We’re going to spend today’s class session making the foundation for the work we’ll be doing for the rest of the semester. It’s very essential to have your survey completed before you come in to class.

We’ll form peer groups for you to work with throughout the semester on your developing projects. As a group, you’ll individually explore a shared subject—so though you’ll write your own work, you’ll have allies in the classroom working on projects that explore similar general topics. You’ll be sharing your writing and research with this group and in turn read and provide feedback to theirs.

Nobody said that writing was easy. One of the most common psychological difficulties of it is how you can feel like you’re out on an island all your own, writing without any sense of kinship—where nobody’s listening, and it feels like it doesn’t matter.

A. It totally matters! and B. Writing groups are meant to alleviate this feeling! They’re here to help you feel more comfortable about the writing process—and share your frustrations. This should be a group to trust, and a judgment-free zone.