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by Jasmine Stovall, Consultant

Picture it: You’ve been working diligently on a writing project for quite some time and have reached a point in your writing process where you think you could benefit from the feedback of a second set of eyes. You make the very wise decision to reach out the GWC to make an appointment for your very first consultation. You login to the online portal, input all the necessary information, and successfully submit your request. Within a couple days’ time, a consultant contacts you and after a brief e-mail exchange, your appointment is officially set.

So… now what?

Well, I’m glad you asked! If the scenario above sounds like an experience you’ve had or are currently having, you’re going to want to keep reading. This blog post is to serve as a guide for preparing for your first GWC consultation. I will talk about things you can do beforehand to prepare, what you can expect during your consultation, and offer some tips that will be helpful in making you your consultant’s favorite client and ultimately result in a successful, productive consultation session.

Let’s begin by discussing some things to do before your consultation:

1. Be prompt and communicative – The GWC prides itself on our flexibility and short turnaround time. With that being said, we do operate on a first-come-first-served basis. So, essentially, the more prompt you are in your responses, the sooner you and your consultant can plan to meet. Being prompt and communicative from the first contact is an immediate green flag to consultants because it tells us that you are serious about seeking help, that you want actually want to be here, and that you are intentional when it comes to time and planning. Remember, when it comes to longer documents like dissertations or class assignments with known deadlines, you can make an appointment with a consultant as far in advance as you need to receive assistance in enough time to submit your project by the deadline. Of course, we understand that life happens, and grad student schedules can be unpredictable at times, but generally, communicating with your consultant and being respectful of deadlines (i.e., sending the consultant your document within the requested timeframe) will only help you leading up to your consultation and even after.
2. Don’t be afraid to make your needs known up front – As consultants, our number one priority is to help you become a stronger, more confident writer, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what you need. So, as you are preparing for your consultation, don’t hesitate to communicate any specific needs you may have or anything you’d like us to pay close attention to as we read. Worried about whether your argument is clear and consistent throughout? We can help with that. Need help organizing your thoughts into an outline? We’ve got your back. Struggling with word choice and transitions in your intro? No worries. Or maybe you want us to focus specifically on the organization and sentence structure of your discussion section and only read the remaining sections if time allows? Can do. This allows us as consultants to be more intentional about how we allocate our reading time. When we can focus specifically on your requests, it makes for a more productive meeting overall and ensures that we are meeting your needs to the best of our ability.
3. Set goals for yourself and for the meeting – This one is self-explanatory. Make some time beforehand to set goals and have an idea of what you hope to accomplish over the course of the meeting. If you have clear expectations for yourself and your consultant, the meeting is generally more productive. 
4. Provide your consultant with any supplemental materials – In addition to your document, we encourage clients to send us anything else they think might be helpful in understanding the nature of the assignment. Whether it be a rubric, assignment description or instructor feedback, the more information we have regarding the context of your project before we begin reading, the more tailored your feedback will be.

Now that you are well prepared for your consultation, let’s talk about some things you can do during your appointment to get the most out of your session:

1. Don’t be afraid to take the driver’s seat – While we are here to help you, we also want you to take ownership of your writing and your GWC experience. You are free to lead the meeting to ensure that you get out of it what you want to get out of it.
2. Keep an open mind and be open to suggestions – As consultants, we are here to serve you and do what we can to provide feedback that will strengthen your paper. However, keep in mind that our suggestions really are just suggestions, not law. That means you can take or leave them, no harm no foul. Even still, I would encourage you to make it a point to at least be open to new ideas and changing the way you think about communicating your ideas and the practice of writing in general.
3. Be open to both asking and answering questions – Some of the most productive consultations come from discussion and collaboration. While we are your consultant, we are also your peers. Some of my most enjoyable meetings have been a result of me feeling as though I am talking with my client rather than at them.  
4. Come with questions – Our job as consultants is to not only help you improve the piece of writing for which you are seeking feedback, but also to make you a stronger writer overall. This means your questions do not have to be limited to your project by any means. We welcome broad writing questions as well with hopes that our session will help you write with more confidence for this piece and all those to come.

Here are some final thoughts and additional tips for success in your first consultation:

1. Don’t feel like your writing has to be perfect or even complete before you meet with us – Part of our job is to help you get to the finish line (or as close to it as possible) at any point in the writing process. The finish line looks different for everyone. For some it may mean going from an outline to full paragraphs, while for others it could mean reviewing a polished article ready to be submitted to a journal for review. Either way, it is perfectly acceptable to seek help with a work in progress as opposed to a finished product.
2. Remember that vulnerability is a part of the process – Writing is personal. When you think about big writing projects such as dissertations and theses that often are a result of research that has been years in the making, your connection to it goes deeper than just the words on the page, it means something to you. Therefore, it takes a lot of courage to surrender something you’ve put so much of yourself into to a stranger placing yourself at the mercy of their feedback. Keep that in mind as you go into your consultation and remember that while it may not seem like it in the moment, being vulnerable makes for a stronger, better you in the long run.

As with most things in life, showing up is the hardest part, and if you’ve managed to successfully do that then you’re already winning in my book. The same principle applies to your first GWC consultation. Start by showing up. Communicate your needs, set your goals, take ownership, keep an open mind, and let the rest the unfold from there. I hope after reading this you feel equipped with the necessary tools and confident in your abilities to prepare for a stellar first consultation with the GWC.

by Dr. Kristin Huggins, Consultant

**These podcasts are not GWC partners, nor is this post an official endorsement of these podcasts. These resources are merely helpful tools that some of our consultants have found personally beneficial in their own work.**

Calling all podcast and audiobook enthusiasts! If you are a graduate student or early-career professional with a long laundry list of writing projects ahead of you, you need to integrate these podcasts into your weekly routine!

When I began my doctoral journey at Baylor, I felt overwhelmed by the nuances and unspoken rules of academic writing. I had amazing professors, advisors, and writing consultants to help me find my feet, but I knew it would take much more to feel confident as an academic writer. Which is how I stumbled across the academic writing niche of podcasting.

Apparently, I was not alone. I discovered that there were several podcast channels dedicated to helping graduate students, early-career professionals, and tenure-track professors succeed as academic writers. Fast forward three years later, and the number of channels has exponentially increased! We are not alone!

Whether you are a seasoned podcast listener or a newbie, consider integrating these channels into pockets of your day: when you commute to work, when you workout, when you cook dinner, when you take a walk around campus… However and wherever you listen, the act of listening will help you not feel so isolated and overwhelmed with what’s in front of you.

The Academic Writing Amplified Podcast, by Dr. Cathy Mazak, Ph.D.

Description: This is a great podcast for doctoral students nearing the end of their dissertation process, and for early career faculty looking to secure tenure while maintaining a healthy publication pipeline. In addition to her podcasts, Dr. Mazak also offers several programs through her website The Scholar’s Voice, that provides coaching opportunities and writing groups to scholars of all levels.

Defend and Publish Podcast, by Christine Tully, Sr. Writing Coach

Description: This is my absolute favorite podcast to listen to on my way to work. Her episodes are “bite-sized” and much more approachable than others in terms of content and length of time. I also appreciate that her content revolves primarily around academic writing, and rarely dabbles in graduate student lifestyle topics like other podcasts. I already know I need to drink water, so give me a podcast that helps me tackle that systematic literature review, please!!

Hello PhD, by Dr. Joshua Hall and Dr. Daniel Arneman, Ph.D.s

Description: If you’re a STEM student or recent graduate, this is the podcast for you! Led by a duo of quirky, hilarious scientists, this podcast jumps between writing for STEM, field research tips, postdoc advice, and common research traps in the sciences. I believe their earlier episodes document their experiences at the end of their Ph.D. journey just before they defended. Check out their website for the full listing of episodes.

Office Hours with Dr. Lacy, by Dr. Marvette Lacy, Ph.D.

Description: What I appreciate the most about Dr. Lacy is that she doesn’t sugarcoat the truth. When I was stuck in my dissertation and tempted to throw myself a pity party, Dr. Lacy pulled me out of it with hard love and great tips for academic writing practices. This is a great podcast for those of you who are mid-way through your doctorate program and are diving into the first drafts of your second and third chapters.

The Happy Doc Student, by Dr. Heather Frederick, Ph.D.

Description: When you do need a virtual hug, Dr. Frederick is the gal for you. She bases her podcast content on her horrible experiences as a doctoral student, in the hopes that by sharing her story she will save some of us from the same pitfalls and traps. Honestly, this is a great podcast for scholars of all levels, in that she reviews writing tips and research strategies while also covering topics like work/life balance, mental health, and maintaining your relationships during your doctoral journey. This is the rom com of academic writing podcasts: you leave feeling warm and fuzzy inside! 

by Kristin Huggins, Consultant

This week marks the first anniversary of my time with the Graduate Writing Center as a Writing Consultant. A whole year. How did that happen?! I’m not sure whether the concept of time has altered due to the state of our post-pandemic world, because of my doctoral work with the School of Education (a venture that arguably feels as if it will never end), or simply because life at 35 is now punctuated by a series of rapid-fire changes that one must face with an alarming blend of nonchalance and alacrity.

This year has undoubtedly been marked by growth and change. Twelve months after my first day at the GWC, I no longer feel like the same woman, writer, or consultant.

I remember my first consultation. Within the first five minutes of meeting my client over Zoom, I felt sure that my supervisor had made a mistake when they hired me. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t have all the answers, and I certainly wasn’t the best writer in my program. As I shared my screen and dove into my client’s document, the grips of Imposter Syndrome began to tighten. Maybe I could ask for another week to study the GWC training resources more. Maybe I could pretend I died and move to Portugal. I had to do something other than sit here and masquerade as a writing consultant to graduate students and – shock of all shocks – professors?!

Now I look back on that first consultation and smile. Growing pains are natural in any profession, and this was no exception. Spoiler alert: I didn’t fake my own death and move to Portugal. I slogged my way through that first meeting. And then another. And another. Until I finally found my groove. And somewhere along the way, I discovered what it meant to be a “good” Writing Consultant (and, in turn, how to be a “good” writer):

1. Listen first, write second.
2. All writers are communicators. Not all are experts. And that’s okay.
3. Writing (and consulting) is grounded in the human experience.

Listen First, Write Second

Early on, I felt pressure to lead consultations with a clearly defined “plan” or “agenda.” I developed a list of macro- and micro-level concerns with each document, intending to walk my clients through these issues methodically during our time together. While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with this idea, I quickly found that my idea of where we should begin and where my clients felt we should start the meeting didn’t always align. Often, they would pose questions that I hadn’t considered and that certainly didn’t fit my “plan.” I had to pivot.

For your reference, dear reader: I am not a “pivot” person.

However, after making concessions and altering my routine consultation plan, I discovered that clients were happier and felt more confident at the end of our time together when they had the option to “drive” the meeting with their questions and concerns.

The same concept is true for writers. How often do we write ourselves into a box – a methodology, a theoretical framework, a seminal source that we feel CERTAIN will spell our success… only to discover a hiccup in our “plan” and the need to altogether scrap and restart the process. Writing, after all, is similar to the human experience. It is not a static activity. It alters, shifts, and evolves as we discover threads unseen or narratives unheard. Writers must approach the act of writing with the same concession to LISTEN FIRST, and write second.

All Writers are Communicators. Not All are Experts. And That’s Okay!

Another mistake I made in my early days of consulting was the idea that “writing consultant” was synonymous with “writing expert.” I studied for hours before my first meeting, pouring over various style guides, exemplars of document reviews, and tips and tricks provided by senior consultants. To this day, remembering rules for Turabian footnotes (a style I rarely traverse professionally or academically) is the stuff of nightmares for me.

But my clients didn’t need an expert. They needed help communicating with their audiences, which was an entirely different skill set altogether. Was their argument clear? How would their audience interpret this statement? How was the readability of that section? Did this make sense?

It was as if clients needed a translator, not a consultant, who could take the intent straight from their cerebral cortex and translate it into comprehensible words on a page.

This was not what I expected. But maybe it should have been. How often had I stared at a blank Word document on my computer, willing the words to transpose themselves from my brain to the page through sheer will? And how helpful would it have been if someone had told me that it didn’t have to be perfect – that I didn’t have to be an expert at the craft or the content? That simply starting the act of writing and following it through was a feat unto itself.

Don’t worry about being an expert. Talk to your audience. If you focus on the act of communication and not perfection, you can consider yourself a successful writer.

Writing is Grounded in the Human Experience

Echoes of my mother ring in my ears: “mind your manners,” “follow the golden rule, Kristin,” or “you attract flies with honey, not vinegar.” As a child, the last one didn’t sit well with me; why would I want to attract flies? It was only later when I sat in a one-on-one meeting with a director who was tearing apart my most recent work in an opera production that I realized what my mother was trying to impart to me at such a young age: success and growth hinge on collaboration, and effective collaboration only happens when all parties treat one another with basic human decency.

As a Writing Consultant, I quickly discovered that humility, transparency, and kindness removed barriers to creativity (perceived or inherent) during the consultation and writing processes.

This should seem obvious – after all, no consultant goes into a session with the intent to bulldoze clients with their work. Rather, my eagerness as a new consultant to dive into the writing led me to neglect other areas of hospitality and relational learning that are equally as important as identifying hanging participles.

Likewise, as writers we have an ethical obligation to our intended audience to write with humility and respect, no matter the subject. By approaching the act of writing as an extension of the human experience, we acknowledge the imperfections of our craft while simultaneously situating our content through the lens of humanism.

Final Thoughts

Do I live up to these ideals? Not always. I’m an imperfect creature. But knowing the recipe at least gives me guidelines to aspire to as I continue to forge relationships with writing clients and hone my academic writing skills. Someday, I hope to make these ideals as natural as breathing air. But like any craft, consistent practice is the key to progress, not perfection.

Keep writing, dear readers.

by Jasmine Stovall, Consultant

This book is a self-help guide written for the PhD student who is ready to begin writing a scientific journal article, but maybe doesn’t have a plan, doesn’t know how to begin putting words on paper, is having trouble developing a story to communicate their findings clearly and effectively, or all the above. Although only about 100 pages in length, this short read is jam-packed full of valuable, easily digestible information that you will find yourself referring to each time you begin a new writing project in STEM fields.

If you are like me (and every other busy PhD student) and don’t have the time to devote to a 100-page read at this very moment, keep reading for the TL;DR version of the book. While I do still recommend reading the book in its entirety, I’m going to give you the highlights.

The book is organized into sections outlining the writing process with a top-down approach from determining the story you intend to tell to dealing with reviewer comments and everything in between. This makes it easily navigable for a reader who may prefer to skip around. Saramäki helps with abstract and title writing, emphasizes the importance of outlining, offers a detailed how-to for writing each section of the IMRAD framework, gives tips for writing and editing your first draft, and even offers information on how to write a cover letter.

The following is summary of the sections of the book:

1. What is your story?
   • Identify the key point and main take home message of your results. You should be able to convey this in two sentences maximum.
   • Choose your supporting information keeping in mind that your choices should support the key point and/or emphasize the significance of your main result. Anything that doesn’t satisfy one or both of those criteria should be excluded.Write your abstract using the hourglass method.
   • Write the title of the manuscript ensuring the selected title corresponds with the information presented in the abstract. 
2. Outline, outline, outline!
   • Visualize the outline of your paper. This includes determining the order in which to present your results, selecting your figures and drafting their associated captions, and writing the main points of each section of the IMRAD framework.
   • Once visualized, materialize your outline by drafting the paragraphs of your paper. Use your outline as a guide to turn sentences (or bullet points that describe the main idea of each paragraph and the supporting content) into full paragraphs ensuring that each paragraph discusses one main point at a time.
3. Write, revise…then revise again.
   • Fill in the gaps of your paragraphs from the previous steps to make for a complete first rough draft. Be mindful of your paragraph structure, making sure that the first sentence introduces the topic of the paragraph and that each sentence of the paragraph and each paragraph of the paper builds upon the next.
   • Revise your rough draft from a content and structure perspective. Don’t get too into the nitty gritty mechanics quite yet. Make sure the focus is clear and consistent throughout and that the story you tell through your results and discussion answers the question you pose in the introduction.Perform sentence level revisions on the rough draft. Pay close attention to word choice, ensuring that your sentences are logical, meaningful, and necessary to move the reader through your argument or story. Employ science writing best practices such as putting the subject and verb close together, writing in active voice, avoiding run-on sentences, keeping your language simple, and avoiding turning verbs into nouns.
   • Revise, rinse, repeat. Keep clarity, readability, and the overall quality of your story at the forefront of your mind. Pass your manuscript along to a second, third, even a fourth set of eyes for edits and comments. This could be your co-authors, PI, lab mates, or the GWC *hint hint* 🙂 Receiving feedback from people both inside and outside of your field of expertise allows you to assess whether enough background and context exists for any reader to not only understand but also appreciate your story.
4. The moment of truth: Journal submission and reviewer comments
   • First, congratulate yourself for making it to this point. You’ve come a long way!
   • Write your cover letter.Submit your paper and wait for a decision. Exhale.
   • When you receive your feedback, remember to breathe. If it helps to open it up with someone by your side, do that. If you feel emotional, walk away from it until you feel you can approach it with a fresh, calm mind. Work with your advisor and co-authors to determine what the editor wants and what edits need to be made to satisfy your reviewers. Then, you guessed it, revise. Write your rebuttal letter with confidence. Then, resubmit.

Overall, I found this book to be extremely helpful and well worth the read as a GWC consultant but even more so as it pertains to my own writing as a PhD student in STEM. This book especially resonated with me because writing is a necessary skill for all academic disciplines, STEM included. Yet somehow, within the STEM community, there is this unspoken truth that writing is rarely ever explicitly taught to graduate students. Rather, it is perceived by students as something we are supposed to enter grad school already knowing or just pick up along the way. As a result, we may feel inadequate as both a scientist and a writer if we fail to do so. Saramäki’s book addresses this problem head on. The system that he lays out is effective in that it, “forces you to focus on the right things at the right time, one thing at a time,” ultimately alleviating the feeling of overwhelm and the fear of the blank page. I find from personal experience and working with clients that this is often the most difficult part. If you’re interested in the full text, it is available for purchase on Amazon at a grad-student-budget-friendly price. I hope you have found the information here useful, and that after reading you feel more motivated and confident as a writer to tell your story; good science stories deserve to be heard!

Citation: Saramäki, Jari. (2018). How to write a scientific paper: An academic self-help guide for PhD students.

by Kristin Huggins, Consultant

The start of the spring semester is one part magic and two parts chaos. Christmas flew by in a peppermint-coated blur, and you suddenly find yourself standing on campus surrounded by the living organism of academia – crowds of students, staff, and faculty swarming about as if Christmas break had never happened. Your nerves are on edge with a new schedule of classes, filled with new colleagues, and the distinct feeling that you are forgetting something as you navigate your new Spring 2023 routine.

Such feelings are not restricted to the student experience. Even as a professor, I still get the tell-tale nightmare the night before the first day of class. Most recently, I dreamt that I mixed up the room numbers of my first class, teaching Italian Diction to a group of terrified History 101 undergrads who were too sweet to correct me for the first 15 minutes. Waking up with sweaty, shaking hands, I launched out of bed at 3am to log in and check my room assignment, still muttering the lyrics to “Si, mi chiamano Mimì” under my breath.

But amidst nightmares, nerves, and chaos is the true magic of the new semester: a fresh start. Today, you can set yourself up for the best chance at writing success. Take stock of the impending deadlines set before you: how many term papers, literature reviews, research proposals, book chapter proposals, articles, or pages of your thesis/dissertation are required to claw your way out of Spring 2023 alive and whole? While you may not be able to complete these projects up front without copious amounts of reading and in-class preparation, you are uniquely positioned to create a Semester Plan that will guide you through the minefield of writing projects.

To create a productive Semester Writing Plan, follow these four steps:

1. Map out all semester writing deadlines to determine which you can start early
2. Plan out your weekly writing blocks
3. Use early readings as a launchpad for establishing a writing reflection routine
4. Find a Peer Writing Group to establish consistent writing habits with peer accountability

Map Semester Deadlines & Start Early

Your syllabus and course schedules are your lifeline. Grab onto them with both hands and stay afloat! By now, you should have one or both of these documents from your professors. Set time aside this week to look at them collectively and map out how your deadlines fall throughout the spring calendar.

Take note of weeks where you have multiple deadlines stacked on top of one another. Determine whether you can start early on some of these assignments to save you the headache and long nights later. In some classes (especially Humanities and Social Sciences), you may be able to go ahead and start taking notes on the prompts given for term papers or discussion assignments.

Plan Weekly Writing Blocks

Balancing coursework with personal and professional obligations is a constant struggle, no matter your field or discipline. Like many graduate students, I imagine you are working off of a full plate. Take time this week to look at your weekly responsibilities and determine when you have free blocks of time that could be devoted to writing.

For example, my Tuesdays and Thursdays are filled with studio voice lessons for music majors and musical theatre students. On these days, I have an hour before lessons and an hour mid-day free, but those are my only available blocks. Based on prior teaching experience and knowing my body, my productivity would be best served by using those hours for studio prep and grabbing lunch! Teaching voice is a very physical activity, and if I chose to forgo my lunch in favor of writing, I’d be doing my voice students a disservice and putting my body in harm’s way. Instead, I can reserve writing hours on my non-teaching days, allowing me the office time to sit with my work and chase rabbit trails when needed.

Launch Writing Reflection Routine with Early Readings

Writing and reading make up a two-sided coin in academia. If your class requires copious amounts of writing, chances are you will also be given a heavy reading list. Resist the temptation early in the semester to fly through your reading requirements that don’t have a corresponding writing component. The reading completed early in the semester will likely culminate into the backbone of that term paper or literature review you’ll have to write in a few months. Grab yourself a writing journal and take notes as you read. Jot down your reactions to arguments and copy any quotes that stand out. If a piece reminds you of another author’s work, make a note of that and try to explain how the two are connected. Don’t wait until the week before your paper to do this work!

Find a Peer Writing Group

Before I get things thrown at me by the introverts in the crowd, let me assure you that I am NOT one for group activities. I hate breakout rooms in Zoom. I hate group projects in class. Quite frankly, I would rather eat my own hair. However, despite these professions of introversion, I am a huge advocate for finding a group of peers with whom you can work, write, and share.

Peer writing groups don’t have to be formalized through your program or the GWC. They can be friends you’ve made as a graduate student, preferably those who also share the heavy burden of academic writing deadlines. Regardless of how the group is formed, I have one piece of advice to make this worth your time: consistency. Whether meeting at the library or a local coffee shop (Fabled and Dichotomy are my favorites in Waco), or connecting for an hour via Zoom for quiet writing time, make it happen consistently so that you form the habit and keep one another accountable.

Finally, as you craft your ideal Semester Writing Plan, don’t forget to utilize the resources and support services the Graduate Writing Center provides! Several workshops will be available throughout the semester, highlighting topics of interest explicitly targeting the Graduate Writer. If you are looking for one-on-one assistance with your writing needs, submit a GWC Request to schedule an appointment with one of our writing consultants! Our consultants are here to help you become a productive, articulate academic writer–no matter the discipline or academic style guide!

Welcome back, dear readers, and have a lovely spring semester!

by Kristin Huggins, Consultant

Imagine, if you will, that you’ve just finished drafting your paper. You sit back with smug satisfaction, eyes flitting down to the lower left-hand corner of your Word document to repeatedly read the page and word counts, further reminders of the quasi-masterpiece that fell from your fingertips. It feels as if a monumental task akin to the likes of summiting Everest has just occurred, and you are tempted to sit and marinate in its glow now that it has been accomplished. A voice whispers to you: “It’s done. It is finished.” (Ten points to the reader who recognizes both of these quotes)

For some writers, revisions are the bane of their existence; for others, it is the Valhalla of their writing process. No matter how you feel about it, revision work demands patience, dedication, persistence, and grit. It can be painful, and rightfully so, as the word revision itself denotes the act of alteration, change, or correction. You are essentially asked to take the thing which you brought into the world – often through tears and copious amounts of caffeine – and irrevocably alter it, sometimes beyond all recognition. This is understandably difficult for creators of any kind.

For these reasons alone, many writers (even the well-seasoned, battle-hardy ones) shy away from the act of revisionary work. Even if the word “revision” does not send a chill down the spine, writers may find it challenging to transition from drafting to revision, as these two actions require very different sets of writing muscles. Therefore, instead of allowing your work to gather figurative dust on your computer desktop, warm up those muscles by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What am I trying to communicate? What was my original purpose/thesis/argument? Has this changed? Does my draft properly convey this purpose (new or otherwise)?
2. Does each subsection of my work follow a logical progression of flow throughout? Are there any areas that could be moved elsewhere that make more sense?
3. Can I confidently recite the main themes of each section? Do these themes make sense together?

This is where thematic progression comes into play. Thematic progression is a writing strategy where a developed theme is repeated, repurposed, and built upon throughout the document. This strategy is used to enhance the message the writer seeks to communicate through that theme (or themes) to their primary stakeholders (i.e., the targeted audience). A theme is versatile in that it can be as simple as a topic sentence, or as complex as a thesis statement. There are also a variety of ways to organize themes as a writer: linear, categorical, ordinal, etc. I like to imagine themes as colors on a palette; when placed together, some fit quite nicely while others are an afront to the eyes!

Several scholars have spoken about the power of themes, rhemes, and thematic progression in how students approach higher-level writing and how a better understanding of these concepts leads to higher-order communication through the written word (Danes, 1974; Halliday, 1985; Hawes, 2015; Lee, 2009; Thomas, 1991; Wang, 2007). However, the purpose of this blog is not to review the literature but rather to provide you – dear reader – with practical, real-world strategies for applying thematic progression analysis to your toolbox of tricks for revision.

When applied through the lens of a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, writers can utilize thematic progression to identify macro-level ideas, concepts, and flow from a full text perspective. This reduces the risk of the writer getting “bogged down” in the weeds of the writing (a common experience for those completing larger works); instead the writer is placed in the stratosphere of their work with a bird’s eye view to consider whether they’ve achieved overall tonal congruency (i.e., complete alignment of their message/argument/goal).

This is especially vital when shifting from drafting to revision. At this moment, the bulk of your content is present (save for secondary rewrites/additions/removals). You have a decent preliminary idea of where your work is going, and how it will land. Now is the perfect time to go back, section by section, to determine whether each paragraph, subsection, section, and chapter supports one another and provides congruency throughout the flow of your writing. At the GWC, we refer to these as structural edits – writing concerns made with a broad stroke brush. Before you dive into copyedits, line edits, and proofreading (all arguably less stressful to tackle, yet less effective if the big-picture issues remain untouched), you must first address the structure, flow, and congruency of your work. 

Let’s put this into practice with an example exercise.

Reverse Outlining:

1. Select a section (or subsection, if from a larger work) of your writing to review. Any section will do. If you’re faint of heart, start with your strongest one. For the adrenaline junkies out there, you know what to do.
2. Methodically read through each paragraph and make notes elsewhere (I prefer journaling, but Notes/Word documents are also helpful tools) on the main theme/themes presented.
3. Complete for the entire section. Make sure to list subheadings and headings where appropriate. You should now have a completed backward outline for review.

Action Steps:

1. First: consider the flow of the themes. Does this order make sense? 
2. Second: consider the marriage of themes and headings. Do any headings need to be revised to reflect the content within them properly?
3. Third: consider whether more than one theme was identified in a single paragraph. Is this appropriate (i.e., a secondary theme), or does this require the creation of a new paragraph?
4. Fourth: consider your topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph. Do the topic sentences and themes match one another?

These actions are great launchpads for the beginnings of revision! They also work beautifully when completed in order. By following this blueprint, you begin with macro-level structural concerns and drill down though smaller areas of structural issues such as topic sentences and inner-paragraph civil wars (i.e., more than one topic presented). 

Take heart, dear reader. Revision is not a linear process. However, with the use of thematic progression analysis through exercises like Reverse Outlining, you will be well on your way to diving head-first into the deep end of successful revisionist writing practices. 

by Kristin Huggins, Consultant

In music, there is no such thing as an insignificant note. A musician must carefully examine each musical notation and interpret it through the lens of style, story, and audience. Similarly, writing demands that we, the writer, drill down through every clause, every synonym, every semi-colon to determine how our writing will be interpreted by our readership. However, when working through larger projects (i.e., a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation) these tiny details become blurred in the face of larger, macro-level writing issues. Where does this leave the proofreading process? Cue the green and gold smoke signal for help!

The seven tips below are a culmination of both personal habits and strategies shared by colleagues and professors over the years. While collectively these tips are not foolproof, they serve as a great way to start the proofreading process!

1. Download Grammarly to Microsoft Word. I cannot stress enough the value of this program. Grammarly is AMAZING. Fun Fact: Word’s spell-check runs an entirely different algorithm than Grammarly when reviewing papers. This means that with the power of both, you’re more likely to catch those pesky issues hiding in the crevices of your paper. Grammarly offers both a free version and a paid premium version. I use the free version, mainly because the thought of paying for yet another subscription makes my stomach turn. But many colleagues swear by the premium. Try both for yourself!
2. Read your work out loud. Yes, academic writing is not the same as colloquial speech. I’m well aware. However, when speaking through your paper, you’ll find moments where you pause subconsciously to consider a phrase or punctuation that doesn’t feel “quite right”. Follow that gut reaction. Question it. Determine whether it has merit and write from there. This trick is also helpful in addressing larger concerns such as flow or topic congruency.
3. Become best friends with your Search Bar. If you open your Sidebar in Word, you will be able to Search specific phrases, letters, punctuation, or even extra spaces in your paper to see where and how often they occur. This tool has been my saving grace in finding places where I accidentally inserted two spaces after a period rather than one. I also use this feature to discover my “Word of the Week” (i.e., the adverb or adjective my brain has decided to play on loop during my drafting sessions). Searching for these repetitive words allows me the opportunity to consider whether they are truly appropriate and whether a synonym would be of better use.
4. Do not attempt to tackle your entire work at once – especially if it is multiple chapters. This piece of advice is also applicable for writing consultations. You’re much more likely to be effective in your writing goal if you break it down into digestible chunks. The prospect of proofreading a 200-page dissertation within one sitting is inconceivable. I like to approach difficult chapters during my most productive hours of the day when I know my brain will be firing on (nearly) all cylinders.
5. Proofread content and style separately. Many find it effective to proofread papers for academic style errors (i.e., APA, MLA, Turabian, etc.) without addressing in-text content. Some have this gift. I wish I was so blessed. Alas, I cannot rub my belly and pat my head at the same time, therefore I will assume that proofreading multiple levels of style, content, and grammar will only result in tears.
6. Try tactile proofreading. Staring at screens for hours on end has an odd effect on how the brain processes language, at least in my personal experience. Some of my best revision work has come from printing a chapter and setting to it with a traditional red pen (or green, if you prefer soothing, positive colors). Feeling the crispness of individual pages while setting your thoughts to paper with actual ink is a very different experience than scrolling through Word document pages and adding strikethroughs. Try it once and see what happens.
7. Use a Proofreading Checklist to help guide you. Even the seasoned scholar falls into the trap of trying to tackle all proofreading tasks at once. Experience may make the writer, but the writing process remains a fluid embodiment of evolving critical thought and creative output. This means that proofreading can never be worked into muscle memory, but must constantly be attacked at all angles methodically and carefully. The use of a checklist can be liberating, providing the writer with a strategic plan of attack. A sample proofreading checklist can be found here, provided by Southeastern University’s Writing Center.

We hope that you continue to hone your skills as a writer, editor, and proofreader! If you’re new to the proofreading game, these seven tips should jumpstart your proofreading process. If you’re a veteran proofreader and you have additional tips or tricks to the proofreading process, please share below!

Happy writing, dear readers.

With both the October GPS workshop on “Conferencing Well” (October 18th, register here) and the Fall 2022 Graduate Research Showcase on the horizon (October 20th, submit your proposal here), it’s important to set yourself up for success when publicly sharing your research. One of the best ways to share your research is by submitting a poster. Whether this is for a conference or for the upcoming Graduate Research Showcase, these tips from Alicia Briançon, one of our consultants here at the Graduate Writing Center, will ensure you set yourself up for success. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a quick guide to using the Baylor Print Center for printing your poster.

Picture this: You are preparing for your first conference as a doctoral student. Maybe, you have a conference paper under your belt and are excited to present your findings for the first time. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to present, but the butterflies kick in, and you are not sure what poster is best. Is this like the 3rd-grade science fair, where you present with a three-fold cardboard cut-out? Should you splurge on a fabric poster? Does it even matter?  

Another question you are likely asking yourself is where each section should be placed and how much text you should include.  

First, to address the presentation itself, we know that how you display information matters and maybe even more than what you are presenting. Believe it or not, there is poster presentation pedagogy (of course there is!), and here are the key tips for planning and formatting conference presentations.  

Checklist for medical presentations (Foster et al., 2019) 

1. Conference requirements (size, layout, poster ID, number of slides)
2. Authors
3. Presentation requirements
4. Contributor list
5. Funding disclosure
6. Conflicts of interest
7. Supplementary information (QR codes)

Checklist for general research posters (Hardicre et al., 2007)  

1. Title 
2. Abstract 
3. Introduction 
4. Methods 
5. Results 
6. Discussion 
7. Acknowledgments 

Key takeaways: Presenters report that limiting the information to include is the most difficult aspect of poster making. To avoid this challenge, use bullet points, graphs, and charts to demonstrate your points (Moore, 2001). The most commonly used font is Arial, and your poster should be easily readable at 1.5 meters away (Hardicre et al., 2007).    

A great article to help you understand what each section entails is Ten Steps to a Successful Poster Presentation (Hardicre et al., 2007). According to their research, the introduction should define your topic and have key literature to add to your rationale. The title should be easy to understand, and it is not the time to get wildly creative. Include all researchers’ names, and if it is appropriate, logos should also be included. The methods section explains what you did and how you did it; diagrams are helpful. The discussion section is where you communicate to your audience what your results or findings actually mean. Ask yourself what the greater implications or impact are related to what you found in your study. 

We are all encouraged to attend conferences. Having a polished and engaging poster is a winning strategy, but by incorporating the researched methods above, you could have the best poster of all. Remember, the point is not to include everything for your study on the poster. Focus on the key points so that the audience communicates with you to learn more about your work. Remember that poster presenting can feel awkward, and that is completely normal, so relax, be confident, and have fun. Happy Poster Making!  

Resources: 

Foster, C., Wager, E., Marchington, J., Patel, M., Banner, S., Kennard, N. C., … & Stacey, R. (2019). Good practice for conference abstracts and presentations: GPCAP. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 4(1), 1-11. 

Hardicre, J., Devitt, P., & Coad, J. (2007). Ten steps to successful poster presentation. British journal of nursing, 16(7), 398-401. 

Moore, L. W., Augspurger, P., King, M. O. B., & Proffitt, C. (2001). Insights on the poster preparation and presentation process. Applied Nursing Research, 14(2), 100-104. 

Alicia Briançon is an Ed.D candidate at Baylor in the Education department. Her research focuses on informal faculty-student contact and its impact on course retention. She teaches public speaking at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) and is a digital media consultant with a political Super PAC striving to protect our democracy. For two years at CSN, she worked with the Prison Education Program as well. She received a master’s degree in Strategic Communication from American University in Washington, DC, and a BA from the University of Maryland in College Park. She is active with the AEJMC as a Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication fellow and is a member of Kappa Delta Phi. In Las Vegas, she teaches a dance fitness class on the weekends at EOS and loves to go hiking with her partner.