Multiple Authors & Merging Work

Writing is tough.

While writing does not invoke fear in me, personally, the way it did at one point (now, the issue is more a question of making time to be able to write) I think it certainly did paralyze me a bit as a student writer. Academic writing involves critical thinking, the ability to hold multiple perspectives accurately in mind at once, the ability to articulate original thought in written word, and of course all while remembering to whom one is writing. When it comes time to merge the written product of multiple authors, it can seem like the challenge has grown exponentially. Our lab students are now working on writing revisions which involve revising their own work and that of peers and this seems to be challenging.

Thankfully, we instructors realize how challenging writing, and writing as a team, can be. For interesting commentary on this, see Horner and O'Connor (2007) who discuss the role of self-regulation relative to writing. These authors nicely highlight that writing is a skill unto itself which requires study and practice. Our Writing Center staff would surely agree, judging from the considerable amount of support offered in their Writing Resources (http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Writing-Resources.htm). So much so, in fact, that the Writing Center has a section of their web site dedicated to prewriting (http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/325.htm)!

I respect our students for putting themselves out there as authors and think we lab instructors do appreciate how non-intuitive academic writing is. Having to critique someone else's work as a student so as to make decisions about how to edit that work and then produce a document which hopefully has one clear voice is complicated. My suggestions to students in this particular writing situation or who are struggling with writing at all are to: 1) slow down, think and plan your work 2) let the product/end goal be your focus (as opposed to the authors themselves and 3) think about that product from the reader's (i.e. readability) perspective.

Keep at it and remember we all continue to practice our writing,

AES


Horner, S. L. & O'Connor, E. A. (2007). Introduction: helping beginning and struggling readers and writers to develop self-regulated strategies. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 23(1), 1-5.