Writing Studio Personal and Reflective Writing

Shape and scene

You will organise a personal piece or reflective assignment into a clear shape, with scenes that show and reflection that explains.

Do this first

Mark your draft in two colours: one for scene (what happened, shown moment by moment) and one for reflection (what it meant). Where one colour runs for more than a page, add a short passage of the other.

Steps

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Choose a shape before you polish
Common shapes are chronological, starting at the turning point and looping back, braided (two threads alternating), or a reflective model for assessed work. Pick the one that puts your most important moment where the reader will feel it.
Write the key moment as a scene
A scene happens in one place and time, with action, a sensory detail or two, and ideally a line of dialogue. Summary covers time quickly; use it to bridge between scenes, not to replace them.
Add reflection at the turns
After a scene, step back and say what you made of it, then or now. Two or three sentences of reflection after a strong scene usually do more than a page of lessons at the end.
Use a model as scaffolding for assessed reflection
Gibbs' reflective cycle (1988) has six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper (2001) use three questions: What? So what? Now what? Keep description short, because most marks usually go to analysis (often linked to theory or literature) and the action plan.
Open in the moment, close with movement
Open with a specific image or action, not a definition of reflection or a famous quotation. End with what changed, what you will do differently, or the question you still hold.
Reverse outline the draft
Write one line per paragraph saying what it does: scene, context, reflection or analysis. Look for long runs of summary, paragraphs doing the same job twice, and reflection that only arrives at the end.

Templates

Gibbs' reflective cycle outline

Description (keep it short): What happened? [who, where, when, what you did]
Feelings: What were you thinking and feeling? [specific emotions]
Evaluation: What went well, and what did not? [both sides]
Analysis: Why did it go that way? [link to theory, policy or literature: Author (Year)]
Conclusion: What else could you have done, and what did you learn? [learning]
Action plan: What will you do next time? [specific action, and when]

What? So what? Now what?

What? In [setting], I [action] when [event]. The result was [outcome].
So what? This matters because [significance]. It shows [what I learned about myself, my practice or the theory], which connects to [Author (Year)].
Now what? Next time I will [specific action]. To prepare, I will [step] by [date or stage].

Scene and reflection pattern for a personal essay

Scene: [time and place]. [action]. [one sensory detail]. [one line of dialogue].
Reflection: At the time I [then]. Now I [now].
Bridge: [brief summary of what happened between this scene and the next].
Next scene: [time and place] ...
Ending: [what changed, or the question I still hold].

Check your draft

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The piece opens with a specific moment, not a general statement.
The most important moment is written as a scene, not summarised.
Scenes are followed by some reflection on what they meant.
In an academic reflection, description is brief and most words go to analysis and learning.
If a model is required, every stage is present and easy to find.
Analysis links to theory, policy or literature where the brief expects it.
The ending shows change, a concrete next step or an honest open question.

In your field

Reflective reports in engineering and computing often use headings (context, what happened, analysis, actions) or a set project log template. Keep them concise and evidence-based, and cite in the course style, often IEEE or APA.

Common mistakes

Spending most of the word count describing what happened and little on analysing it.
Saving all reflection for a final paragraph of lessons learned.
Naming a model in the introduction and then not following it.
Opening with a dictionary definition of reflection.
Ending with a neat moral the rest of the piece has not earned.

Go further

University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit: Gibbs' Reflective CycleThe six stages with prompt questions for each, and the original citation (Gibbs, 1988).
University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit: What? So what? Now what?The three-question model with prompts, and a note on its origins with Borton, Driscoll and Rolfe et al.
University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit: Structure of academic reflectionsIntroduction, body and conclusion for reflective essays, with advice to describe only enough for context.
Monash University: The structure of reflective writing in EducationAnnotated student sample showing description, analysis with theory, and outcomes for future teaching.
Tell It Slant, by Brenda Miller and Suzanne PaolaPractical guide to creative nonfiction forms, including braided and segmented essays, with examples.