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Archive for September, 2009

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 , , , , , , , , 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 by doing.

What they are asked to do and the way they feel their way along, trying to put into practice what they think they’re being asked to do, is not unlike underprepared students in their first year or years of college.

Professors and instructors in composition and rhetoric fields are familiar with David Bartholomae’s article “Inventing the University.” Bartholomae defines how beginning college writers must act as if they know what they’re doing, even if they don’t.

The article opens in this way: “Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion–  .  .  . or a branch of it, like History or Anthropology or Economics or English. He has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community.” 

Bartholomae says that students can’t wait to write academic discourse until after they have learned more or can write comfortably: “they must dare to speak it, or to carry off the bluff, since speaking and writing will most certainly be required long before the skill is ‘learned.’”

Likewise, my dissertation coaching clients have to boldly write and rewrite. Dare to write.

Dare to carry off the bluff.

Warm regards,

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.usingyourstrengths.com

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Writing the Dissertation: Learning how to do something you didn’t know how to do, Part 1

Posted in academic, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, fears, higher education, memories, practice writing, teaching writing, underprepared students, using your strengths, write more easily, writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »

 When and how do we acquire the skills, voice, critical perspectives, and confidence needed for successful writing?   Specifically to write successfully a dissertation and, for that matter, the book that follows the dissertation?

Years ago as a first-year college student, I tested out of composition class, but all students at my university were required to take at least one semester of writing, so I took an advanced writing class.  It’s possible that I may have been required to write an argument, but I don’t remember any such formal assignment.  Maybe I’ve conveniently forgotten it since it would have been a painful process for me.  I came to the university understanding only vaguely what would be required in the demanding, competitive world of a good, large university.  

I think I was a decent writer at that time, but not very analytical.  I had a lot to learn. 

I recall a few assignments from that class–two had to do with describing a place.  I suppose I remember those assignments because it was the kind of writing that I had always enjoyed, but I wonder if in that class I was ever assigned to do something I didn’t already  know how to do, something that would help me write an extended argument.

Throughout my undergraduate years, I never felt confident as a writer, and years later, when I was ready to write my master’s thesis, I recall being very unsure about what I was supposed to do.  And that feeling was magnified even more by the time I began my dissertation.

I remember being afraid, but my strengths of curiosity, love of learning, and perseverance were helpful… at times…when I remembered to call on them.

Student writers in undergraduate school and graduate  school, dissertators, academicians, and professional writers all need to know how to use different rhetorical strategies and how to write in specific discourses.

Learning those skills is hard work, and teaching those skills and the type of writing in which those skills are learned is a bear, especially in terms of the paper load.

Is it a student’s responsibility to teach herself?  Maybe, but when is she or he told that it’s her job or how does she pick up on the cues of what kind of writing will serve her best?

How did you become a good writer?  I’d love to hear from you!

Warm regards,
Nancy
Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

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3 Tips for Restarting Your Dissertation

Posted in coaching, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, practice writing, re-group, re-start, restart writing, showing up, write more easily, writing habit, tagged , , , , , , , on September 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

For sundry reasons, several dissertation coaching clients are now looking around and saying, “What happened to the last three months of my life, how can September be nearly over, and what do I do now?”

Bemoaning the lack of progress you’ve made on your dissertation doesn’t help.  Starting again is the key.  And not just starting, but forming a daily writing habit.  

If you’ve been reading my blog on most any given day, you know that I advocate forming a daily writing habit as the best way to produce text and to finish your dissertation.

 Practicing that habit is critical. 

Just as musicians have to practice in order to play well, writers have to practice their writing habit in order to produce a finished document.

I came across The Practice Notebook, a blog designed to help professional musicians and music students alike to develop good practice habits. And even better, it’s to help musicians “make the most of limited practice time, by making your practice as efficient as possible.” 

The tips are all good.  With apologies and thanks to the practice notebook blogger, I have rewritten three tips particularly applicable to dissertation writers who are restarting their dissertations after time off.

The initial goal in restarting your writing is to wake up your brain, tame your space, and tame yourself.

 1.  When you make your plan to restart, go light on those first few writing sessions.  Short is good when you’re just re-starting.  If you can last through 15 minutes the first day, you’re on your way. 

 2. If you are a bit out of practice with your dissertation writing and can’t detect any signals between your brain and fingers, do some warm ups.  Start by making a list. Do some free writing.  Write a haiku.   

 3.  When you’re restarting your dissertation writing with the intention of getting your dissertation writing habit up and running, it’s o.k. to write in your monkey jammies.  What?  You don’t have monkey jammies? O.k., then, how about writing in your knit sleep pants?  They’re good, too. Make yourself comfortable and reward yourself for showing up.

 Go gently, but firmly and keep coming back.

 Dissertation coaching can help you restart your dissertation, too.

 All good wishes,

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

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Dissertation Coaching Can Help in Critical Ways

Posted in accountability, coaching, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, planning, productivity, showing up, Smart Tips, time management, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Have you wondered how a dissertation coach could be of help to you?

A week ago, I received an email from a person who had almost given up on her dissertation.  She said, “There is so much baggage that arises whenever I even think about finishing (I’m stupid, my massive debts, fear of the future . . . ) that the notion itself magnetically repels me into a state of serial procrastination.”

I frequently receive email of this kind.  Many ABD’s  who contact me feel isolated and have started to catastrophize. 

Based on my experience, Dissertation Boot Camp and Dissertation Coaching give strategically focused approaches that lead to finished dissertations.

To people who are stuck and not working on their dissertations, I say:  “As awful as you feel and as dreadful as I feel for you, I know that writing each day for a two-week period will go a long way toward your establishing a writing habit.  And regular coaching will be of critical help.” 

• Dissertation Boot Camp and Dissertation Coaching are the quickest and most effective ways of helping you form a daily writing habit.

• Forming a daily writing habit is essential to your success.

• Dissertation Boot Camp and Dissertation Coaching will help you to establish daily, manageable  goals for your writing sessions.

• After establishing daily goals, take the next step and break your goals into daily plans with specifics.  Having a plan with specifics will make showing up and actually writing something each day easier than it has ever been before for you. 

• To continue to solidify your writing habit, set a specific time for when you will start your writing session. 

• Write into your plan how long your writing session will be, how long your breaks will be, and when you will take a day off.  Plan to take time off to relax and to be with other people. 

• If you have committed to the Dissertation Boot Camp approach, you will be accountable for each writing session.  Did you do what you said you would do?  What worked?  What didn’t work?  What needs fixing?

• Put in writing what you will work on during the next writing session.  Be specific– give yourself key words or bullet points to work from.

•If you, too, want to find a way into your dissertation, consider dissertation coaching. 

All good wishes,

Nancy

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

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Have You Practiced Your Dissertation Writing Yet Today?

Posted in coaching, discipline, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, getting started, habit, perseverance, practice writing, restart writing, Smart Tips, start writing, tagged , , , , on September 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

I have had the same piano tuner for years.  Each time he comes for the yearly tuning, he grumbles that he really should come twice a year but, nevertheless, my Yamaha, he proudly says, continues to hold its tune.  When he finishes, he triumphantly plays several measures and then grandly declares, “Your piano is now ready for your morning practice.”

When I urge my dissertation coaching clients to write daily, I often think of my piano tuner’s charming call to daily piano practice.

I encourage my clients to establish a writing habit, one that you do routinely as if it were any other kind of job, and to look at it as a practice that you do each day.  Recently a dissertation coaching client said, “I’ve found it useful to take your idea of a ‘writing practice (or daily writing habit)’ and think about it quite literally as a practice, that is, like practicing an instrument.  Thinking about writing in this way has helped me to release my perfectionist tendencies a bit, allowing me to see my mistakes as small things that will improve the more I ‘practice.’”

My dissertation coaching client has put into “practice” exactly what I had hoped she would, adopting a perspective that I think would help most writers. 

When you revise, you can work at  making better word choices or fixing problems, but during most writing sessions, the goal should be to follow a thought, expand an idea, and keep the writing going. For now, produce text. Everything is fixable later on.

Practicing your writing is like practicing the piano.  Put in the time each day, and before long, you’ll start to see (hear) the difference. 

Have you had your morning practice yet today?

Nancy

P.S.  Are you attempting to tame your perfectionist inner critic? You can change your way of thinking by changing your perspective.  I’d love to hear from you.

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

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Share Some Kind Words with Your Dissertating Siblings and Friends: Support Is Critical

Posted in advisor, Blogs, coaching, dissertation advisors, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, hope, positive psychology, Smart Tips, using your strengths, tagged , , , , , , on September 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Georgetown University Professor Deborah Tannen writes about the supportive relationship she has with her two sisters.

In the Sept. 6, 2009 Washington Post, Tannen says that she sends them her manuscripts for their comments and once a book is published, she waits eagerly, yet nervously, for their response.

After reading a draft and sending Deborah Tannen some comments, one of her sisters also followed up with an email saying, “Stop reading this, and go back to writing your book.  Love, Mim.”

Professor Tannen says that she has posted that email over her writing desk, and the words continue to support her and help keep her on task.
 
I’ve always missed having a sister, but I know there are many other ways to have that same kind of support.

A client told me recently how anxious she had been about sending a draft to her advisor, but the kind, encouraging words as well as the constructive comments that accompanied the draft when the advisor sent it back buoyed my client and gave her the will to jump back into her work.

My dissertation coaching convinces me of the support writers need.  Often, in coaching I ask my clients to talk through what they are going to write when they get off of the phone with me.  Rehearsing the writing clarifies my client’s ideas and also engages my clients, reminding them of why they wanted to write about this particular idea and reassuring them that they do know what they will do next.

Frequently, clients also give me something in return.  After asking questions that helped a client become enthusiastic and self-confident about the immediate task ahead, she said, “I’m so glad I work with you.” 

I may not have a sister who sends me emails that I can post on my coaching table, but I did write down that comment and I put it where I can see it every day.

A blog post entitled “Instant mood lifter:  thank someone for a job well done”  (June 24, 2009) by the very successful Escape from Cubicle Nation blogger Pamela Slim revealed that she was moved to tears by receiving kind, thoughtful praise via a tweet.  Just goes to show you, doesn’t it? 

She said, “Kindness is not a little thing.  It is not fluffy, unicorn and rainbow coachy stuff.  Kindness heals.”

Have you told anyone recently that you appreciate their help or sent someone hard at work on a big and stressful project a supportive email?  It’s a wonderful thing to do. 

Have a great week.

All good wishes,

Nancy

P.S. I appreciate your reading my blog.  It means a great deal to me.  And I always appreciate your comments.

P.S.S.  Smart Tips for Writers, my online newsletter, goes out this week.  Register today at my website:  www.nancywhichard.com.

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net
www.smarttipsforwriters.com

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How to Write a Dissertation Quickly

Posted in academic, accountability, coaching, commitment, deadline, dissertation boot camp, dissertation coach, dissertation writing, finishing the dissertation, getting started, gremlin, mental toughness, perseverance, procrastination, re-group, re-start, restart writing, restarting, Smart Tips, start writing, top strengths, using your strengths, write more easily, writing, writing, dissertation, tagged , , , , , , , on September 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

“How can I do a dissertation quickly,” asked a would-be dissertator.  Quickly, relative to what?  Relative to not doing it at all?  Quickly in terms of jumping back into the process and finishing it up? How rigorous is your university?  How demanding is your advisor?

All of these questions are relevant, but first you have to answer this question:  Are you writing now?

When people come to me wanting help with their dissertations, they most usually have been procrastinating and not only are they not writing daily, they aren’t writing much at all.  It’s usually been a month or three months or ages since they’ve produced a page or two.

To do a dissertation quickly or to do a dissertation at all, you have to write and you have to write consistently.

For people who have found writing to be anathema or repellent, I offer a jump-into-the-deep-end-of-the-pool exercise to help them establish a writing habit — Dissertation Boot Camp.

In addition to dissertation coaching, Boot Camp is the shove many would-be writers need.

Dissertation Boot Campers benefit from these guidelines:
1.  Commit to a daily writing session of a specific length;
2.  Start that daily writing as early in the day as possible, before emailing and before running errands and before cleaning up the kitchen or the bathroom;
3.  Be accountable on a daily basis, recording whether the goal for the day was met;
4.  Plan something resembling a week-end during the Boot Camp.
5.  Look forward to continuing with weekly coaching after Boot Camp to maintain strong accountability.

My job is to provide oversight, support, help with the accountability factor, and to offer whatever I can based on the experiences of my other clients.

Not only do you want to write your dissertation, quickly or otherwise, but you also want to have increased your character strengths, enhanced your writing and analytical skills, and expanded your intellectual purview—all of which you can use after you have your PhD.

Writing your dissertation gives you the opportunity
1.  To learn how to push back against that perfectionist internal critic and other destructive gremlins;
2.  To put procrastination in its place;
3.  To discover how to persevere, even if perseverance is not your top strength;
4.  To know your best “writing you”—the writer who takes to the bank the skill of taking on a writing project, scheduling it, writing it well enough and relatively quickly, and meeting deadlines.

When you’re finished once and for all with your dissertation, you want to have a success strategy in place – in the bank– that you can draw on for your future writing projects.

To finish your dissertation quickly, you need a robust writing habit.  Are you writing consistently?  I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Nancy

P.S.  Smart Tips for Writers, my e-newsletter, goes out next week.  If you aren’t subscribed, sign up at my website: www.nancywhichard.com.

Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC

Your International Dissertation Coach and Academic Career Coach

www.nancywhichard.com
www.usingyourstrengths.com
www.dissertationbootcamp.net

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