writing process
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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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The Power of a Word Count Goal – A Lesson from NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo for short. The goal that many people take up is to write a 50,000 word novel in just one month. Sound crazy? Sound impossible? In 2015, 431,626 inspiring writers participated, and this year the number looks to be close to half a million people. As someone who…
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Try Dictating Your Ideas When You Feel Stuck
Try dictating your ideas when you feel stuck. If you’re blocked and unable to physically write, try dictating your ideas on your Smartphone or through Naturally Dragon Speaking. Once you have a transcription of your ideas, you have a workable draft that you can begin reworking and revising.
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Idea for Managing a Large Writing Project
Think of a large writing project as a series of written out lectures. If you are daunted by the idea of writing a topic as large as a dissertation, then try to think of it as a written series of lectures on your topic that you could TEACH to many people. Do not get paralyzed…
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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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Chocolate Method for Writer’s Block
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Write Every Day
Write every day – even if it’s only for an hour broken into smaller segments. Make good writing habits. Once you have established your good writing habits, set realistic goals of writing two double-spaced pages a day. The next day, start where you left off and keep growing the document. If you can write two…
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Refueling
Sometimes, we have deadlines to meet – defense dates, submission deadlines, departmental review dates. At those times, we simply have to force ourselves to sit down and write. There are other times in the writing process, however, when we have the time and space to give ourselves a break. Refueling is all about waking our…