, by designing courses that incorporate the steps of writing in manageable portions and multiple interactions with others providing space and safety to discuss goals, student concerns, and transferrable practices. In doing this, we can help students understand that they are not alone in the wacky world of writing, but that they have support and aide available that will help them build confidence in their ideas, their voice, and their work.

One of the most valuable aspects of the WIP program is the attention dedicated to writing as a process. In the courses I work with, this comes in the form of multiple, low-stakes assignments that create building blocks for a semester-long research project. Standing by itself, that research project is intimidating, even for someone who has completed them before. With the shorter, “fun-size” writing assignments, low-stakes writing takes the larger work and breaks it into visible, tangible steps, steps that are used for the writing process in any course. Imbedded in these steps are acts involving the community (instructor feedback, TA feedback, peer review, conferences) that remind the writer they are not alone in the process, an important reminder in any semester, but one whose message is needed more than ever this fall. Having these opportunities for interaction with others and other writing allows students to receive help without losing ownership of their work.

As I continue to interact with my student groups this semester, I am focusing on maintaining and strengthening this idea of community by holding one-on-one conferences, weekly office hours, asking active questions, and hosting peer-review workshops to help students maintain their connection with one another and with their work. I have enjoyed expanding my feedback process in the first half of the semester by using thoughtful questions over vague responses, telling them my experience as a reader, and limiting directive feedback for areas necessary for the discipline (such as citation style/formatting).

While the process of writing may start at a desk by oneself, it does not end there.

Moving into the second half of the semester, I hope to continue helping students understand the writing process, so they do not see it as a transactional task that occurs just between them and the instructor but rather as a chance to join the discussion and the community around them. While the process of writing may start at a desk by oneself, it does not end there. We enlist the help of our friends, our family, our peers, and our instructors and TA’s—in essence we enlist the help of our community—to read, to respond, and to discuss our writing, and in turn they help us build our words, they help shape our ideas, and they help us find our voice.