Ask the Dissertation Diva

Practical Advice for Writing

You have a stack of research materials, a nebulous yet promising topic, and a looming deadline. Now, how do you actually write?

In my work with graduate students, I am often asked for concrete strategies for writing. How to transform ideas into writing? How to finish that dissertation, book, or article? And how to stay motivated and sane during the writing process?

I have found that the best recipe for sustained intellectual productivity is a mix of structured writing practices, time management strategies, and holistic lifestyle support.

In the next eight posts, I will be sharing with you my top eight practical strategies for focused, sustained writing—ways to create the space and structure to shepherd unarticulated ideas into a cogently written argument. While targeted at the dissertation writer, this advice can be used by graduate students drafting their proposal, junior faculty members rewriting the dissertation into a book, and scholars working on articles. Regardless of the type of project, healthy writing strategies—as opposed to staying-up-all-night marathons—are crucial. My hope is that these strategies also help advisers to support their PhD students through the nuts and bolts of the writing process.

[The entire article appears as "Practical Advice for Writing Your Dissertation, Book, or Article" by Liena Vayzman, in Perspectives, the journal of the American Historical Association, accessible online.]

Shift to Big Picture

When working on your dissertation, it is easy to fall into the vortex of the daily micro-steps. Dissertation writers can get lost in the minute details, obsessing about perfecting tiny details, and thus easily lose sight of the Big Picture. I suggest that you shift to the Big Picture for yourself. For many of you, it is a finished dissertation, not a perfect dissertation.

Decide what is important and what is minor. Does that footnote warrant 2 hours of research? Can you delegate reformatting the margins to a friend or editor down the line? Try to think about the overall outcome you want to achieve. Glide over the details with more ease. Shift to the Big Picture!

Good luck!
Dissertation Diva

Deadline Dilemma

Dear Dissertation Diva:

Thanks for a great blog site: reading it has been helping me get back on track with my dissertation after a long holiday/working to pay the bills break. But I do have a question. I am working on wrapping up my prospectus, and when I have set deadlines as you suggest on my prospectus, it has ended up stressing me out so much that I don't get anything done at all. And normally I'm a person who works well to deadlines. My advisors have suggested that the prospectus, as a conceptualization phase of the dissertation, is not necessarily suited to setting hard deadlines, but part of me wants to set firm deadlines to get the thing done, and I feel guilty when I fall short of self-imposed expectations, then begin to worry this is indicative of my ability to finish the whole dissertation. What do you think or suggest about this dilemma?

Thanks again,
Denise

Hi Denise:

Did you know that the historical meaning of the word "deadline" is "a line drawn around a prison beyond which prisoners were liable to be shot"? No wonder that thinking of the dissertation process in terms of deadlines makes people break out in a cold sweat. Your question is essentially about the dilemma of deadlines: Not meeting them creates anxiety, guilt, remorse, self-doubt -- all sorts of feelings better suited to a criminal confession than to a creative process! You will set and meet and not meet MANY deadlines during this long process. The best attitude is to not become attached to the outcome of a particular deadline, but to use the date as a motivation to work towards. This Zen attitude of detachment is difficult to cultivate, but worth the effort. Set a date to work towards, put in consisent effort towards your goal, but don't attach to the outcome. There's a balancing act for sure!

What helps is to rethink the whole concept of a deadline. You want to finish your prospectus by a definite date. Think of it as a TARGET DATE instead. You are working towards a target. Point all your arrows in that direction.

Also, break down the larger task into mini-target dates. So, in your case, tomorrow could be your mini-target date for updating the draft of Section One of your prospectus. The next day's mini-target is to assess what need to be done next and starting a list of additional research. The day after's mini-target is to download 3 articles from the list. The day after, you decide you need a new target, which is to start reworking the methodology section of your prospectus. Do you see how in this example, you have daily mini-targets to work towards? The focus is on the process, with daily targets for the outcome. I think this could work in your situation to dispel some of the anxiety about having one big deadline and missing it.

Let me know what happens!

Thanks for your feedback and question.
Dissertation Diva

Renew Your Dedication in 2007

New Year, renewed dedication to your goals. What do you want to accomplish this year? Use these first weeks of January to articulate your mission for 2007. Do you want to finally finish your dissertation? You can! Here's how:

1. ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT. State clearly what you want from the universe, and from yourself. Be specific. Write out your goal. For example -- if you are in the final stages of the PhD process and need to make that final push -- write: "I want to finish a draft of all five chapters and submit them to my advisor and committee this summer."

2. MOVE FROM "WANT" TO "WILL". Rewrite what you want using the word "will". Your statement now becomes: "I WILL to finish a draft of all five chapters and submit them to my advisor and committee this summer."  Feel the shift internally. You WILL do this. This attitude shift is forward thinking, and does not dwell in the past.

3. CREATE A PLAN TO GET TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. A coach, writing buddy, or support group can help create the plan and keep you accountable. But you can do this alone, too. Set aside time to make the plan. Sit down with your current version of what you have, a calendar, and a sense of optimism.. and plan it out! What will you do each month to get to the goal? From each month's goal, what needs to be done each WEEK? What will you do THIS week?

4. TAKE ACTION. Just do it, whatever it is. Move forward boldly. Stay dedicated and focused! You can do it.

With best wishes for 2007,
Dissertation Diva

Dissertation Diva in the news

Great news! We've been featured on American Historical Association's AHA Today blog. The article is "Dissertation Diva to the Rescue"  by Elisabeth Grant.

"Liena Vayzman is the Ann Landers of ABDs. On her new blog “Ask the Dissertation Diva”, Vayzman dispenses supportive and constructive advice to dissertation writers of all stages..."

Read the rest of the article here.

Thank you for the positive feedback! 

"There is no perfect time to write. There is only now."

This past week, the Dissertation Diva helped two people to the finish line. (Congratulations to them!) October 1 -- this year, Monday October 2 -- marks an official deadline at some graduate schools for submission of the dissertation for a December PhD degree. Experiencing the final week of the process always strengthens my belief that regular, consistent, focused writing over a long period of time is what leads to a finished book-length project. Procrastination never pays. Eventually, the sand falls through the hourglass and the real due date is upon you.  Dissertation writers who have written regularly, consistently, who fought procrastination tooth and claw on a daily basis, get to that last week with only minor edits to do. Proofreading. Pagination. Formatting. But no writing that needs to be done the week before the entire dissertation is due.

I wanted to impress upon those of you in the writing stage the importance of consistent, regular writing sessions (versus the 11th hour kind of writing). I know that writers come up with all sorts of excuses why NOW is not the best time to write.  Perhaps you think you need to have more research done. Or you want more direction from your advisor. Or you're not inspired. The chair isn't comfortable. The weather is too gloomy. Too sunny. It's too loud. Too quiet. Too much data. Too little. Boring. Stalled. Tired. Overwhelmed. Overdue. All those reasons for not writing something today, right now, may be true. These reasons pull on you and convince you to wait for some future moment, when the weather is ideal, your ideas magically align in your brain into preformed complete paragraphs, and your advisor provides you with perfect, timely feedback. You are living in the future imaginary, instead of the real, difficult present.

To return you to the present, I want to share this quote by author Barbara Kingsolver:

"There is no perfect time to write. There is only now."   

Succint inspiration. There is only now. As in today, right after you finish reading this post for inspiration.  Write what you know about your topic, and what you don't know. Write about what you've read, and what you want to read. Write about how hard it is to write. Write your thoughts, questions, doubts, fears, and inklings about your topic. Seize the present. Write. Daily. Write. Now.

Make Back-ups, Not Excuses

"Too busy."
"Forgot."
"Need to figure out how my external drive works."
"I've never had problems with my computer before."
"I have back up CDs...from last month."
"I know I should."

Do these excuses for not backing up your hard-won research and writing files ring a bell?

Some of you have confessed that although you know you should, you don't actually, regularly, and faithfully back up your work!

If this describes you, you need to face the music. Figure out what's stopping you. Tackle this issue directly. Is it a technical glitch? Lack of knowledge? Lack of time? Overwork? Fatigue? A coctail of  stress/fear/anxiety/overwhelm? Are there any underlying issues -- however surreptitious -- that may be causing you to self-sabotage at a critical moment in the completion process?

Maybe you simply don't have a plan of action. Right now, take action. 1. Commit to backing up your work weekly. 2. Mark a specific day and time -- set an alarm if you need to -- and intentionally do a back-up of your computer files to two off-site locations (for example: a server and an external drive/CD's/DVD that you store in a separate building from your computer).

I recommend a full back-up every Friday. Say TGIF and kick back while your computer burns your book draft or dissertation journal to CD, then stash the CD somewhere safe. Get those once-in-a-lifetime media files of that ethnographic ritual onto a portable external drive -- and store it off-site, of course. (Worse Case Scenario Logic: If a thieft takes your computer, s/he will probably take the expensive external drive sitting next to your computer, too, right?)

An easy additional step that can be done daily: Email your dissertation chapters to your own email account. Instant back-up! 

You can also set up free email accounts specifically for storage (e.g. mydissertation@gmail.com).

Now, go back up your files. Your work is worth the effort.

Risk-Averse-ly yours,
Dissertation Diva

#1 Advice for Writer's Block

Dear Dissertation Diva,
I have a peachy fellowship this year. No teaching. All I have to do is finish my dissertation. As you can probably guess since I am writing to you, I do everything except my dissertation. I think I have writer's block. It's not that I can't think of anything to say; it's just that I don't actually write it down... anyway, by the time I stroll into my home office after a leisurely morning procrastinating, it's almost noon and I feel like a slug, not to mention guilty. Soon email and internet surfing take their ugly toll. What's your advice for those us with too much time on our hands and an embarrassing case of writer's block?
Signed, Chip O'Dablock

Dear Chip:

My #1 advice? Set up a writing schedule.

Use a paper or electronic calendar to block out the times you will reserve specifically for this writing project. Treat each writing timeslot as an appointment with yourself.

Enforce strict start and stop times. That means you start on time.. and stop writing when the timer goes off. Use a timer to break down your allocated two hours. Say you choose to write for two hours a day. (And for your case, this small amount of time would be an excellent start.) Divide the two hours into three 40-minute writing sessions. Set a timer for 40 minutes, and make yourself write something, anything, for 40 minutes.

In this way, short intense bursts of writing be more effective than long unproductive days. You write more in less time because you have allocated less time to work and thus must prioritize tasks and distill information. Think standardized test essay – you have 40 minutes: write!

If you are stuck in a lava flow of writer's block, the problem could be trying to write at the wrong time for you -- in the afternoon, for instance, when the body's biorhythms make energy wane. Try an hour first thing in the morning. Yes, Chip, it means getting up early and getting yourself to your conveniently-located office before you think of alll the other things you could be doing. The operative strategy here is shorter writing times coupled with commitment to a regular writing schedule.

Over days and weeks, you will achieve momentum and a healthy addiction to the writing process.

Now stop procrastinating and go set your timer for 40 minutes!

Unblockingly yours,
Dissertation Diva

De-Stress Your Dissertation with Exercise

Tempted to skip that yoga class or morning run because of an upcoming deadline?

Don't.

Think you lack time for an inspiring, relaxing fall hike in the woods because you have to write your dissertation -- the whole thing, today -- which is making you stressed out in the first place?

Think again!

Stress reduction strategies should be a priority during times of intense mental work. And a proven method of natural stress reduction is exercise. Call it physical activity, call it movement, but just do it. Make it something you enjoy, like salsa dancing. Chills you out, like tai chi. Challenges you, like mountain biking. Or lets you read the NY Times or watch CNN, like the treadmill at the university gym. Whatever it is, plug it into your iCal or schedule, and go.

If you don’t exercise, what better time to start than six months before that 300 page beast is due? I started training in karate in the last semester of writing my dissertation at Yale, and it changed my life. Not to mention: helped me maintain laser sharp focus on my writing.  So, if you need motivation to exercise: sign up for a spin, yoga or tai chi class. Train for a 5K. Join a recreational sport team. At least get up from the computer and walk around the block.

Mind/body practices with an element of meditation are particularly helpful to writers. Exercise boosts oxygen flow to the brain, reduces stress, and increases alertness.

If you're not buying my line that exercise is good for your mind and body, then let me trying convincing you from a time management perspective: It is far more efficient to schedule exercise into your busy week than to lose entire days or weeks of work to stress or illness.

Exercise regularly when working on your dissertation, book, or article. It will help you write better, finish faster, and stay sane!

Try This: During your work sessions, take breaks to rest your eyes and stretch your hands, arms, shoulders, neck and back. If you can, take a brisk 15 minute walk outside, using your eyes to focus on items in the distance to counteract the stress of focusing on the computer screen or text on a page.

Healthfully yours,
Dissertation Diva

Welcome!

Struggling to finish your dissertation? Overwhelmed by teaching, publishing, conference planning and research? Stressed out, disorganized, unmotivated or burned out?  Looking for community? Wondering how to make your PhD... FUN?

You've come to the right place! 

I will be sharing my insights and advice from my three years as a dissertation coach with a unique mission: to make the PhD process not just bearable, but empowering.

Some of my favorite things to share wisdom about:

    * finding a topic you love
    * managing your committee
    * getting face time with your advisor
    * connecting with your core passion for the topic
    * time management 101
    * feng shui-ing your dissertation hut
    * prioritizing mind/body wellness
    * balancing teaching,  publishing, and writing
    * jumping headfirst into the job market
    * and much more!

My goal is to empower you with motivation and strategies to take action steps, write regularly, stay in touch with your True North, and make the dissertation process a meaningful intellectual adventure.

Or at least to finish the darn thing and move on with your life.

Please participate in this virtual community: Send me your questions! Post comments! (You don't need to be registered.) Share resources! Bookmark this URL! Tell your friends about it!

COMING SOON: Free Dissertation Support Group Workshops and Seminars using Skypecast!  Modern technology strikes again: Skypecast is like a podcast in real time, using Skype, the computer telephone service. Watch this blog for details.

Encouragingly yours,
Dissertation Diva