How do you write a disseration? Seriously. How is it done, step-by-step? I realize that there a just as many possible answers as there are people, and that everybody "has their own style," but this is not helpful to me. I read an article or book and find myself chomping at the bit to start putting something down on paper, but my committee keeps referring to a period in the future when "you're ready to write." Why can't I write now?
Are notes to be taken in the margins of books and articles? On loose-leaf notebook paper? On the pc only? I thought I'd be more prepared for this project having gone through the M.A. thesis process, but this is so much bigger. I simply want to find the most efficient way to do the work.
I'm afraid that if I spend the first year doing nothing but research, I'll forget some of the really important things that I want to say in my writing. Or worse, just forget some really important things. But, it seems like writing while researching could get a bit schizophrenic, with papers and notes left in a variety of places. Sections of chapters left unfinished. Sources that get dropped and forgotten after they're used.
As an organized, label-maker-loving, left-brained, rule follower, I just want someone to write down the rules please! Is this too much to ask? I don't know what "my style" is for dissertation writing because I've never done this before. And this type of project can't simply be compared to a reseach paper or thesis. I feel like there must be a more organized way of approaching both the research and the writing of a dissertation than simply "diving in." Any ideas?
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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3 comments:
Hi AcadeMama,
As an organized, label-maker-loving, left-brained, rule follower, I just want someone to write down the rules please! Is this too much to ask? I don't know what "my style" is for dissertation writing because I've never done this before.
Just Write.
Easier said than done, of course, but there's something to be said for it. The Director suggested to me that beginning the dissertation is a bit like turning on the kitchen faucet in a nasty old building: the brown sludge needs to dump out first before clean water starts running through.
So I'll tell you what worked for me, in numbered bullets, so we can pretend like they're rules when really they're just What Worked For Me :)
This is the sort of thing I did after a month or two of researching and thinking.
1) Set a weekly schedule.
2) Rewrite that schedule so it's actually reasonable (2 pages 3-4 days a week is reasonable for me. Some write way more, some write way less).
3) Do not become entranced by research.
4) No, really. Stop researching and just write. Work with the text first, and then, when you hit a particularly nasty block, move back to the research.[1]
5) When you hit a writing block but still want to produce, work on footnotes.[2]
6) Write. As much as you can.
7) Keep writing.
8) Do not hate yourself when you cannot do 1-7.
9) Rinse.
10) Repeat as needed.
And a secret #11: Remember that despite what all of your non-academic friends and family say, and while they say it as well-meaningly as possible, it's hard to write a dissertation. You are doing real work, despite what non-academics say. Despite how many times you clean the kitchen or wash clothes. Despite the desperation that drives you to run fourteen errands in an hour. Writing is Tough. Really tough. Give yourself credit for the hard work you do.
:)
Ciao,
Amy
[1] This is of course assuming that some research was done ahead of time. Prelims are a big part of that.
[2] Footnotes are a great place to be chatty and add those 2 other examples you think important to your argument, but not as important as the example you give in the text.
PS But, it seems like writing while researching could get a bit schizophrenic, with papers and notes left in a variety of places. Sections of chapters left unfinished. Sources that get dropped and forgotten after they're used.
The way I see it, all chapters are in a state of progress. I've "completed" two chapters. That really means I've finished a draft of two chapters. There is rewriting upon rewriting to go. Add to sources then. Move that last section of CH 2 to CH 3 as you see fit.
And really, take all of this with a grain of salt. I've discovered I'm a slow, slow diss writer over this process, and I've only got two chapters done. Take the advice of people who actually *have* a dissertation finished :)
Ciao,
Amy
Ooh, great question AcadeMama!!! I think I need a full post on this because it's ALL I've been thinking about lately. I hope you get lots more comments so I can see what works for people. For me, the important thing turned out to be that over the course of YEARS of note-taking, I figured out I needed to keep typed notes for articles I read so I could access them quickly later. Putting notes in margins on books won't help you find them later, but if you have a typed set of notes on a word processing file you can search them easily and also cut/paste later when you actually start working with chapter files.
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