Show Up and Write! Graduate Writing Groups

Graduate-level writing can be a nerve-wracking, isolating experience. This is some of the most high-stakes writing you’ve ever done, and you’re doing it mostly alone, with occasional input from your advisor. 

If you find yourself having trouble getting motivated to work on your thesis, dissertation, or any other writing you have to do, then you aren’t failing, and you aren’t lazy. That experience is common to all graduate students — and truthfully, to all writers. Some of us are better at hiding it than others, but all of us struggle with productivity. There are so many things happening in our lives, so many responsibilities and expectations and interests, that writing what we have to write can seem like an overwhelming burden. 

The answer is to find ways to make space for writing in your life. Show Up and Write is one of those ways. By incorporating Show Up and Write into your schedule, you can be sure that you will make at least two hours’ worth of progress on your writing project every week. It may not seem like much, but it does add up — and it is miles more progress than zero hours!

Show Up and Write also puts you in a space with other graduate students who are going through the same thing as you. Studies have shown that a sense of community among graduate students is a very effective way of combatting things like isolation, imposter syndrome, and procrastination. It can be a real relief to see other people in the same position that you are in, and even to feel accountable to them in getting your work done. If they're working hard, you know that you can, too!

There are two ways to participate:

Show Up and Write! Write-Ins

Show Up and Write Write-Ins for Fall 2025 are weekly virtual events held from 2pm to 4pm every Thursday, from 10/9 to 12/4. "Write-Ins" are communal, independent writing sessions, where students work on whatever project they are currently tackling, while in the presence of other students who are also doing something similar. It is protected, structured writing time that you can keep in your calendar. Students attend through Zoom meetings that are set up through a Canvas course, and those meetings are broken down into this general schedule:

A "Pomodoro" is a period of 25 minutes where all of your focus is spent on the project you are working on. Between each 25 minute working period, there is a short break. This structure has been shown to help reduce overwhelm and fatigue when working on larger projects. Resting is just as important as working! Your physical and mental health should always be your priority. If you work better without this kind of work-and-break structure, though, then you are free to do so.

Students can also drop in to a write-in at any time, and leave whenever they need to. The only expectation is that you make the most of the time that you have dedicated to writing.

Show Up and Write! Independent Writing Groups

If you would like some writing company and accountability, but the SUAW Write-In schedule just won’t work with yours, you may instead want to set up a Writing Group.

Writing Groups are student volunteer-led meetings where a smaller number of graduate students gets together to write, either online or in-person. These meetings are held according to the group’s availability, and can be limited to be within a specific discipline, or open to all disciplines. They are not required to follow the structure of a SUAW Write-In, but you are welcome to use the template to help organize your time!

If you would like to volunteer to run a writing group for your cohort or for a mixed-discipline group of students, you are welcome to do so! You will be given training and materials to help you run a successful group, and you will have access to School of Graduate Studies staff to answer questions, help with issues, and provide any other support you may need.

To set up a writing group, please fill out and submit this form. You will be contacted by the Office of Graduate Academic Services in order to get started and to go over any questions or concerns you may have.

To join the Show Up and Write! Canvas course and access the write-in Zoom calls, resources for creating your own group, and writing support tools, please click here!

Credit and thanks go to Ileana Diaz, Elise Vist, and Nadine Fladd for their incredibly useful description of their own Show Up and Write program at the University of Waterloo in their chapter "Re-envisioning 'Space' to Write Together: An Ethics of Care Approach to Designing 'Show Up and Write' Spaces" in Writing Together: Building Social Writing Opportunities for Graduate Students. Thank you again to Nadine Fladd for kindly sharing their resources!