Drafts
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Caution: Switchback Curves Ahead!
If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there. That would seem like an obvious statement, but with most types of writing there is no way to meet a goal or to complete the project without a well-considered idea of what the project is or what it should look like when…
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Carrots and Sticks
How should we approach setting goals to make the most out of them? Setting goals for our work is only helpful insofar as the goals we set are ambitious enough to propel us but realistic enough that we can reasonably meet them without getting discouraged. Sustainability is the key here. If you set a series…
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Avoid Tangents
Avoid tangents. Stay focused on your writing. When you have a big writing project like a dissertation, it’s easy to let yourself get distracted. The best way to keep writing is to keep focused. If something is not a direct connection to what you’re writing now, ignore it. Remember, you’re not writing a manifesto. You’re…
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Find Another Reader for Your Work
You get only one chance to make a first impression with your writing, be that a dissertation, an article, or a book. While mastering your word-processor’s editing and formatting tools can help you to present your work more professionally, a key component of the professional presentation you must strive towards is to avoid letting sloppiness…
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Finding Your Writing Place
If you do not trust yourself to stay on task, go to a public place where people can see you so you won’t not do what you set out to do, which is WRITE. Quiet places can include libraries, offices, and cafes (during non-peak times). Sometimes, when the weather is nice, sitting outside in a…
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Recovering from Setbacks
Your computer will fail at some point while you’re writing your dissertation. Your schedule will collapse on top of you despite your best intentions. You will receive unexpected and sometimes negative feedback on your work. While you cannot control the world around you, you can control how you react to setbacks and other emergencies that…
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Schedule Your Writing Time
To help you stay focused, schedule your writing times on your actual calendar like you would an important appointment. Do NOT say you have “all day” when you can only focus for short periods of time. Schedule hour blocks and then get up, meditate, grab a tea/coffee/soda/water, stretch, walk/run, but keep the breaks to 15…
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Always Have a Backup!
Who hasn’t been here? You’ve been dissertating for hours, productively making your way through a chapter, presenting your evidence, crafting your arguments, and generally achieving the ideal of dissertation writing. Without warning, the power in your apartment goes out and your computer screen turns black. You let your laptop’s battery run down or you’re working…
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The Conservation of Momentum
In physics, the momentum of a system is said to remain constant so long as there are no outside forces acting on that system. The same law applies in writing – a dissertation, an article, or any other project. Once we begin writing, we can speed through; we’re on a roll, steadily making our way…
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Use Your Software’s Formatting and Editing Tools
One of the most important things that dissertation, article, and book writers can do for themselves is to present their hard-earned texts in a professional manner. Sloppy presentation of an otherwise powerful text is like going to a formal wedding in yoga pants. No one cares what’s on the inside when the outside is inappropriate.…