Writing is not for the weak of heart. Writing is often a dangerous act, requiring all of the mental toughness and grit you can muster. And no one knows that more than my clients—those writing dissertations and those who are now pushing on with writing their books or writing grant applications or articles. Some of [...]
Archive for the ‘acting as if’ Category
Typing with two fingers takes true grit
Posted in academic, acting as if, beliefs, brave, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, perseverance, resilience, self-discipline, self-sabotage, using your strengths, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged Catastrophize, grit, internal obstacles to writing, Lizard Brain, mental toughness, persevere, thesis, writing, Writing and Editing, writing is scary on February 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Delivering the Dissertation: Dissertation Writer as Showrunner
Posted in acting as if, coaching, deadline, discipline, dissertation advisors, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, following through, goals, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, planning, self-discipline, showing up, structures, take charge, time, time management, top strengths, using your strengths, writing schedule, tagged dissertation writer, leadership, organize, plan, project manager, schedule, showrunner, time management, use your strengths on August 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Have you heard of a “showrunner”? Writers in the TV industry are now expected also to manage—or to have the skills and strengths that would allow them to manage. According to John Wells, Writers Guild of America West president and writer/producer of E.R., Third Watch, and West Wing, it is virtually impossible to be just a writer [...]
Be Inspired: Execute a Smoking-Hot Dissertation Boot Camp
Posted in acting as if, boot camp, coaching, commitment, courage, determination, discipline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, focus, goals, mental toughness, motivation, perseverance, showing up, using your strengths, tagged being in the zone, focusing, inspired by Winter Olympics, smoking-hot and smoking-fast athletes, smoking-hot Dissertation Boot Camp on February 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
How inspired are you by watching the Winter Olympics? What a thrill to see the moguls skiers come down the slope so fast it seems as if the screen must be on fast-forward. Smoking fast, the commentator says. We figured, without hearing the commentator say it, that these skiers are “on the edge of out of [...]
Writing the Dissertation: Learning how to do something you didn’t know how to do, Part 2
Posted in academic, acting as if, brave, courage, creativity, discourse, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, higher education, practice writing, resilience, teaching writing, top strengths, trusting yourself, underprepared students, using your strengths, tagged bluff, dissertation coach, Learning how to do something you didn’t know how to do, learning to write a dissertation, learning to write an argument, rhetorical conventions, self-taught writer, writing as if you know what you’re doing, writing instruction on September 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Dissertation writers are largely self-taught academic writers, and the learning process can be a bold and daring adventure. Over the years many of my dissertation coaching clients talk about the challenges in writing academic discourse. Academic writing is its own special discourse, with its own particular conventions. My dissertation coaching clients largely learn this discourse [...]
Blogs for Writers: Operate under the Assumption that You’re Awesome
Posted in academic, acting as if, Blogs, coaching, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, Google, Lizard Brain, positive psychology, self-criticism, Smart Tips, take charge, Uncategorized, 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 on May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
“We are what we repeatedly do”: Are You a Writer or . . . . Something Else?
Posted in 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, Smart Tips, structures, writing, dissertation, tagged daily routines, get started writing, habit, practice, repeat, write daily on April 21, 2009 | 4 Comments »
“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. [...]
For Motivation, Change Your Perspective: Your Dissertation as a Dog and You as the Dog Whisperer
Posted in acting as if, discipline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, goals, mental toughness, motivation, start writing, take charge, You Tube, tagged assertive, change your perspective, playfully naming your dissertation, reframing on January 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Mental toughness as the way to finish a dissertation is all well and good, but what if you’re just not feeling particularly tough? Is “powering through” your work not realistic for you right now, given how even the phrase “power through” makes you snarl? What would help you lean into your work? What can you [...]
To Get Started Writing and To Keep Writing, Hang out with Hard-Working Writers
Posted in acting as if, brave, coaching, courage, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, motivation, re-start, restart writing, writing, tagged competition, courage, following a good model, friends, getting started writing, taking chances on July 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Writing can be like rowing a kayak. This past week-end my husband and I visited long-time friends at their lake house. In the early evening, when it was a little cooler, they suggested it would be a good time to go out on the water. I hadn’t really noticed that the only boats available were [...]
What Is Your Writing State? Are You in Lockdown or Maybe in Maine?
Posted in acting as if, creativity, determination, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, mental toughness, motivation, productivity, strategies, tagged choose a state of mind to help you write, go public on December 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Getting some writing done this week will happen only if you let people know that you’re using every spare minute to write. You need to go public and let others know that you aren’t kidding. Then throw yourself into your writing. One person I know says that for her status on Facebook this week, she [...]
