Announcing Theory Writing 101
A summer writing workshop and lecture series for autodidacts and workers with earbuds that starts June 8th
Everybody has a different approach to the writing process.
Some people are meticulous planners who outline everything. Others are tinkerers who endlessly revisit their own work. Many folks are procrastinators who can’t write anything unless they’re up against a deadline.
As a writing coach, my job isn’t to police your writing habits or tell you what to write about. I’m here to help you figure out what kind of writer you want to be and help you communicate your ideas to a wider audience.
That’s why I’m excited to announce Theory Writing 101, an 8-week lecture and workshop series I’m hosting with Theory Underground this summer.
Theory Writing 101 is about becoming a better writer by learning to think rhetorically about your own writing, a process that involves:
Approaching your work strategically and learning to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your argument from the perspective of people you disagree with
Considering the relationship between form and content and thinking about how style, arrangement, and delivery affect your audience
Using different kinds of evidence (philosophical texts, but also literature, film, TV, songs, statistics, personal experience, etc.) to support your position and clarify your analysis
Moving from criticism to critique by playing the Believing Game
Understanding why specific genre conventions exist and when you can afford to disregard them
Developing a systematized methodology and identifying the corresponding set of methods you’re using to read and interpret texts
Knowing how to write a great opening hook and end with a bang
Communicating complex ideas to a general audience without resorting to buzzwords, jargon, or name dropping. Adapting messages for different audiences, mediums, and contexts
Making deliberate choices about what to cut, what to keep, and what to set aside
Offering constructive feedback on another person’s work
This is a perfect opportunity for anyone thinking about submitting an article or chapter to Theory Underground’s anthology series or Philosophy Portal’s upcoming volume on Jacques Lacan’s Écrits.
There are a few different tiers (you can read about them here), but the Writer's Workshop includes:
Weekly mini-lectures on a variety of topics, including navigating writer’s block and project burn-out, the mechanics of long-form argument, how to think (and write) rhetorically, and more
Full access to office hours
Weekly skills workshops that cover technical writing skills, rhetorical methods for reading and responding to theory, high-level conversations about strategy and persuasion, and more
Opportunities to receive feedback on your piece in class
Line edits from me on up to 3,000 words
A free follow-up writing consultation
Spots in the Writer’s Workshop are extremely limited. Theory Underground announced the course last week and several spots are now already spoken for.
If you’re interested in snagging one of the last spots in the workshop, you can sign up here.
Good luck with your writing. Hope to see you this summer!