UWL's Ashley Edwards shares “leaving breadcrumbs” on big writing projects and other writing insights

Posted 2:49 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024

Writing in Communication Studies

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. Ashley Edwards (she/her), Associate Professor of Communication Studies & Inclusive Teaching Specialist in the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning

Department, Speciality Area, and Classes Typically Taught:I teach in the Communication Studies Department, with specific expertise in interpersonal communication, technology, leadership, and culture. I often teach CST 110: Communicating Effectively, CST 430: Advanced Topics in Interpersonal Communication, and courses in the interdisciplinary Leadership Development minor.

Current Writing Project:After Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer visited UWL in March, I've been inspired to work on a project on gift economies and technology (which I'm hoping to turn into a zine). I'm also working with a UWL colleague on a book about the importance of authenticity in our pedagogy.

1. What are you currently reading?

I have an entire stack of fiction waiting of summer, but during the academic year I mostly read non-fiction. I'm currently reading Out of the Ruins: The Emergence of Radical Informal Learning Spaces because I'm deeply curious about the ways people learn. I'm also reading On Indigenuity: Learning the Lessons of Mother Earth by Daniel R. Wildcat, who recently was at my favorite local bookstore, Pearl Street Books!

2. What type(s) of writing do you regularly engage in?

I am trained as a quantitative social scientist, so some of my writing is very traditional, empirical research, but my own academic writing has been varied. I have also published a rhetorical analysis and scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). I've also been a student journalist and done some freelance work. One type of writing I'm trying to practice more often is essay writing - I love a good narrative.

3. When/where/how do you write? What are your "writing necessities"?

Percolating coffee feels like an apt metaphor for my writing process, but it's taken me years to find a process that works well for me. I need time to let my ideas fully form before I can pour them onto the page. This writing process requires time and patience. I think if you mapped where I do my writing it would look like a Family Circus cartoon - sometimes I'm sitting on a bench at Myrick Park or tucked away in a corner of my house. Very rarely in my office on campus, but occasionally tucked away at a table in a busy campus space (I grew up in a big family with a lot of noise!) or at Global Grounds. The change of scenery helps me to consider my work from new perspectives.

4. What's the best writing advice you've received?

Cathy Mazak taught me to "leave breadcrumbs" on big writing projects by saving at least one or two simple tasks for the next session. Previously, I would write until I ran out of energy or insight, but that becomes an obstacle to beginning your next writing session. Now I try to be intentional about leaving writing sessions by building an on-ramp for the next writing session, leaving notes for my future self. Some of my favorites: leaving a note to add citations to a section or outlining the next paragraph, but saving the writing for the start of the next session.

5. How does your discipline, background, and/or life experiences affect your writing style?

As a communication scholar, the stakes of communication can feel amplified: I see writing as a meta-message. I use the knowledge of my discipline to inform the content of my writing, but the ethos of my message is dependent on my ability to use that same knowledge to shape the style. As an elder Millennial, the constant evolution of technology taught me the value of codeswitching, or the ability to switch up your communication style for different audiences and modalities. I think this is why I enjoy so many forms of writing and taking risks to combine them.

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