A Workshop in Styles of Qualitative Writing and Reporting

This article outlines the author’s workshop in Styles of Qualitative Writing and Reporting, an in-person and online course commissioned by the qualitative research consulting and professional development organization, ResearchTalk. The six clock hour offering provides in-service professionals and graduate student participants writing experiences with up to nine different styles of qualitative reportage: Descriptive and Realistic, Analytic and Formal, Interpretive, Confessional, Reflexive, Critical and Advocacy, Literary Narrative, Autoethnographic, and Poetic. Participants receive an overview of each style, accompanied with brief examples from the scholarly literature. Ten to 15-min blocks of writing time are provided throughout for writers to document and experiment with a current research project’s manuscript, an unpublished thesis or dissertation, or a data base awaiting analytic review. Reading aloud and receiving peer feedback provide writers rapid assessment of their work in progress with ideas for further development. The article describes the primary content of each writing module and its accompanying writing prompts and feedback frame. The workshop also discusses recommended titles for writing resources, strategies for maintaining effective writing habits, and reflections on the legacy of a writer’s work. This article is structured as a curriculum design for other facilitators and educators to adapt and utilize with their students.