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Archive for the ‘dissertation advisors’ Category

An ABD student wrote to me about her advisor’s generous rewriting of the dissertation text.  According to the student, the advisor doesn’t change the thought, only the language.  
The ABD student recognizes that the advisor’s writing is superior to her own, Her question is if the advisor has rewritten a lot of the language of the [...]

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Procrastinating on finishing your dissertation’s conclusion?  If so, you have company.  Writing the conclusion can be a time when many people clutch.
Needing Feedback?
One reason why many dissertation writers start to slow down when they’re at this point is that they aren’t getting feedback from their advisor or mentor.  If you don’t have a sense that [...]

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Is your university enforcing hard deadlines for finishing dissertations?  Are you getting any signals from your university about what might be ahead for you? Has your advisor become more critical of your work?
Every day I talk with dissertation clients who are trying hard to finish their doctoral degree.  This week several people sounded a similarly unsettling [...]

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What do you want from your advisor that will make your life as a writer easier? 
Great feedback, some feedback, or maybe just feedback once in a while?  How about an email saying hello?
If you’re not getting feedback or not even getting answers to your straight-forward questions, here’s one idea.  I’m not advising that you take [...]

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The doctoral experience is rife with minefields and potholes and all other kinds of things you don’t want to step in.
It’s important to be politically savvy in order to make your way to the other side of this experience. 
1.  Are you writing for your dissertation advisor?  If you’re not writing for your dissertation advisor, then [...]

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How would you like to make 20 percent more progress on your dissertation than you’re now making?
Bob Emmons, professor at the University of California, Davis, has found that having a grateful attitude can make that possible. 
The author of Thanks!  How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Prof. Emmons has made amazing research findings [...]

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An ABD’s dilemmas with her writing underscore for me the problems dissertation writers have when they’re isolated from campus and from an advisor during the dissertation process.
As a dissertation coach, I don’t fix people’s writing, but I listen, and if a client sends me some text, I see what the writing looks like. 
This morning a [...]

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Family and friends tend to give advice to ABD’s.  It’s usually well-meaning.  Sometimes it comes from personal experience and sometimes not. 
Rarely does it help.
What I often hear from my dissertation clients is how difficult it is for them to deal with family members’ over-investment in the dissertation process. 
Most ABD’s say that their family or others [...]

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Dissertation writers occasionally come to an impasse, unsure of which way to go next.  You’ve probably been in this position.  You want to move forward, but it may seem prudent to wait—wait to see what your committee chair or mentor says, wait until you have a lot more time to read or go through your [...]

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There are lots of reasons not to write, or so I hear:
1.  Midwinter blahs.  If you live in an area where January and February are gray and cold, it can be hard to push ahead on your writing.
2.  Seasonal fatigue—oh, wait, that was the roadblock in December. 
No longer an excuse!
3.  Low motivation.  When was the [...]

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