Posted 9 a.m. Monday, May 1, 2023
Writing in Administration
The Write Here, Write Now blog invites writers from the University of Wisconsin and La Crosse communities to respond to a series of questions that shed light on their writing lives. As readers of the blog will discover, learning to write is an ongoing, life-long process and all writers, from first-year students to career professionals, benefit from reflecting on the writing process and sharing that process with others.
Name and Title: Dr. Marie Moeller, Associate Dean in the College of Arts, Social Sciences, & Humanities
Department, Speciality Area, and Classes Typically Taught: By training, I'm an academic who specializes in professional writing, medical rhetoric, and disability/gender studies. Prior to being an administrator, I was an instructor in the English department and taught professional writing, grant writing, technical writing, and other writing-based courses.
Current Writing Project: I am currently working on an article about big data and data literacy in higher education. I'm also starting to think about a non-fiction book-length project about farming and the banking/finance industry. That project is very early in conception.
1. What are you currently reading?
I typically have 2-3 books going at any given time. Right now I am reading Big Data On Campus: Data Analytics and Decision Making in Higher Education (Webber & Zheng); The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (Zuboff); and Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal (Pope-Ruark).
2. What type(s) of writing do you regularly engage in?
70% of my work life is email, so I am writing constantly. Otherwise, I love a good list and am constantly creating them for anything I can. I also do almost transcription-like note taking in work meetings, and I try to slate out a week or two every year to flex my academic writing muscles. Personally, I try to journal constantly, and have been mad my whole life that it just never felt right for me.
3. When/where/how do you write? What are your “writing necessities”?
I'll talk about big project writing—I like a huge chunk of time to write and then I go back and revise and edit. I write at night when the world is quiet; I also sometimes take myself on a writer's retreat. I get an Airbnb near some food delivery and sequester myself until a piece is finished, which is a total privilege at this point in my life. In grad school, I cleaned my whole apartment so it felt like a retreat space, ordered dinner, and then went at it. Writing necessities: my big astrological 3 are Cancer Sun (surroundings are important—plants, knick-knacks, comfy chair), Aries Moon (a little fiery, so I stock cold lime La Croix, chips/veggies/dip, iced coffee), and Taurus Rising (love charming experiences, so a diffuser/candles, curated Spotify playlists, crystals).
4. What's the best writing advice you've received?
Like Nike, "just do it"—that advice helps me worry a lot less about the first go out of the gates and use a drafting model a lot more. And recently I heard, which I loved, "Perfect the first time around would be so boring" which helps me with the "just do it" and then mess with it after it's out there. The more you do something, the easier it gets and the better you get at that activity.
5. How does your discipline, background, and/or life experiences affect your writing style?
Revision is baked into being an English major, as is getting feedback, so I think I see writing as a team activity. I also grew up on a farm and participated in a lot of sports where I got feedback and worked with a lot of people to accomplish goals, so I think I am habituated to thinking about feedback as helping me to improve. Those experiences have been key in my writing life.
6. What is your best tip for getting started and/or for revision? How do you avoid writer’s block?
Don't think of writing as a solo activity—talk to people and ideas about what you're thinking and get input. Engage books/music/movies/art any kind of input or stimulus that helps you get your brain moving and your fingers typing. And, once you're done drafting, ask for feedback. It feels a lot less stressful if you're in a team rather than just you out there on your own...
7. How has your work experience influenced how you write?
I write fast now, partially because I just don't worry too much about it. I think it's a function of my job and also my age—a lot comes at me, quickly, and I have to respond. The actual writing pace then has sped up and the editing is still slow. So: write quick and edit slow, that's my tag line . :)
8. What do you think students need to know about academic writing?
I think, many times, students might believe that academic writing is stuffy, no fun, no personality, all business. But, that's so far from the truth. Go read some bell hooks or Audre Lorde or so many other academic writers and you'll find them funny, touching, full of life, all while making the arguments they wish to make with varying forms of evidence—don't hesitate to put yourself in your writing. Some of the best academic writing I've ever read is by folks who do exactly that.