Supporting Graduate Writers Through a Writing Commons

This paper reports on how we developed a Writing Commons to support graduate student needs within our faculty. Graduate writers often require more concentrated and specific support than traditional support sources (e.g., writing centres, supervisors) can provide. We argue that local writing support spaces, like a Writing Commons, can meet these needs for graduate writers by opening a flexible, student-centric space for both writing support and time to write. We detail how faculties can go beyond just establishing graduate communities and instead provide concentrated writing support for graduate students. A Writing Commons can mitigate the isolation and pressures of the high stakes writing experiences that graduate students face by providing feedback and support, space to discuss common writing challenges within a program, and community with other writers. Near the end of the paper, we discuss steps that others can take to increase support for graduate writers.