About us

The Writing Machine is a collaboration between researchers from four universities in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Renske Bouwer

Universitair Docent
Assistant Professor Language & Education
Department Languages, Literature and Communication,
Universiteit Utrecht

‘I am a deep-sea diver, I want to know everything about a subject before I start writing. I am just as precise when it comes to writing: I reread and rewrite until the text exactly communicates what I want it to.’

Janneke van der Loo

Vakdidacticus Nederlands,
Dutch Teacher Training &

Lecturer Communication and Information Sciences,

Tilburg University

‘I write like a diesel engine: I start slowly, but then I’m unstoppable.’

Luuk Van Waes

Professor in Professional Communication
Department of Management –

University of Antwerp

‘I am a slow writer who lets his texts develop slowly. I plan most of the (more difficult) texts while cycling or walking. Other texts take shape while writing. Feedback from colleagues is worth gold.’

Agnes Willemen

Director of the Master in Pedagogical and Educational Sciences

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

‘As a writer I look like a pastry chef. I search and search until I have found the most delicious ingredients, then I mix and knead them well. Finally, I spend a lot of time on the decoration, which I often find difficult to stop.’

Marleen de Moor

Assistant Professor

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

‘For me, writing is like putting together a puzzle: first I sort out the pieces (generating and organizing information), then I lay out the edges (making an outline), and then I start laying out the pieces (writing), until the puzzle is complete! Sometimes a piece lies wrong, then I puzzle out where it fits better (revise).’

Anne Tharner

Universitair Docent,

Assistant Professor

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

‘My writing mantra is “There’s no need to write unreadable scientific articles”. But I can only write something clearly when I understand it well myself. That’s why I often have to delete whole sentences and go back to the beginning: what do I actually want to say?’