The occupational therapy writing group (@otwg_gcu) is now well established. It uses the power of a social setting—being in a community—to support occupational therapists to increase their writing productivity. As The Community Builder Guidebook (Stodd, 2019) reminds us, people can experience barriers to becoming a part of any community and find it hard to connect. To ensure all occupational therapists feel welcome and to reduce any barriers to attending we thought it would be helpful to explain exactly how the writing group works. We hope by being completely transparent you will feel safe to join and know you will always be very welcome.
All occupational therapists are welcome; the writing group is a resource for the profession.
The people who come to the group are engaged in all sorts of different writing endeavours and the people who have attended so far are:
- Students engaged in writing undergraduate assessments,
- MSc and PhD students writing chapters of their dissertations and theses,
- Practitioners, managers and academics who have written blogs, ethics applications, content for Web pages, papers and newsletters.
People from across the UK and internationally attend.
Just come when you can
By coming along once you are not committed to being there twice a week, every week (obviously if you choose to do that your writing productivity would increase exponentially).
The group runs on Zoom every
- Tuesday 18.00-20.00 (BST/GMT) (before #OTalk so you can go to both and have a full evening of CPD if you choose)
- Friday 9.00-11.00 (BST/GMT).
Some people regularly attend the group and there are usually between 5-10 at each session, although there were only three people on one Friday. The group always goes ahead regardless of how many people are there. People come when they can and are always welcome when they attend, but it’s no problem if you can’t make it. It’s our group, to support us, so there is no register or need to send apologies.
It’s guaranteed to run every week, week in and week out
The group runs regularly so it has the regularity to support the development of good writing habits, which in turn increases writing productivity. This means you know, if you turn up, the group will be happening. We have not yet had an IT issue or any other issue that has prevented us from running!
What happens in the group?
We meet online, using Zoom which is hosted by occupational therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University. We follow the writing retreat principles of Rowena Murray because they help us to write more productively. This means
- In the first 15 minutes we gather and set goals which we share with the group.
- Before we start writing we ensure that we have turned off all distractions, e.g. email, our phones and alerts
- We then write 90 minutes; some people keep their video on and some people don’t but everyone is on mute
- Two minutes before the end of writing the facilitator (usually me) alerts people that we have two minutes to go to enable people to stop in a place where they can pick up next time.
- In the last 15 minutes we gather again and share how we have got one with our goals.
We follow the same format every session so you will know exactly what is going to happen; there will be no surprises, we always finish on time and there is always 90 minutes of writing time.
Aside from the group, we send a newsletter three times a year to keep in contact. It is never longer than a side of A4 and you can choose to unsubscribe. It usually has any tips or links mentioned in the group so no one misses them even if they miss a session.
We also have a Twitter page @otwg_gcu where we provide updates about the group so follow our tweets to keep abreast with developments and link with other occupational therapists interested in developing their writing productivity.
If this has whetted your appetite to join please contact otwg@gcu.ac.uk for the joining details and we look forward to seeing you in the group.
If you would like to buddy up with someone so that you will know a face we can arrange that as well, just let us know. All occupational therapists are welcome and we are happy to do what we can to support you to attend
Essentially, if something needs writing @otwg_gcu is a space for you to do it.
@otwg_gcu is a quiet distraction-free space and all we do in the group is write for 90 minutes without distraction and we find it very supportive. It helps us with a sense of being in it together and accountability around writing. Why not give it a try?
You can read previous posts on the power of writing in a community and student experiences of taking part in writing groups on our blog. Additionally, we have shared a number of posts written by occupational therapists who attend @otwg_gcu that you can read here.
Written by: Dr Katrina Bannigan, Head of Department, Occupational Therapy and Human Nutrition and Dietetics at GCU
References:
Murray, R. & Newton, M., 2009. Writing retreat as structured intervention: Margin or mainstream?. Higher Education Research and Development. 28(5), pp. 527-539.
Stodd, J., 2019. The Community Builder Guidebook. Bournemouth: Sea Salt Learnings
Glasgow Caledonian University Occupational Therapy Blog 