July 6, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Let’s say you’ve just returned from a trip. What can you do to move quickly into your writing, with no resistance?
Try these steps:
1. If you didn’t leave a clean desk, clean it now. Sort the mail, the bills, and the magazines quickly and remove them from the desk.
2. If you haven’t made a plan for what you will do the day/night of your return, make a plan now. Is it important to create more order for yourself? Do you need to unpack now and do laundry?
3. If you aren’t going to do any writing on the day of your return, make sure that you review where you will start tomorrow. Be ready to start fresh on the following day. Make this a planning time— do what is necessary to eliminate email and other distractions.
4. Now it’s time to write. Choose to avoid your email.
5. Open your files; get calm; settle in, breathe deeply. This is all abut getting back into the text, but you need to slow down so that you can center and focus
6. Read to settle into your text, but gear up to write. Be ready to move forward.
7. Set your timer—what is the minimum length for this writing session?
Good luck! You’re off and running.
Welcome back!
All the best,
Nancy
P.S. How’s your summer writing progressing? Do you have any tips to share on what is working for you? I’d love to hear from you.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
Posted in academic, anxiety, cleaning, coaching, decluttering, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, focus, getting started, planning, re-start, restart writing, restarting, start writing, staying in the moment, time management, write more easily, writing | Tagged center and focus, plan ahead for returning to the dissertation, returning from vacation, starting to write after a vacation, timer | Leave a Comment »
July 2, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Re-entry into most any job after a vacation is hard, but sometimes coming back to your diss can be particularly punishing.
Your mind is still in that faraway (or close by) place, and you’re feeling not only unsettled, but more than a little resistant to the writing.
Next time—plan for your return.
If you’re taking off for a few days now, here is what to do before you leave:
1. Clean your desk so that you can see a clear space.
There’s nothing worse than coming back to a desk covered with piles of who-knows-what.
2. Decide how you will spend the day of your return.
One client decided that the first day after her holiday would include quickly unpacking and checking her mail. She had arranged to have comments waiting for her when she returned, but she decided she would look at them the following day.
3. Plan the first week of writing, with particularly careful notes for your first writing session. You can always tweak those plans upon return, but it’s important to know that you’re in control and that you’re returning to a specific, manageable task.
5. Decide if you want to take the notes for your first day of writing with you on your trip. If you take them, you don’t have to look at the notes, but you will know they’re available should you need to reassure yourself.
6. When you take your work with you when you go on vacation, do you really plan to do it? If you feel you must take work along, then plan exactly what you can do. What are some small tasks? Make a list of tasks and decide in advance when you will make time to take care of the first item on the list. Do at least one item on your list. If you can’t absolutely commit to doing at least one item, don’t bother with a list. Just enjoy your holiday!
Have fun!
All the best,
Nancy
P.S. You’re having trouble getting back into your writing? How could you prepare for your return? I’d love to hear from you.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
Posted in academic, anxiety, coaching, commitment, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, email, getting started, planning, re-start, restarting, time management, write more easily, writing | Tagged plan ahead for returning to the dissertation, returning from vacation, starting to write after a vacation | Leave a Comment »
July 1, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Happy Canada Day to all of my readers, friends, and clients in Canada!
All the best,
Nancy
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
Posted in dissertation coach, writing, zest | Tagged Canada Day, time for fun | Leave a Comment »
June 28, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Are you feeling dazed because you just realized that summer is half gone?
How can it be almost July? Have you said that, too?
If your goal had been to produce a big chunk of text during this summer (as it is here in the US), you might want to turn on your computer and see where you are. When was the last time you wrote something?
If you need help in moving into action, deadlines and holidays can be a driving force.
For instance, New Year’s Day is a great motivator, but New Year’s Day is long past.
Fortunately, for Americans, another marker is coming up—the Fourth of July. The unofficial mid-point of the summer is upon us.
It’s time for a mid-season check-in. Take out your calendar. Let’s see where we are.
1. List carefully your intentions for the next eight weeks. What writing do you still intend to accomplish?
2. Reasonably and realistically, divide the work into chunks.
3. Start at the end date and plan backward. Assign each chunk of work to a week.
4. Did you shoot past today without even noticing? Sorry–you can’t start yesterday. Using backward planning can keep you from planning a writing binge just before your deadline.
5. What can you live with? If you were overly optimistic in saying what you want to accomplish over the next eight weeks, the next step is to lower your expectations. What is the minimum you can expect of yourself?
6. Adjust your schedule. Carefully match the work to the available time. Check that your schedule and your goals for the next eight weeks are specific and concrete.
7. Write your weekly goals on a big whiteboard or on a large poster board. Place the board where you will see it every day.
There is plenty of time before September for you to accomplish your most important writing goals.
What are you waiting for? Let the Fourth of July jar you into action.
Happy writing!
Nancy
P.S. Still feeling blind-sided by the way time has past you by? Check out my website. Drop me a line. There seems to be a lot of that dazed-feeling-because-summer-is-half over going around just now.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
Posted in academic, coaching, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, goals, motivation, planning, realistic goals, restart writing, time, time management, writing | Tagged adjust schedule, backward planning, dissertation goals, Fourth of July, lower expectations, make goals visible, summer half gone, summer writing, wasted time, write goals on a whiteboard | Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Writing is easier for me when I’m in flow. That is, when I feel some challenge in expressing the content and producing text, but, even though challenged, I know that I have the skills that are needed.
The tricky part is getting into flow.
1. To move into flow, write more quickly.
Until I’m in flow, I yield to distraction and look for any opportunity to make a break for it.
This is what works for me. To stick with the writing long enough to be in flow, I write as fast as I can, making odd marginal notes, getting as much down on paper as quickly as I can. The more text, the better. As the quantity of text mounts, it will be evident to my ole Lizard Brain that I’m not in danger. No reason to bolt. The more text I have, the more likely I am to keep at it.
2. To move into flow, build some urgency.
If you’re like me, unless we feel that there’s some urgency surrounding our writing, we can be entirely too casual about producing text and producing it fairly quickly.
Here’s a tip: To build some urgency, make your schedule visible. It’s easy to keep your head in the sand about deadlines or the passage of time. To keep time relevant, put your weekly and daily goals on a White Board. Having the daily task or goal on the board not only gives you a visual reminder of what you have to do this week, but also allows you to erase what you have finished.
3. To produce more text, write at odd moments.
Riding the subway or train presents odd moments but often we aren’t equipped to write when we’re commuting. One of my marvelous clients has tried to write on her laptop during her commute, but the laptop was more of an obstacle than a help. The size and weight made it cumbersome, giving her a backache. Determined to make use of the otherwise lost time, she bought a Netbook—one of those new lightweight, small very portable laptops. She can carry the less-than-three-pound laptop in her bag, and its ten-inch width lets her write while she’s scrunched in a seat on the commuter train.
4. To seize the present, remove obstacles to writing.
Are there some obstacles keeping you from writing? Have you been ignoring your writing project?
Read my Smart Tips for Writers newsletter that will be sent out this coming Tuesday. The main article is “The Ignored Writing Project: Six Tips to Get You Back into Action.”
All the best,
Nancy
P.S. You haven’t signed up to receive Smart Tips? That’s easily remedied—go to my website at nancy@nancywhichard.com and sign up.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
Posted in Lizard Brain, Smart Tips, coaching, deadline, dissertation coach, distractions, flow, productivity, structures, time management, travel, urgency, write more easily | Tagged build urgency, commuting, flow, make use of odd moments, make writing easy, Netbook, remove obstacles, visual reminders, write quickly | Leave a Comment »
May 10, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Have you gone absent from your dissertation? As far as your advisor is concerned, have you just disappeared? When did you last contact your advisor? Is hiding out weighing heavily on you?
We all have reasons for putting off doing something as big and seemingly endless as writing a dissertation, but usually the reasons seem less important when put up against the mounting agony that comes from completely ignoring the writing project.
If you’ve been ignoring your dissertation to such a degree that getting back to work on it now looks really hard, maybe impossible, I think I can help. The May issue of my free e-newsletter Smart Tips for Writers goes out this week. The main article is “The Ignored Writing Project: Six Tips to Get You Back into Action.”
Are you signed up to receive Smart Tips? Sign up at my website at nancy@nancywhichard.com to receive the May issue.
All the best,
Nancy
P.S. Even if you’re working steadily, or occasionally, on your diss, the tips in the May issue of Smart Tips for Writers can be of help to you, too. Sign up at www.nancywhichard.com.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
Posted in academic, accountability, coaching, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, getting started, procrastination, re-start, reasons for not writing, resilience, writing | Tagged dissertation AWOL, Smart Tips for Writers, stop hiding out | Leave a Comment »
May 6, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
What are the possibilities if you wrote under the assumption that you could not fail?
Some blogs tell you in bulleted points what’s best for you if you want to finish your dissertation.
Other blogs share golden nuggets in more reflective ways.
Yesterday a colleague mentioned an incident in the news that sounded to me as if it came straight out of John Irving’s novel The World According to Garp.
Googling John Irving to see what he’s been up to, I came across a post at http://www.bittysoda.com/blog/2005/08/world-according-to-john-irving.html
The blogger, Jessica Liese, wrote this post some time ago after attending a reading by writer John Irving.
At the reading, Irving, who wears his celebrity as a rock star, admitted that from time to time he experienced indecision and would then find himself “hopping from project to project.”
Even though Irving had admitted to an occasional bit of writer’s block, Jessica Liese was enthralled by the enormity of Irving’s sense of self. She said that Irving has “an ego [that] is palpable.” That sense of greatness must make him sure he will never fail.
The blogger’s advise to herself is applicable to writers of dissertations. She says, “I think maybe operating under the notion that I’m awesome is the only way I’ll ever accomplish the huge task of finishing a novel.”
What could you achieve if you assumed you could not fail?
Give it a try! Shut down your internal critic. Tell ole Lizard Brain to lumber off, and then pump up your ego and write.
50 Useful Blogs for Writers
Do you have a couple of blogs that you read religiously? What blogs come to you as a feed? I have a few, some on writing and others that are wisely applicable beyond their subject matter.
Have you come across “50 Useful Blogs for Writers”
(http://www.wordskit.com/blog/writing/50-useful-blogs-for-writers/)?
I was surprised to receive an email from the blog’s writer, Randy L Ray, saying that he had included my blog (www.successfulwritingtips.com) in his list of 50.
Are there some blogs missing from the list that you think should be included? I would love to hear which blogs hold value for you.
Until next time,
Nancy
P.S. My newsletter Smart Tips for Writers is going out soon. To receive your free copy, go to my website at www.nancywhichard.com and sign up.
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
©Copyright 2009 by Nancy Whichard and NWCoaching.
All Rights Reserved. This blog post may not be reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without attribution to Nancy Whichard, PhD, PCC.
Posted in Blogs, Google, Lizard Brain, Smart Tips, academic, acting as if, coaching, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, positive psychology, self-criticism, take charge | Tagged act as if you’re a great writer, assume that you are awesome, Smart Tips, useful blogs for writers, write as if you couldn’t fail | Leave a Comment »
April 21, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
—Aristotle
How are you doing with building your writing habit? Are you writing your dissertation?
It’s easy to play around on email or to read and even respond to blogs, but sitting down and starting a writing session is hard. I talk every day with people engaged in serious, difficult research and analysis. Most have demanding advisors. A writing session can come with high-stakes. Moving into it can be an intricate maneuver.
In my March newsletter of Smart Tips for Writers, I wrote about the importance of putting a routine in place. I’ve had feedback from several people, saying that they found my plan helpful. One person said that “developing daily routines” had “helped disconnect the mental inertia,” and “writing in small sections” made “the task more manageable.”
Not only is it important to have a sequence of steps preparing you and leading you to your writing session, but it’s also important that you have a block of time that you’ve given over to the writing. Some have given a daily block of 4 hours, others give 2 hours; another person with a 1 year-old, and a 1 ½ hour commute to a major university where she teaches is committing to 15 minutes every morning before she leaves home. However long or short the block of time, working on your dissertation during that time period must be a daily action. Consistency. Practice, practice, practice.
The people who joined my Dissertation Boot Camp say that establishing the writing habit has been pivotal to their moving closer to the goal of finishing their dissertation.
Do you have the habit? Are you writing daily? Go to my website (www.nancywhichard.com). Check out my Dissertation Boot Camp, and sign up for my Smart Tips for Writers Newsletter.
I’d love to hear what has been instrumental to your success. What do you have in place that is serving your goal?
Until next time,
Nancy
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
©Copyright 2009 by Nancy Whichard and NWCoaching.
All Rights Reserved. This blog post may not be reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without attribution to Nancy Whichard, PhD, PCC.
Posted in Smart Tips, academic, acting as if, advisor, coaching, commitment, determination, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation boot camp, dissertation writing, following through, getting started, goals, inertia, perseverance, procrastination, re-start, research, restart writing, structures, writing, dissertation | Tagged daily routines, get started writing, habit, practice, repeat, write daily | 4 Comments »
March 19, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Are you one of the many overworked, stressed people trying to write a dissertation at the same time that you’re holding down a demanding job? Is each day more complicated than the day before?
If you’ve been teaching as well as trying to find time to write, this week may be what you’ve been waiting for. Is it Spring Break for you?
For a while, you won’t have the burden of preparing to teach / dealing with students / dealing with the critical self-questioning after teaching a class / dealing with colleagues.
During at least some of Spring Break, you can push aside almost everything else to focus on your writing and still have time to exercise, smile inwardly, and, if you’re in a place where you have a change of seasons, watch for a squirrel or a tulip.
A Snow Day can produce a similar change in mood and perspective for a writer. Just two weeks ago here in the Washington DC metropolitan area, the month of March came in with a Snow Day, and it was heavenly. I’ve seldom heard anyone speak ill of a snow day. Given how hard everyone works, a snow day can be a miniature Spring Break, especially for all of us who no longer have Spring Breaks.
Occasionally over the last few years on the cul-de-sac where I live, I’ve seen a fox or two wander about. On the Snow Day, there it was! The fox meandered about the street, sidewalk, and yards, acting as if the world was as it should be, quiet, undisturbed, no cars carrying children to the grade school at the end of the street, nothing moving.
A Snow Day helps you move away from the ordinary. The usual doesn’t hold; you aren’t immediately drawn to email or your cell phone. Writing seems easier to do.
Snow Days are short-lived and, like Spring Breaks, even nonexistent for many people. You may have to do something else in order to focus on your important job of writing. To focus and write may require an extraordinary move.
Taking leave from her job, one of my clients flew across the country to be near her advisor, courageously and brilliantly giving herself time and space to work on her dissertation.
It’s coming toward the end of the time she had planned to stay. She says that staying an additional two weeks would be very helpful. If she returns home, she risks being consumed by her regular job and the commute. Regardless of what she decides, her initial choice to make a bold change in her life, even if for only a while, has made all the difference. She broke out of a huge stall and is now writing. She’s producing text.
To give you the chance to write, distance may be what you need—distance and difference. Snow cover gives difference; miles give distance; Spring Break can do both.
How are you creating difference and distance for yourself? How could that work for you and help you move forward with your dissertation? I’d love to hear from you.
Be courageous and put distance between you and the distractions. Don’t go back to the ordinary and usual until you have to.
Successful writing!
Nancy
P.S. Boot Camp for writers is a great way to create a writing habit. Would a strong writing habit be a change for the better for you?
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
©Copyright 2009 by Nancy Whichard and NWCoaching.
All Rights Reserved. This blog post may not be reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without attribution to Nancy Whichard, PhD, PCC.
Posted in academic, brave, coaching, courage, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, distractions, foxes, perseverance, productivity, restart writing, self-care, teaching writing | 2 Comments »
March 9, 2009 by Nancy Whichard
Have you written a section or a chapter in your dissertation that during the writing you were engaged and even in flow, but later when you read it over, you aren’t particularly in awe?
In fact, you realize you’re just recounting a narrative. Or basically writing description, and it isn’t even good description. It’s short. It’s choppy. It’s obvious.
As you read the chapter, you imagine your educated reader looking up from the text and mouthing those two scary words– “So what?”
What do you do? Lots of hand wringing? Lots of avoidance?
Actually, the question “So what?” isn’t such a bad one, provided you ask it before your reader does. You want a more critical approach so what is your strategy? What do you do?
If you want to arrive at a deeper meaning in your text, what questions do you ask yourself?
1. Fill in the blank: The point of this chapter is _________. Work at getting succinct language that completes that sentence.
2. Ask “What’s urgent here? What is critical?” No matter what else the reader might get from your chapter, what do you think is absolutely crucial that the reader understands?
3. List the key terms that come to your mind about the chapter. If you’re trying to come up with a concept, name what comes to mind as you read each paragraph. Get as many terms down on your list as you can and then go through and see which words resonate with you. Choose the top key terms and see which ones capture what you’re trying to describe or gives additional meaning.
4. Look at what else is out there—what else has been written that you can draw on? Continue to read and turn this over in your mind. Give your brain a little time to make the clever connections it can make when given a chance.
5. Give yourself a deadline—by what day will you have your new approach or new outline that has a clear, critical frame? Give yourself time to work, but also know that you will come up with something that’s good enough or perhaps even spectacular by a definite day.
6. And cheers for you—you asked and answered “So what?”
When you find that what you’ve written doesn’t make the grade, step aside and look at it as if someone else had written it. What questions would you ask that someone else to elicit a new, critical view of the text?
Keep writing!
Nancy
P.S. How are you doing on establishing a powerful writing habit?
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation and Academic Career Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
©Copyright 2009 by Nancy Whichard and NWCoaching.
All Rights Reserved. This blog post may not be reproduced in
whole or in part in any form without attribution to Nancy Whichard, PhD, PCC.
Posted in academic, deadline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, focus, resources, strategies, take charge, take stock | Tagged asking questions, clarity, concept, Critical approach, key terms, so what?, succinctness | 1 Comment »
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