1. Writing Workshop – session 1 [iBSc Oral Biology] Julian Ingle Thinking Writing j.ingle@qmul.ac.uk

2. Objectives for session 1 Reflect on your previous writing experiences and processes Using freewriting as a technique for getting started and overcoming writing blocks Thinking about what makes a good essay Assess previous ‘Long Essays’ using the marking criteria Comparing introductions and planning essay structures

3. FREEWRITING What is freewriting? Why freewrite? How does it work?

4. What is freewriting? A kind of ‘automatic’ writing. Non-stop writing without editing. An exercise or strategy to help you write.

5. Why freewrite? It makes you more comfortable with the act of writing. It helps you bypass the "inner critic" who tells you you can't write. It can help you discover things to write about. It can indirectly improve your formal writing. It gets you started & builds your writing muscles.

6. How does it work? Write nonstop for a set period of time (10–20 minutes). Do not make corrections as you write. Keep writing, even if you have to write, "I don't know what to write." Write whatever comes into your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing.

7. Freewriting task Medical & scientific knowledge is recorded & constructed through writing; so too is the discipline. Freewrite for 5-10 mins on the following topic: ‘Most medical research, & therefore writing, is about confirming & enlarging existing beliefs, not in developing new ones.’

8. Peer review: The Long Essay Look at the following example long essay question from 2009: The oral cavity is adapted to cope without undue damage with extreme of temperature during feeding (for example eating ice cream and drinking hot coffee). it can detect foreign body particles of about 1 micron in diameter (i.e. the abrasive in toothpaste), is sensitive enough to perceive force of 0.01 newton applied to teeth as well as generate forces in excess of 1000 newtons applied to the same teeth during chewing tough foods. Explain the physiological and anatomical basis of these features. Indicate what mechanisms exist to protect the teeth and mouth from extreme conditions. How would you approach this essay? How would you write the introduction?

9. The Long Essay Look at this year’s long essay question: 'In the 15th century, Galileo identified an association between body mass and bone size. Mechanically-regulated functional adaptation of bones assumes responses to the consequences of increased mechanical loading. Identify the potential signals engendered by mechanical loading, describe, based on skeletal anatomy, how these signals are generated. Define mechano-transduction events and consider the effects of decreased mechanical loading in the weight- bearing skeleton and regulation of skull bone mass. With reference to Oral Biology, discus the consequences of changes to habitual loading patterns and bone mass in the edentulate mandible' How would you approach this essay? How would you write the introduction?