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Writers' Studio

Writing for Life

ASU's Writers’ Studio is an online writing program that recognizes the centrality of written communication in our lives. Writers’ Studio is a writing community where you develop writing practices to be a better communicator in all areas of your life: the personal, the professional, the civic and, of course, the academic. We work with you to draw on your experiences in all these arenas to cultivate your own theory and practice as writers.

Far beyond just writing papers

"The projects prompted me to compose in different kinds of electronic environments—a skill that is needed in many kinds of fields. I learned how to make a blog, a YouTube video, and embed videos and music."

 

Becoming a confident writer

The prospect of writing and researching in school can be intimidating. Writers’ Studio emphasizes writing as a manageable process and our focus is on breaking the practice of writing into several steps: invention work, outlining and drafting, revising and rewriting. This method helps you overcome anxieties about writing. You'll understand that, with feedback, anyone can be “good at” writing!

Giving and using feedback

We use a writing workshop model. You begin with invention work and write multiple drafts. Peers, writing mentors, and instructors offer feedback. We encourage you not only to revise based on this feedback, but also to reflect on how your writing changed throughout the process.

Reflecting

In the Writers’ Studio, you are encouraged to develop your own theory of writing through regular and consistent reflection on your work in class. You create a compilation of multiple drafts in a digital portfolio that demonstrates the way your writing practices change over the course of the semester.

You are also asked to reflect on the writing you do in the professional, personal, and civic areas of your life. 

Contact Us

To learn more about Writers' Studio at ASU, contact:

Michelle Stuckey, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor, Writers' Studio
mastucke@asu.edu
 

Collaborating

Writing is a social act. Good writing is never produced in isolation. Writers consider their audience and purpose each time they begin a project. Our unique, collaborative environment gives you opportunities to share your work with a range of audiences: instructors, writing mentors, and peers.

Mastering technology

Because Writers' Studio is an online course in which you learn in multiple digital spaces, you create multimedia projects that incorporate photography, videos, blogs, and other forms of new media with more traditional essays.

Learning to use and work in multiple media is central to our program (e.g. Skype, Google Hangouts, Google Docs). You read and complete assignments in an eBook and compose a portfolio in Digication. The majority of the course interaction occurs in Blackboard.

A curriculum grounded in research and practice

The guiding frameworks for ASU's Writers' Studio are the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA) Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition, guidelines that have grown out of practice, theory and a large body of research from composition teachers nationally; and the WPA Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing, which identifies eight habits of mind that promote success in college and beyond: curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, flexibility and metacognition.