Writing a Master’s or PhD dissertation is often the pinnacle of an academic career and requires years of research, hard work and focus.

Seeking support is a key to success and, fortunately at Queen’s, there are a number of options for graduate students to help them in their efforts.

One such support is the Writing Studio at the Ban Righ Centre. Now in its second year, the Writing Studio invites graduate students to spend eight days in May – two days per week – to focus on their writing with limited distractions. During each lunch break, with food provided by the Ban Righ Centre, staff from the Queen’s Writing Centre lead information sessions to help with the writing process.

For Alana West, who took part in the inaugural Writing Studio in 2015 and successfully defended her PhD dissertation in December, the sessions helped her in a number of ways, including getting her socially active once again.

“What I got the most out of the Writing Studio was the lunch hour – being able to talk because working at home can be very isolating,” she says, adding that she appreciated speaking with her peers in different departments as well as the Writing Centre staff. “There were different things that were helpful that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with sitting down and making sure you were in your seat for a fair amount of time to write. It was the camaraderie and the ability to talk to others at the lunch hour. It was the social aspect in an academic context that I found very helpful.”

For Dr. West, writing has never been a major issue. She is able maintain her focus at home, writing each day, with the goal of completing a chapter each month. Of course, that’s not the case for everyone.

The Writing Studio, she says, offered her something new – a change of pace and scenery – and limited many of the everyday distractions of writing at home.

“(The Writing Studio) took me out of my comfort zone of being home, so I had to be more prepared,” she explains. “I went in starting a chapter, and I usually free-write a chapter and then fine-tune it. I would go in to the Writing Studio and you can’t do anything but write because there are other people around you and so it was kind of out of my comfort zone.”

The current session of the Writing Studio at the Ban Righ Centre wrapped up Friday but will return next year.

Dr. West says she found the staff at the Ban Righ Centre to be very supportive and that the safe space they make available is very appreciated by the students.

It’s the kind of positive feedback that Carole Morrison, Director of the Ban Righ Centre, has received over the two years. 

“What we hear most often is gratitude,” she says. “Students tell us they are grateful for the use of the spaces, for the information sessions provided by the Writing Centre, for the lunches, and for the feelings of shared endeavor they enjoy, as they sit side by side working to achieve their own individual writing goals.”