Writing groups are a great way to boost up your writing and are recommended strongly for all PhD scholars. If you are associated with a writing group, not only does your writing pick up a consistent pace, but you also find a medium to clear confusions, improvise your content and learn new techniques and methodology for becoming a better writer.
Ensure you meet at regular times: Once you have created or committed yourself to a writing group and decided upon your meeting time and place, it is a promise that you must keep to maintain the seriousness and effectiveness of the group. Procrastinating or not meeting regularly brings down the core objective of the group in the first place.
Have a common contact point: the common contact point, need not necessarily have to be physical. it can be a virtual contact point such as email, Facebook page or any other option available within the campus.
During meetings, keep short and focused writing sessions: the meetings planned shouldn’t be all about writing, they should have something more to them to keep the members involved and interested. Short writing sprints followed by some discussion and a tea and coffee session is a great idea to spend time constructively.
Write, anything as long as you write: during your writing time that you decide, make sure that you write, whatever it is. Don’t be judgemental about yours or other peoples’ writing skills. Then only would it be a worthy and productive initiative.
Don’t expect the same dedication from everyone: it is ok if everyone doesn’t show the same level of commitment as you do. Look for those people in the group from whom you could rather learn in terms of regularity and commitment and if no one matches our standards, still feel happy to have the silence to focus and write up.
Open up the group to people beyond the PhD scholars: know that the group can be a useful and productive option for not just PhD scholars but also for early career academicians, professional staff and other needy writers. Take it as a perfect opportunity to build up your links with people belonging to different genres of the academic arena. This networking can help you in a great way to establish links and contacts that may help you not just in your PhD but rather throughout your career that you intend to take up after your doctoral study.