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Defining Your Strategic Approach To Academic Writing For Your Dissertation or Thesis

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Have you ever experienced a life changing event? Something that shifted your perspective on or about life forever? 1. If so, when? 2. Did you see it coming? 3. Were you prepared? 4. In retrospect, would you do anything

differently?

Dissertation/Thesis as a Rite of Passage: Preparing for the Tour de France

1. Starts with high hopes

and lots of planning. 2. Dissertations kick off in a

pack 3. But quickly some are lost

in the bushes 4. Others crash 5. Lots end up going it

alone. 6. Some are stranded

looking for help 7. The lucky ones find an

extra push from a friend 8. Some soar 9. And, with the right kind

of guidance all can end up on a beach at the end

Strategy Set #1: 4 Writing Big Documents

1. Keep your perspective in two places:

1. Where you are going – the golden thread of your ideas and how they link

2. Internal consistency – finite agreement between sentences, paragraphs and headings

2. Writing pace helps a lots with this one – faster is better

3. Plan your work, work your plan

4. Outside accountability

Strategy Set #2: The Proposal is like Packing for the Trip: NOT the Trip Itself

Let’s test the analogy in chat…

What do you do to prepare

for an exotic trip to a

far off land?

1. Learn about the place you are going

2. Talk to others who have been there

3. Pack for the trip

1. Your problem = the focus of your destination

2. Your literature = your clothes

3. Your methodology = your transportation (no one is taking

you there you are on your own to find it)

4. Access to the population = your passport

5. Proposal/prospectus hearing = visa

DoctoralNet Standard Advise…

1. Consider writing your methodology chapter first

2. Always have 5 or more model dissertations to work from

3. Find award winners to use as your models

4. Talk all the time about “how it is done”

5. Use many mentors

DoctoralNet Standard Advise… Specific to Proposals

1. Headings keep the golden thread alive – they show the reader where the methodology will surface, where the topic will etc.

2. If you don’t understand argument – learn about it now – know what claims, evidence, warrants and data are.

3. Know your academic writing basics: one thought to a paragraph – several paragraphs that make up a topic to a heading – several headings that lead to a logical component to your document to a chapter

THAT MAKE IT A RITE OF PASSAGE

It’s the tough times

Mental Strategies for Finishing •Keep your focus

•Don’t get distracted with others

•Don’t be afraid to try

•If caught in the bushes (or chasing a rabbit hole) admit it quickly and get help to move on

•Be prepared mentally for crash and burn

•Ask lots of different people for help – do not think fall prey to embarrassment

Can you relate?

Did any of these happen to you?

What did you learn?

Q & A

1.Has it been helpful?

2.What else do you still wonder about?

Upcoming News/Events 1. March 1 Starts 2 months of our focus on academic writing – sign into the site

for free resources + three conferences at end of month on #acwri

2. Taking names of interested parties for possible writing group with professorial help starting soon– cost $40 month if we get 5 or more signed up. One of conferences is a trial writing group for those who want to see if it would be a helpful strategy.

Phase 1: Formulating the Research

Questions of Your Study (IC)