Groups & Workshops
I can help groups of students, artists or professionals to develop writing skills; tailoring workshops in areas including the following:
.
- Writing Better Sentences – easy, informal and empowering approaches to grammar and syntax;
- Writing Skills for Professionals – putting together engaging, readable documents;
- Essential Writing Skills for Artists – artist statements, proposals, marketing and more;
- Writing Basics for Marketing Communications;
- Adapting/Excerpting Reports and Research for New Audiences;
- Creative Writing Toolbox – exploring traditional and experimental styles and techniques;
- Creative or Academic Writing Groups – for improving skills or supportive exchange;
- Basic Editing and Proofreading Skills;
- Time and Task Management for Writing Projects.
.
.
“I’ve had lecturers/teachers who kind of just explain things essentially the same way as what I couldn’t understand in the first place, which was really discouraging, but you’re not like that. I never felt stupid and I never felt uncomfortable or discouraged to ask for further clarification. On that note, you made the grammar and punctuation class so welcoming and fun. There’s never really a nice way of asking a person, let alone a writer, if they understand how sentences work, but you made learning it nice and you never made me feel stupid…
I’m so glad to have been taught by you.”
(VCA Honours student, 2018)
.
“I have learnt so much from you this year, and not just about academic writing and thinking but also about how to think and reflect on my journey as an artist… Thank you so much.”
(VCA Honours student, 2018)
Mentoring
Individual Clients
I mentor authors at all stages of their writing careers, across a variety of skills and writing challenges (see below). I work with creative writers, scholars, students and professionals, meeting in person, by phone or via Skype.
.
Core skills
These include essentials that are often not taught formally at school or university:
- effective structuring of documents, chapters or theses;
- developing a compelling narrative arc;
- constructing strong sentences and paragraphs for clear and rigorous writing;
- editing and proofreading skills.
I work rigorously, but informally – using plain language, and basing sessions on discussion, explanation and practice related to the writer’s own work.
.
Project support
I also support writers to achieve particular tasks, such as completing a book or PhD, or adapting a thesis for publication. I understand the creative and practical challenges of the writing process, helping authors to successfully address structural or creative difficulties.
.
Creative arts theses and exegeses
Particular challenges exist for creative practitioners undertaking practice-led PhDs; for many, the PhD exegesis may be their first major piece of academic writing. My experience as both a creative practitioner and a teacher of academic writing skills (University of Melbourne) gives me a unique and sensitive perspective, and a knowledge base that means, more often than not, that we ‘speak the same language’.
.
.
“I was so lucky to work with Urszula. Her advice was always thoughtful, thorough, kind, supportive, and highly effective. Urszula helped me turn my PhD thesis into a book that has since been published by Palgrave. I was completely lost before starting but was expertly guided and coached through the entire process, one step at a time. The depth of Urszula’s knowledge was incredible. The skills she taught through the process have stayed with me. I would recommend Urszula to anyone and would work with her again anytime.”
(Dr Emma Keltie, Western Sydney University, 2016)
.
“Urszula was a pleasure to work with. Her focus on structure, and how it could be used in innovative and creative ways to best tell the story I needed to tell, was enormously helpful.”
(Michael Hartup, PhD candidate, 2018)