Category: Writing Strategies

  • Hidden Free-Writing

    Sometimes when my students are apprehensive about how much they know about a topic or how to jump into a new writing project, I ask them to free-write for 5 minutes. But I throw in a twist. Once they’ve opened Word (or their word processor of choice), I tell them to turn off their monitor.…

  • Creating a Synthesis Grid

    In my Kanban example, I mentioned creating a synthesis grid as a process step (or task) towards completing a literature review. A synthesis grid provides a way to compare sources. My students often find it helpful, whether they are learning to use sources in first-year writing or conducting advanced literature reviews for capstone projects, and…

  • An Action Plan for Writing

    Even short, prioritized inventories of writing projects can become overwhelming if you don’t have an action plan for completing the projects. Enter Kanban, an agile strategy for visualizing your work and limiting the tasks in progress to a manageable work load… I first learned about agile strategies from Rebecca Pope-Ruark (see, for example, her Center…