FAQ: What is reflective writing?

What is reflective writing?

Reflective writing involves critically analyzing an experience, idea, or concept, considering how it has affected your thinking or skills, and identifying what you might do differently or apply in the future. Writing reflectively often helps you think more deeply, as putting ideas into words can clarify how an experience shaped your understanding.

The key to reflective writing is being analytical rather than purely descriptive. Instead of focusing only on what happened, reflective writing asks you to consider why it mattered and what you learned from it.

Reflective writing is often:

• Written in the first person
• Analytical, not just descriptive
• Somewhat free-flowing, but still purposeful
• Subjective, drawing on your own experiences and perspectives
• A tool to question assumptions or prior understanding
• A time investment, as meaningful reflection develops through careful thought

How can you structure reflective writing?

There are many models, but one helpful way to structure reflective writing is Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, which breaks reflection into manageable stages. You do not need to address every stage separately, but the model can help guide your thinking.

Gibbs’ cycle includes six stages:

1. Description
2. Feelings
3. Evaluation
4. Analysis
5. Conclusion
6. Action plan

The process begins by describing what you are reflecting on and considering your reactions to it. You then evaluate and analyze the experience to make sense of what happened and why. Finally, you identify what you learned and how you might apply that learning in the future.

Guiding questions for reflective writing

You may find it helpful to use questions like the ones below as you write.

Description

• What is the concept, idea, theory, or experience you are reflecting on?
• What background or context does the reader need to understand it?

Analysis

• What aspects did you find particularly interesting, challenging, or surprising?
• How does this connect to what you learned earlier in the course or in previous experiences?
• Did it change the way you think about the topic, or reinforce something you already believed?

Outcomes or Action

• What questions do you still have, or what might you need to explore further?
• How could you apply these ideas or skills in the future - academically, professionally, or in real-world situations?

The FAQ has been adapted from Cambridge University Libraries Reflective Practice Toolkit This link opens in a new window is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This link opens in a new window

References

Cambridge University Libraries. (n.d.). Reflective practice toolkit. Cambridge University. https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit/introduction  

Devet, B. (2020). Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle for Writing Center Training. WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, 44(9/10), 18–25. https://doi.org/10.37514/wln-j.2020.44.9.04