Editor’s Note: Our guest blog this week is from the Rev. Dr. Bryan Whitfield (he/him). Bryan shares how the Writing Table has allowed him to maintain helpful writing practices for a variety of projects. Bryan is the Howard Giddens Professor of New Testament at Mercer University, where he has taught since 2002. He also serves as interim pastor of churches in Middle Georgia and frequently writes for Working Preacher.
Changing Old Patterns: Joining The Writing Table
I was a great undergraduate writer. In those days, writing seemed easy enough. I’d had excellent high school English teachers who gave me a solid foundation of grammar and mechanics. I learned to write literary analyses and research papers at the drop of a hat. Of course, I usually dropped the hat at the last minute, so those projects were fueled by too much caffeine and finished in the wee hours of the morning. In truth, I was a great binge writer.
That pattern worked for me–and kept working during my years of undergraduate and master’s study and on into my doctoral course work. In that last degree, however, I was reaching my limits. Longer papers were not as easy to dash off, and there were some close calls with deadlines.
When it came to writing my dissertation, my old writing process collapsed. I faltered and flailed–for years, in fact. I had taken a teaching position and found making regular time for writing and a sustained pace that would move me forward almost impossible during the academic year. The urgent crowded out the important, nine days out of ten. Even in the summers, when I had more time, I floundered. I kept going over the same ground, focused on getting things done perfectly. Even though I had drafts of several dissertation chapters completed, my advisor was ready to throw in the towel.
An Invitation
Then I received an email with an invitation from Virginia Shadron, the assistant dean of the graduate school. She invited me to join a four-week program at the beginning of fall semester, with the promise that it would pull me “through the eye of the needle” and help me finish my dissertation by the end of the year. The university would pay for the program, which included three workshop sessions on writing as well as an on-line reporting process for daily accountability. With her encouragement, I accepted the invitation.
The coaching helped me unlearn old habits and acquire new skills that led to more sustainable progress. I began to internalize a new way of approaching writing. That process helped me see the importance of accountability and working with a group of other writers.
By the end of the four-week program, I had miraculously finished a complete draft of the dissertation. My advisor told me I was ready to defend! I celebrated that news with my coaches and the writing group.
And after completing my degree that semester, I continued to use the platform that the university had initially paid for. As I worked to turn my dissertation into a published book, I deepened my commitments to daily practice and accountability with a wonderful group of other academic writers on that platform, some of whom became friends in real life as well.
Writing Table Benefits
But that particular writing group eventually ended in 2021. I was looking for something to replace the accountability and structure and community it provided. So I was delighted to learn about the Writing Table, which fit all those criteria, and I soon signed on.
I have produced a wide variety of writing during my time at the Writing Table: sermons, multiple columns for Working Preacher, academic reports (lengthy program reviews, assessment documents), book chapters, articles, and conference papers. The Writing Table proved especially helpful when I had a short deadline for writing the introduction and study notes for Hebrews for the Westminster Study Bible.
I am still not the most productive writer. Old habits creep back in from time to time. But being part of the Writing Table helps me keep them in check and redirects me to habits that will sustain my writing in the midst of a heavy schedule of teaching and preaching. Having a set time to write each morning makes a difference for me in maintaining a steady and sustainable practice. I value the opportunities to connect with a community of writers, a community made more robust than my earlier experiences through the use of Zoom, which allows us to see each other and discuss both strategies for success and honest moments of struggle in real time.
I am thankful for this community of writers, for the ways it keeps me focused and grounded, and for the accountability and support it provides. If you are looking for such a community, I hope you will join us!