Write Now is a newsletter capturing the voice of the CEW community. News and tips coming to you from your favorite CEW writing consultants.
The End of the Semester is approaching - bring us your final papers! Book now to make sure you get an appointment! Bookings will fill up fast.
Keep an eye out for our writer survey. We try to limit the number of surveys that we send, but it is very important for us to gather your perspective on how the CEW works for you as a support for your writing. The surveys help us in three ways:
- They give us important feedback to help us improve our services.
- They give you an opportunity to have your favorite consultants recognized for their excellent work.
- They communicate to the administration the value of individual writing support at UB.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete our survey!
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The CEW will be open all summer to help with summer course work, application materials, graduate projects, and anything else!
Say it LOUD!
This tip brought to your by CEW consultant Sarah W!
One of the biggest suggestions I always give my writers (and myself!) is to read my work out loud. This could be after the first paragraph is written or when finishing up the final draft. Reading your work out loud helps to check if the flow of the paper is as strong as it could be, or if your argument is coming across in the way you want it too. Additionally, reading out loud helps to catch the “minor” hiccups that are natural in writing including run-on sentences, or even comma placings. (And reading out loud could give extra presentation practice which is always an added bonus). So read it out loud to your friend, roommate, dog, or even goldfish as you get ready to submit that perfect final version!
“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”
— William Faulkner
On Running Out of Steam or Experiencing Writer’s Block
This tip brought to your by CEW consultant Samantha S!
When writing essays and research papers, it is a common occurrence to eventually run out of steam in the writing process. However, we all get writers’ block! When I find myself stuck, my first task is to step away from my work for a few minutes. When I return, I don’t view my drafts, but rather, I look at my planning pages and articles I've read. I review my notes, and search for a quotation or point I want to use and have not yet done so in the draft. I sit with that quotation/point for a while, mull it over, and allow myself to free-write in response and reflection to the quotation. This free-write is an opportunity to step away from intensive writing and think in ways that are unconstrained by an assignment’s requirements. Often, I find that these free-write ‘breaks’ produce really authentic thoughts that are often the beginning of a great analysis that will help the essay as a whole.