By Esther R. Namubiru & Weijia Li
Lead Editor’s Note: Like others in the writing center field, this blog’s editorial team are volunteers who balance their time between serving the writing center community and pursuing their own scholarly development. We use writing as a means to showcase that development but also as a site of inquiry about our field. At a recent editorial meeting, we found ourselves asking: To what extent does institutional accountability shift attention from writing as a process to writing as a product? We hope this reflection will inspire you to reflect and reconsider accountability as a writer, writing center consultant and director, and a scholar.
Esther: Your article inspired a lively conversation at our last editorial meeting concerning the definition of accountability for students, faculty, writing consultants and directors, and researchers. Things like discipline, determination, writing quality, publish-or-perish, and even procrastination were mentioned. What stood out to you as you listened to our takeaways about accountability?
Weijia: It reminded me that almost every writer has something to say about their experiences with writing because it’s a shared experience. No matter what topics we’re writing about or disciplines we belong to, the labor of writing is always tangible. That’s where accountability joins the conversation. In my article, I loosely define it as “the ability to commit to writing with consistent time and effort, [which means] that the writer accepts responsibility and takes ownership of the process” (Li, 2025, p. 11). Things like discipline, determination, writing quality, publish-or-perish, and even procrastination are relevant to the idea that writers bear the burden to produce writing. They need to be determined and disciplined so that they can achieve the desirable outcome (i.e., high quality writing). On the other hand, writers tend to consider procrastination as something negative because it prevents them from writing more. And the need or expectation to produce suggests a view of writing as putting words down on the page. I agree with it to a certain extent but writing on a day-to-day basis is more than that. You may do things that will add to your writing, e.g., taking notes on the literature or analyzing data. Not everyone considers those tasks as writing.
Esther: I agree. I’ve had to revisit procrastination, especially when I have those writing days where all I can do is stare at the same page for 30 minutes without adding or changing a word. I used to think that this is a form of procrastination, but now I think it is part of the writing process and can be considered progress in some way even though it will not result in hitting the the daily word count quota.
Does institutional accountability shift the focus from writing as process to writing as product?
During the meeting, one editor illustrated her take on accountability for scholars and researchers by sharing about an awards event at her institution where the recipients were those with the highest number of published articles that year. It sounded like that axiom ‘publish or perish’ is the measure of accountability. I would argue that for doctoral students, the equivalent saying could be ‘the best dissertation is a finished one.’ In other words, for scholars and researchers, the focus seems to be the product, not the process.
Weijia: Right. While I don’t think I’m most up-to-date with dissertation models, given that I’m not working in graduate communication, I speculate that publishing to graduate still has strong footing in a variety of fields in the United States. Then, having publications for new PhD graduates means gaining a more competitive edge in the job market. For junior scholars in faculty positions, the number of publications is often tied to tenure and promotion. That’s the reality academics are faced with. It’s inevitable that there’s more focus on the product (and where it’s published) than the processes. There’s an entirely different conversation we can have but I’ll digress.
I think for doctoral students, it’s a bit different when it comes to ‘the best dissertation is a finished one.’ And it probably best applies to the traditional dissertation model, i.e., the long-form kind. My understanding of this saying is that because the dissertation is just the beginning/the first attempt at doing scholarship, procrastinating and/or spending time making it ‘perfect’ slows down one’s steps to graduate. Ideally, there’s time after graduation (during postdoc or faculty position) to really work on it and get it ready for publication (as opposed to defense).
Because we don’t experience writing the same way, the need for accountability can look different for everyone.
Esther: So, what you’re saying is reminding me of something a fellow colleague who recently defended their dissertation shared with me when I asked them about accountability and the product/process aspects of writing for PhD students. He said:
“In writing a dissertation, I knew that I [was] ultimately accountable to the institution and had to produce a dissertation, and I had a number of accountability measures for ensuring that achievement: our writing group, my committee chair, my family, my personal and professional goals, my planning, etc. But I also knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime process of learning that I could choose to enjoy and emphasize. So what I argued was that writing and development involve the interaction of cognitive, affective, social, and material resources that operate within an institutional setting with ideological leanings. Does that institution favor or emphasize process? Ultimately most favor product. Can the individual choose to prioritize process? Yes.”
As he explains, we writers and writing scholars are accountable to our local institutions as much as we’re accountable to our fields. And like you mentioned earlier, completing the PhD is one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) — I’m using this term intentionally — to show that we’re meeting our end of the deal. Accountability, in this context, is transactional.
Take the writing groups offered at my local institution’s writing center. The groups I’ve attended start with each writer announcing their writing goals for the session. Then, we all write (for me this writing part is guided using the pomodoro technique). At the end, the writers share what they have achieved in the session. We’re participating in writing as a process via something the institution has offered. At the same time, the writing group fosters that honest evaluation of your writing goals and priorities.
Of course, I’ve felt very satisfied when I’ve met my writing goal. But sometimes I haven’t met it. And though the groups have been supportive in that case, there is an unspoken point: the more you meet your smaller writing goals the closer you are to getting that finished dissertation.
Weijia: Yes, and like I said earlier, the writer ultimately bears the responsibility to write. It can definitely be a lonely process for some. It may be difficult for those who don’t think they can be disciplined enough to hold themselves to that high standard, or to execute the idea that you need to work on your writing daily.
What I’m trying to say is that because we don’t experience writing the same way, the need for accountability can look different for everyone. For example, I didn’t join a writing group while working on my dissertation though I did have a writing routine with some flexibility. The way I focused on my process was to go through the routine regardless of how much new prose I wrote on a daily basis. To be honest, my standard for academic writing is as long as it’s clear (not easy!); I don’t wordsmith or edit my sentences unless it enhances meaning or clarity. So I feel like this has made me feel okay with a ‘shitty first draft’ (Lamott, 1994) and not to get so hung up on the product.
Writing groups provide writers a space to talk about writing and share that burden to write with each other. Sometimes we need to give us permission to talk about writing because writing is ultimately an extension of oneself and talking about it, even just about how we do it, can always feel scary. Whatever it may be, having that support matters.
Esther: Indeed. And this is where the writing center plays a key role too, The center helps writers to “commit to writing with consistent time and effort” and it helps the writer “take ownership of the process” to use your earlier definition of accountability. Thanks again for the article that inspired this reflection!
References
Lamott, A. (1994). Bird by bird. Knopf.
Li, W. (2025). Accountability in the writing center: Graduate writing consultants’ perspectives. WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, 49(3), 10-15.
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