Still Waters

Settle down with a notebook and pen — yes, the old-fashioned kind that you hold in your hand! — and freewrite in response to any of the prompts below. Gaze deep into the reflection pool of your own hopes, fears, and fantasies about what it means to be a skilled and craft-mindful writer. You may be surprised at what bubbles up!

Find a quiet space to reflect on your relationship with language itself. What languages, dialects, or ways of speaking have shaped how you think and express ideas? How do you navigate between different language communities—academic, personal, professional, cultural?

Consider how your language background influences your writing choices. Are there ways of expression from other languages or contexts that you wish you could bring into your academic writing? What aspects of your natural voice feel most and least comfortable in formal writing?

Think about the gap between how you speak when you're most articulate and passionate, and how you write in academic contexts. What would it mean to honor both your authentic voice and the conventions of scholarly communication?

Take time to examine your relationship with the technical aspects of writing. Which elements of wordcraft feel natural to you, and which feel like ongoing challenges? When you read writing that moves you, what specific techniques do you notice at the sentence and word level?

Reflect on your editing process. Do you tend to over-edit or under-edit? How do you balance the urge to perfect with the need to progress? What would it look like to approach revision as a creative process rather than a corrective one?

Consider this: If you could master just three aspects of wordcraft over the next year, which would have the greatest impact on your writing effectiveness and satisfaction?

Journal about your journey as someone who works with words professionally. What writing advice has been most transformative for you? What conventional wisdom about good writing doesn't resonate with your experience or goals?

Think about the relationship between rules and creativity in your writing. When do grammar and style conventions serve your communication, and when do they feel constraining? How do you navigate the balance between correctness and expression?

Reflect on your growth as a writer. What aspects of wordcraft have you improved most dramatically? What areas still feel mysterious or challenging? What would give you the most confidence in your ability to craft language effectively?

Consider the relationship between your wordcraft and your ability to connect with readers. How do your choices about sentence structure, word selection, and tone affect your reader's experience of your ideas?

Think about writing that has influenced you most powerfully. What was it about the author's use of language that made their ideas memorable and persuasive? How might you adapt those techniques to your own scholarly voice?

Reflect on this question: What would it look like to approach every writing choice—from word selection to punctuation—as an opportunity to serve your reader's understanding and engagement?

We’d love to hear how these writing prompts landed with you and whether they stirred any revelations. Please email us at writespace@helensword.com to share your thoughts.