African Universities’ Research Approaches (AURA) Programme: Course Pack
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aura
Research Course 4/Day 1/Session 4 (R4_D1-S4)
Title: Developing voice in reflective writing
Session Description:
(Overall time: 60 mins. This includes an optional exercise: 10 minutes – see Slide 4) The purpose of this session
is to enable learners to explore the notion of a first person, professional ‘writer’s voice’ and an informal,
conversational ‘tone’ in their research communications. Writing techniques for developing first person,
reflective writing are practised through which learners will start to develop their ideas for a blog post which
they will write later in the course [in R4 D1-S5].
Learning Outcomes:
1. Comprehend the notion of 'writer's voice' and 'tone' in relation to blogging
2. Apply two writing techniques, useful for developing 'writer's voice' and generating reflective writing, to
develop your ideas for a blog post. (Learners will write a blog post in Session 5)
3. Practice writing in a first person 'voice'
Recommended Modality:
 Face-to-face
Learning Activities:
1. (20 minutes) This includes an optional exercise – see Slide 4) Learners are invited to explore what is meant
by ‘a writer’s voice’ and that a first person, professional voice and an informal conversational tone are
required for blogging (LO 1)
2. (20 minutes) Learners apply writing techniques (free writing and writing against the clock) to generate free
flowing reflective writing on a significant aspect of their research (LOs 2-3).
3. (5 minutes) Learners assess what they have written and identify two or three topics, or aspects, they would
like to expand on and develop in to a blog post later in the course, in Session 5 (LOs 2-3).
Formative Assessment:
 Questioning
 Monitoring
Learning Resources:
 [R4-P04-S4] PowerPoint Presentation Session 4: Developing voice in reflective writing. The presentation
outlines the learning outcomes for the session. Learners are asked to consider (and respond to) the
question ‘what do we mean by writer’s voice?’ and to consider that a first person professional voice and an
informal conversational tone is required for blogging. Two creative writing techniques (free writing and
writing against the clock) are introduced as ways to practice reflective writing in the first person. Learners
apply these techniques to generate reflective writing on a significant aspect of their research. Learners are
then invited to identify two or three aspects or topics from their writing that they would like to expand into
a blog post later in the course.
Course Materials:
 Projector
 Computer
 Flipchart paper and pens
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African Universities’ Research Approaches (AURA) Programme: Course Pack
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aura
 A4 paper and pens for the writing practice are recommended (although learners could be asked to bring
these with them).
 Additional highlighter pens, or coloured pens, are also recommended for the writing practice activity but
are not essential.
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Presentation Slides
Slide 1
Points in this script are facilitation instructions - for example, they might indicate how to run a group
discussion or brainstorming session.
Points in italic indicate things you should tell the audience. You can express them in your own words.
Underlined points refer to formative assessment techniques and indicate what you can learn from learner
responses (although it is impossible to be comprehensive about all of the insights).
(1 min)
Facilitation: Introduce session.
Content: Session four focuses on developing your ‘voice’ and reflective writing.
Formative assessment: N/A.
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Slide 2
(2 mins)
Facilitation: Present course outcomes.
Content: By the end of this session, you will:
1.
2.
3.
Comprehend the notion of ‘writer’s voice’ and ‘tone’ in relation to blogging.
Apply two writing techniques, useful for developing ‘writer’s voice’ and generating reflective writing, to
develop your ideas for a blog post.
Practice writing in a first person ‘voice’.
Formative assessment: N/A.
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Slide 3
What do we mean by
‘a writer’s voice’?
Flickr image. Credit: Garry Knight ‘With A Megaphone By A
Wall’ Available under a Creative Commons license: CC BY 2.0
https://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/5542172347
(5 minutes)
Facilitation: You will need to establish the notion of ‘voice’ in writing, and how familiar this concept is (or
not) to the group. The question ‘what do we mean when we talk about a writer’s voice?’ can be put to the
group for open responses.
Slide 4 can be included if the you feel the group needs more time to consider ‘writer’s voice’.
Content: Let us spend 5 minutes exploring what ‘voice’ is in relation to writing, sometimes this is called ‘a
writer’s voice’.
What do we mean by ‘a writer’s voice’?
[Facilitator should write up learners’ responses on flipchart paper. He/she can refer to the points below although this is not a prescriptive list]



Personality, or character, of the writer expressed through their writing
Way of writing, point of view, unique to that person
Turn of phrase/idioms/way of putting it only they would use
Formative Assessment: Establishing participants’ notions of the ‘writer’s voice’ will help the facilitator
determine what is already known about developing one’s own individual ‘voice’ as a writer.
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Slide 4
Writer’s voice
Think of a popular author (fiction).
1.
What makes their writing uniquely recognizable as
them?
2.
What characterizes their writing (so that if you were
given a sample of their writing, you would know it was
written by that author and not by somebody else)?
(10 minutes)
Facilitation: You can continue to build knowledge and understanding about the concept of ‘writer’s voice’
by asking the group to suggest a popular author and to respond to the two questions on the slide.
If learners are given the choice to suggest a popular author, this exercise is more likely to be contextualized
to different cultures. However, it is recommended that you have prepared an example of a popular author
and have some points ready.
An example is included (below) which can be used as guidance for this exercise.
Content: Let’s apply the idea of ‘writer’s voice’ to a popular author – can anyone suggest a popular author that
we could consider?
[Facilitator to write down the name of the author on the flip chart]
So, with that author in mind, let’s respond to the questions on the slide [reads questions]
[Facilitator to note down the responses that learners suggest on flip chart].
[Facilitator can refer to/is looking for statements as per the points below, although this is not a prescriptive list]


Uniquely recognisable? The writer’s personality/character/unique point of view expressed through their
writing
Characterized by? Phrasing, tone, style, motifs particular to, or typical of, the author.
[Example for guidance:
 Author: Jane Austen.
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 Consider the first line of ‘Pride and Prejudice’: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in
possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1 of
Volume 1, 2004).
 What makes Jane Austen’s writing uniquely recognizable as Jane Austen?
o Jane Austen’s unique point of view: in Jane Austen’s world, matrimony to an appropriate man with
good prospects is a matter of social, and financial, survival for the women of her class. However, in
Jane Austen’s world, talking about survival in direct terms is impolite and must, therefore, be
expressed indirectly.
o Jane Austen’s voice is characterized by: indirect turn of phrase, use of wry humour, understatement,
and restraint. These aspects of her unique voice allow her to portray the unequal status, and sexual
politics, between men and women in her society without causing offence.]
Formative Assessment: Establishing participants’ notions of the ‘writer’s voice’ will help the facilitator
determine what is already known about developing one’s own individual ‘voice’ as a writer.
Additional reading:
Austen, Jane: Pride and prejudice, chapter I of volume I (chap. 1) (2004) Available at:
http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppv1n01.html (Accessed: 7 September 2016).
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Slide 5
Tone and voice in writing
Tone - relates to mood or quality or attitude (i.e. formal or
conversational; aggressive or conciliatory etc.)
 Blogging: informal, conversational tone
Voice – characterizes a piece of writing, is the personality
within the writing and how that personality is expressed in
the writing (i.e. you) –
 Blogging: your own, first person, professional voice
(3 minutes)
Facilitation: Show slide. Connect what has been explored around the concept of ‘writers’ voice’ by bringing
it back to the context of the course which is about developing an informal, professional (first person) voice
for blogging in an academic context.
Content: ‘Tone’ and ‘Voice’ in writing are closely connected. ‘Tone’ relates to the mood or quality or attitude
expressed in the writing (such as whether a piece of writing is formal or conversational, whether it expresses an
aggressive stand or is a conciliatory position) whereas ‘Voice’ relates to how a personality is expressed through
the writing – in other words, your personality, your unique way of expressing your ideas. In terms of blogging,
you might like to think of your blogging voice as being like your speaking voice.
To apply the concept of ‘writer’s voice’ to what we are exploring (and as we have explored in Session 1),
blogging tends to be in the first person and to take an informal, conversational tone. This may require you to
develop a new, first person, informal, professional voice, which may be quite a different voice to the one that
has emerged in your academic writing, and different from the way you have been ‘taught’ to write or the way
you ‘feel you should’ write. As a ‘writer’s voice’ tends to develop over time and with practise, concerns about
whether our writing (and emerging new voice) is any good are a normal part of the process.
Formative assessment: N/A
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Slide 6
Writers (creative writers) are highly skilled at
accessing reflective (deeper) insights, overcoming
writers block/challenges, and developing unique
voice.
Creative writing practices can support reflective
learning and writing in an academic context – and
help to develop voice.
(2 minutes)
Facilitation: Show slide and introduce the creative writing techniques which are used to support the
development of ‘voice’ and of ‘reflective learning/writing’.
Content: So if a ‘writer’s voice’ emerges over time and practice, how can it be supported?
For this, we are going to look at two key techniques that writers (especially creative writers) practice and which
can be used both to support the emergence of ‘voice’ (in this case a first person, informal, conversational voice)
as well as to access deeper, reflective insights that can provide the material for reflective writing about learning
arising from research.
Formative assessment: N/A
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Slide 7
Two key (creative) writing techniques to
develop voice and reflective writing:
• Free writing – writing by hand keep the pen moving,
don’t interrupt the process to edit, punctuate or
correct. Repeat last word until a new thought arises.
• Writing against the clock for an allocated time - (e.g.
10 mins, 15 mins, 20 mins)
(3 mins)
Facilitation: Show slide and present the two key writing techniques promoted in creative writing courses.
The techniques were both developed by Dorothea Brande (Brande, 1983. 1934.) and later taken up by many
other writers including Julia Cameron (Cameron, 2016); Anne Lamott (Lamott, 1995); and Natalie Goldberg
(Golberg, 1986).
Content: The two techniques are:


Free writing is where you write without stopping to edit, punctuate or correct - keeping the pen moving,
allowing thoughts to surface freely and without judgement (so in a ‘stream of consciousness’ or free
flowing thought). Free writing is a good way to allow fresh insights to emerge, to produce raw material
that you can structure into a draft that you might share with others.
Writing against the clock (may or may not be free writing) where you write for an allocated period.
The two techniques can be combined. They are useful techniques for (1) developing voice (2) accessing deeper
insights (e.g reflective learning) to arise (3) developing raw material which can provide insights for, or be
further crafted into, research communications (e.g. blogs, articles, books).
Formative Assessment: N/A
Additional Reading:
Brande, D. (1983) Becoming a Writer. Papermac. Originally published by Harcourt, Brande & Company in 1934.
Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Artist%27s_Way (Accessed: 7 September 2016).
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Cameron, Julia. (2016) Morning pages. Available at: http://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
(Accessed: 7 September 2016).
Free writing (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_writing (Accessed: 7
September 2016).
Lamott, A. (1995) Bird by Bird: Some instructions on writing and life. A. Anchor Books,1995.
Goldberg, N. (1986). Writing Down the Bones. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Lamott, A. (1995) Bird by Bird: Some instructions on writing and life. A. Anchor Books,1995.
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Slide 8
Activity #1: Writing Practise
Reflect on a time when something
significant happened in your
work/research that you would like
to share with others.
1. Write (by hand) in the first
person
2. Keep the pen moving, don’t
stop to correct, edit or
punctuate!
3. If you get stuck, repeat the last
word until a new thought
arises.
10 minutes
Prompt questions:
• What was significant and why?
• What changed as a result?
Image: Pixaby, CCO Public Domain
(Activity: 15 minutes)
(Slide 3 mins)
Facilitation: This activity will be completed as individual learners. The exercise offers learners the
opportunity to practice free writing and writing against the clock techniques as writing practices for
developing a first person voice and to generate ideas for the blog writing exercise in Session 5. The purpose
of free writing is to allow thoughts to surface freely and without judgement (so in a ‘stream of
consciousness’ or free flowing thought). Free writing is a good way of accessing deeper insights and to
produce raw material can be later structured into a draft to share with readers.
Run through the instructions for this activity and make sure they are clear to learners. Leave Slide 8 with the
instructions and prompting questions on the screen so that learners can be reminded of what they should
focus on in their writing.
Content: In a moment, I’m going to give you 10 minutes to practice the two writing techniques combined (free
writing and writing against the clock techniques).
You are going to do some writing about a time when something significant happened in your work or research
that you would like to share with others.
There are three important ‘ground rules’ that I’d like you all to follow.


The first is: please write in the first person, even if this is an unfamiliar way to write about your
research. This exercise gives you an opportunity to practice a new first person voice. For the purpose
of this exercise, even if you have access to a laptop or tablet device, please handwrite onto paper.
The second is: please keep the pen moving at all times. The way to do this is not to worry about
grammar, spelling, punctuation, structure, or even too much about content. The aim is not to write
content that ‘makes sense’ or is well structured but to allow thoughts, ideas and insights to emerge
freely.
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The third is: if you get stuck, just repeat the last word that you wrote over and over until a new
thought arises. You can also use the two prompt questions shown on the slide [read out the prompt
questions].
You will not be sharing what you write with anyone so you are free to write whatever you like about the topic.
However, be aware that you will be using the writing as raw material for a blog that you are going to write in
Session 5.
[After the ten minutes ask the group to put down their pens and come back together as a group. Group debriefing 5 minutes].
So let’s come back together as a group. Let’s spend five minutes de-briefing on this activity. How did you find
this exercise?
[Responses about how individuals experienced the exercise can vary but the below points have been offered in
previous exercises. The main role the facilitator has is to validate whatever experiences arise. The purpose of
the exercise is to offer an opportunity to write in a first person voice and to write freely without too much
judgement getting in the way in order to allow ideas and insights, in this case about an aspect of research that
was significant, to emerge].




Felt liberating – I could write what I wanted and it didn’t have to be grammatical
Felt freer and more fluid – generated some ideas and thoughts
Was quite a meditative process – helped to know there was a time limit as this could be useful for
short, intense burst than longer ‘sprints’
Felt quite emotional – have been feeling frustrated or blocked – so writing like this was cathartic
Formative Assessment: Setting clear expectations and outcomes is important to address possible questions
before starting the activity and avoid confusion.
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Slide 9
Activity #2: Writing Practise
1. Scan what you have
written.
2. Highlight 2 to 3 ideas
that you could expand
on or develop further
into a blog post (you
will be writing this later
in this course).
5 minutes
Image: Pixaby, CCO Public Domain
(Activity: 10 minutes)
(5 minutes)
Facilitation: This activity will be completed as individual learners. It allows learners to review the free
writing that has emerged and to select from it 2 to 3 ideas, thoughts (or even phrases that they like) and
that could be developed further into a blog post. If highlighter pens (or coloured pens) are available, these
should be handed out.
Run through the instructions for this activity and make sure they are clear to learners.
Leave Slide 9 with the instructions on the screen so that learners can be reminded of the task they have
been asked to complete.
In Session 5, learners will be asked to discuss their 2 to 3 ideas with a peer and to write a blog post.
Content: In a moment, I will give you 5 further minutes. What I want you to do is quickly scan what you have
written in the free writing activity [Activity #1] and to highlight/underline/circle two or three ideas that you
would like to expand further into a blog post. If ideas have not emerged in your writing, please highlight any
thoughts, phrases or words that you would like to come back to later. You will have an opportunity later in the
course [Session 5] to firm up your ideas about a blog post with a partner.
Leave Slide 9 with the instructions on the screen so that learners can be reminded of the task they have
been asked to complete.
During this activity, the facilitator should circulate within the group to assist or support individuals with this
task and answer learners’ queries.
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Formative Assessment: Monitoring group work is quite crucial as it supports the peer learning process, provide
immediate formative feedback if needed and/or useful, and provide the facilitator with interesting data about
the learning process and participants' learning journey that could inform instruction.
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Slide 10
Supporting your reflective writing practice:
Free writing – generates ideas, reflective insights, raw material, developing voice
Writing against the clock – gets content onto the page that can be shaped at a
later stage
Daily/regular writing practice – at the same time, every day/week
Journaling – keep a learning journal / notebook (private to you).
Put writing away – come back with a fresh mind.
Establish peer support (“critical friends”) – critical feedback, ask critical questions,
help you develop your ideas and voice.
(5 minutes)
Facilitation: Show slide and sum up ways of supporting a reflective writing practice. This is by no means an
exhaustive list.
Content: Here are some suggestions about how you can support your reflective writing practice:
 Free writing and writing against the clock (we have explored these techniques today). Free writing is good
for short, intense, bursts, for generating reflective insights and trying out a new first person voice. In terms
of blogging, we have been exploring how we might think of developing a first person, professional voice
with an informal, conversational tone.
 Writing against the clock is also a good way to get content onto the page that you can shape at a later
stage.
Other ways to support your reflective writing include:
 The daily, or regular practice – it is important to find a regular pattern that suits you.
[Facilitator could elicit from the 1 or 2 individuals in the group – how would this work for them best?
e.g. Are they more likely to have a short time to write at a certain point in the day, i.e. first thing in
the morning, or at the weekend? Would it work better once a week rather than every day?]
If a daily practice is not within your grasp, then find a regular way of capturing reflective learning –
this may work better for you on a weekly, or fortnightly basis.
 Journaling, or keeping a learning journal about your research and practice that is private to you is also
an excellent way of capturing reflective learning on a regular basis
[Facilitator could elicit if 1 or 2 participants keep a journal or a notebook to record ideas and what
they find useful about it.]
This also allows you to look back at what you have written over a period of time which can also
provide useful insights into research and patterns that emerge that you may not have been aware of
at the time.
Two further ways to support your writing (in particular when it reaches a later stages):
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
Put your writing away for a period of time. This may be a day, or a week, or even longer. Or it may be
that you take a walk and come back to it 30 minutes later – taking a break will allow your mind to mull
over what you have written at that deeper (unconscious) level and will allow new insights or
connections to arise. Coming back to a piece of writing with fresh eyes and mind, perhaps at this point
as an editor rather than a creator, will also help you to find ways strengthen the writing.

Establishing peer support – or ‘critical friends’ - can also help you to find and develop your informal,
writing voice – as others can often hear this in your writing before you can. We’ll be taking a look at
peer support later in the course [in Session 5].
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Slide 11
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Slide 12
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