Finish Your Thesis Program€¦ · a warm-up exercise to get your creative juices flowing. As an example, begin writing about your preliminary data, data published by others, or the

Finish YourThesis Program

grads™

dora Farkas

12 Simple Strategies to Overcome Writer’s Block

in Graduate School

bonus module 2

2Copyright © Dora Farkas, www.FinishYourThesis.com

One of the biggest fears that graduate students have is the actual writing of the dissertation itself. Where do you even begin to dig into the writing of a 100+ page document that has to summarize years of research? Even students who have started writing frequently only have bits of pieces of their research here and there. They feel stuck whenever they try to pull their writing into a story cohesive enough to qualify as a Masters or PhD-level dissertation.

I have an engineering and science background, and English is not my first language (I am Hungarian) so I felt overwhelmed by the thought of writing such a huge technical document. In addition to the typical challenges that accompany the writing of thesis (e.g. long periods of typing, data analysis, literature search) I also had several other factors that made my writing experience even more daunting:

9 Due to scheduling conflicts among my thesis committee members, I only had 20 days between my final thesis committee meeting (where they gave me the green light to graduate) and my actual defense. While I had bits and pieces of my thesis written in the form of progress reports for my committee, I had to pull together a 150-page document and 50 slides for my defense in 20 days.

9 I had to do more experiments during these 20 days — no kidding. While I got my committee’s approval to defend, they requested a few more data points to strengthen my arguments. Thus, I was writing 80-90% of the time, but I still had to make time for a few “last minute” experiments.

9 I had a very severe case of tendonitis (inflammation in my elbows and wrists) due to excessive typing and lab work. As you know from my previous modules, this injury was so debilitating that I could only type for 15 minutes at a time without experiencing pain in my arms. In order to prevent further injury I had to take a 5-15 minute break after every 15 minutes of typing and I HAD to enforce this schedule with software that locked my mouse and keyboard. It was the only way to keep my pain under control.

While I would not recommend this experience to anyone, I believe that the


confidence I gained from completing such an impressive document (despite my injury and the other hurdles mentioned above) actually transformed my experience as a writer. I knew that if I could pull a PhD thesis together in 20 days, then technical reports and guest articles were a walk in the park.

In fact, it was during these grueling 20 days that I made a commitment to put my “Finish Your Thesis” program together for graduate students if I completed my thesis by the deadline. I knew that if I could put my writing on a fast track, then anyone else could too. It was simply a matter of developing the habits and disciplines that allow my writing to keep flowing. The writing of my thesis was not linear. It was slow at the beginning, and then as I kept showing up at the page and typing whatever data or conclusions came to mind, my story started to come together. It was actually an amazing experience. Chapter 1 (the literature search) was a toughie — most of my students try to put that off as long as possible —but by the time I got to Chapter 5, in which I presented the conclusions of my research, the writing and data analysis came to me much more easily.

In the few years that followed my graduation, I published numerous scientific papers and over 200 articles on my site and other graduate student communities. And of course, I also wrote this program.

As I have committed to provide high quality content for my audience (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows), I write daily. In fact, I find it easier to write every day than to spend long hours in front of a computer one day and not touch the article for a week. If I let it sit for too long, I tend to lose my inspiration and train of thought and need to start the entire writing process from scratch.

Many graduate students have no intention of writing any more than what is absolutely essential for their career development: a thesis, publications, and reports at their jobs. However, nearly every graduate student needs a written thesis. Most students (and even seasoned writers) experience writer’s blocks at some point during the writing process. Writer’s block can occur due to lack of confidence in your research, or perhaps a personal matter that is keeping you preoccupied.


Most of my students have several things going on in their lives while trying to write their thesis, such as family life, jobs, or health issues. It is so easy to put your thesis on the backburner and put your attention on other matters. Of course, your health and family do come first (and if you have a job that keeps your roof over your head that is also a high priority), but there are ways to keep up progress on your writing even if you cannot be dedicated to it full-time.

Given the multi-tasking that most graduate student need to do to balance their graduate work with other parts of their lives, I have put together the following twelve simple strategies to help you to finish the writing of your thesis or publications.

1) Determine a deadline for your writing and join a support group (or find a writing buddy). Many PhDs wished they had joined a thesis support group in graduate school to help them stay motivated. Some universities or departments have support groups, but if yours does not, find a writing buddy who will keep you accountable. It turns out that people are much more likely to follow through on their commitments if they write down their goals or say them out loud to someone else. It does not have to be a student in your field who understands the nitty-gritties of your research, but ideally your writing buddy will be another student, so you can read each other’s drafts periodically. Just knowing that you will need to hand a draft to another person by a certain date will motivate you to keep writing. Note: Your significant other might not be the best choice for a writing buddy. A writing buddy needs to be completely impartial. Also, as graduate school puts a strain on most relationships, it’s best to enjoy your time together free of any worries about your thesis.

2) Begin writing about anything that comes to your mind. This strategy is particularly useful if you have written very little so far. Think of it as a warm-up exercise to get your creative juices flowing. As an example, begin writing about your preliminary data, data published by others, or the goals of your research. Do not worry about grammar or even accuracy. Just get words on the page for about 15-20 minutes. Ideas are born with writing, and the more you write the more ideas you will have. Remember,


ideas are useless if they are inside your mind — they need to be on paper and explained well so others (particularly your thesis committee) can understand them. Most of this writing will not make it into your final draft, but it will help you to create new ideas.

3) Write about the big picture of your research. What is the question you are asking? (It is amazing how many fifth-year students do not know what question their thesis is trying to answer.) Why is this research important and how will it contribute to your field and society? How will it support your career development? The purpose of this exercise is to get you excited about your research again, so you can stay motivated and keep writing. Let your writing be loose at this stage, do not worry about grammar or style, just focus on the importance of your research, and why it is essential for you to complete this project.

4) Identify the gaps or where you are stuck, and get help. Writer’s blocks are frequently due to a psychological block, such as fear. Perhaps the project you are trying to tackle is too big, or there are too many gaps to pull a cohesive story together. The only way to get unstuck is to identify where the gaps are, or which part of the project is too big or unrealistic. If you schedule a meeting with your PI and tell him or her that you are stuck, he or she will not be able to help you unless you have more specific questions. As you start writing you will see where you are lacking details or information. Some students panic when they find a gap in their research. Finding gaps is a good thing. Most research projects (even published papers) have gaps in their arguments. The only way to fill the gaps is to find them and, if you cannot resolve them on your own, get help from your PI. The sooner you get help (and the more specific your questions are) the sooner you can pull your proposal, paper, or thesis together.

5) Review similar papers or doctoral dissertations — you might be surprised at how much you have already accomplished. I remember being terrified by the thought of writing a doctoral dissertation that was over a hundred pages long. As I was nearing the writing stage I had to look through the dissertations of previous students to compare my data and


conclusions with theirs. When I read their dissertations I realized that I already had a lot of the elements in place for my own thesis, such as the introduction and the methods, as well as a significant amount of data. Suddenly I felt more confident about being able to finish my thesis by the deadline. This realization was incredibly powerful. Due to scheduling issues with my thesis committee, I only had 20 days to write my thesis, and it was a relief to know that I did not need to start the work from scratch.

6) Write daily. High quality writing requires daily discipline. If possible, write at the same time and place daily. If your schedule varies due to other commitments, set up a weekly schedule in which you block off time for writing daily. If you are very busy (with classes, a part-time job, or family), you might only be able to commit to 15 minutes on some days. However, daily writing (even if for short periods) will keep you from catching the writer’s block bug again. Of course, you will need to schedule large chunks of time eventually to pull a high quality manuscript together, but in the meantime make sure to schedule at least 15 minutes of writing every day.

7) Write first. About 99% of people say that the first thing they do when they turn on their computers is check their email. Even prior to turning on their computers they might check their text messages and send dozens of replies before they get to their office. Writing requires focus and creativity and many people are at their peak productivity level in the morning. Checking email and text messages can overwhelm your mind with information and interfere with your writing process, especially if you receive an unsettling message. I usually recommend writing for 45 minutes prior to checking email, but if that seems too long start with 10 minutes and gradually work up to 45 minutes. During the crunch time of writing my thesis, I checked my email once a day in the afternoon — after I had already completed at least 5 hours of writing. I knew that if there was a family emergency I would be contacted by phone and I could not think of any email that would be higher priority than getting my thesis done by the deadline.

8) Clear your conscience and start fresh every day. Did you ever have a New Year’s Resolution that you did not keep? If you have, you are in good


company. It is estimated that only 2% of people follow through on their New Year’s Resolutions. One reason that people fail is that they give up after the first mistake, such as eating a donut when they committed to losing 80 lbs. Setting up a writing schedule can help you to manage your time and progress, but life happens and you will probably not be able to follow through with it 100% of the time. Some students are very hard on themselves when they “mess up” and these feelings of guilt lead to even less productivity. The best way to make consistent progress is to start fresh every day by committing to follow through on your plan to your best ability, regardless of whether you were able to follow through on previous days. Of course, if you realize why you were not able to follow through before (e.g. unrealistic expectations, conflict with other commitments), then you can use these lessons to develop a more realistic plan.

9) Keep a notepad next to you to jot down ideas and errands. In spite of our best intentions to focus on writing, our minds wander. You might realize that you need to run an errand, look up something unrelated to your thesis on the internet, or send an email to someone. If you stop your writing to take care of these items, you will lose your train of thought and it will be more difficult to get back into writing. Left to your own devices, you might complete 10 errands but make little or no progress on your writing by the end of the day. However, not taking care of errands can also lead to problems such as unpaid bills and missed medical appointments. There are students who are so focused on their research that they are chronically late in their credit card payments or never get a physical checkup. This can be detrimental! An approach that worked well for me is to write down any intruding ideas on a notepad that I kept next to my computer. My notebook allowed me to get ideas out of my head and recorded in a safe place so I could address them later. When unrelated ideas pop into your head, ask yourself “Is it important or urgent?” In my case, (and I suspect in the case of most students), most ideas were not urgent and could wait until I had finished a certain number of pages or hours of writing.

10) Build your writing from the inside out. One of the reasons that people experience writer’s block is that they feel overwhelmed by all of the data


and details that must go into their manuscript. A good way to lessen the load is to start with an outline of the different sections you will include. What is the core of your paper? What questions are you asking? What is your hypothesis? If you have data, what are your conclusions? You can begin by writing just a few sentences for each section to capture the essence of what you are trying to show. As you proofread your writing in the upcoming days, you can embellish each section by adding more data, references, or any other information that will support your arguments.

11) Alternate 45 minutes of writing with 15 minutes of rest (assuming you don’t have an injury that prevents you from typing for 45 minutes straight). Most writing projects will require large blocks of time, but few people can sustain their focus for several hours in a row. Taking regular breaks will allow your mind to rest and get a new perspective on your writing each time you sit down to type again. In fact, your creative mind works best when you are not at your desk staring at your screen. Thus, taking a 15-minute break to walk or get a drink might give you new insights on how to resolve a problem you had been struggling with previously. Students who work from home sometimes use the 15-minute breaks to do minor chores such as folding laundry or washing the dishes. Imagine killing so many birds with one stone — by the end of the day you will have a well-written manuscript and clean clothes and dishes!

12) Let it go when it is good enough. Perfectionism can kill your creative spirit. While GPAs and SAT scores can be perfect, there is no such thing as a perfect thesis. You can work on your thesis for 100 years and professors will still question some of your arguments during your thesis defense. If you try to make your thesis too perfect and re-edit the same paragraphs over and over again, you will lose precious time and possibly lose motivation to continue writing. I usually tell my students to let their thesis (or paper) go when they feel it is about 95-98% ready. In my experience, I find some things to improve each time I read my draft. However, the revisions become more minor after every phase. As long as you are confident in the accuracy of your data and content, you probably don’t need to spend an extensive amount of time on word


choice, sentence structure, or colors in your illustrations. Every student I know had to make revisions to their thesis based on feedback from their committee. No matter how perfect you try to make your manuscript or thesis, be prepared to receive (sometimes highly critical) feedback that could take weeks or even months to implement.

Exercises:

If you are experiencing severe writer’s block:

It is impossible to implement all twelve strategies at once. However, it is realistic to get back into the rhythm of writing within a few weeks. If I had to choose my top three favorites for getting over a severe case of writer’s block, they would be tips 2, 3, and 6:

9 Begin writing about anything that comes to mind

9 Write about the big picture of your research

9 Write daily

If you need to write a manuscript or thesis over the course of a few weeks or months, you need to make writing a daily habit. A strategy that works well for students who dislike writing is to set a timer to a very short amount of time, such as 25 or even just 10 minutes and to do nothing but write during that time. It is amazing how a short chunk of time such as 10 minutes can lead to several paragraphs when you are focused.

To help you get into the rhythm of writing schedule 2 or 3 writing bursts of 10 or 25 minutes each day. Gradually increase the length of time until you are able to write for about 45 minutes, and then you can begin alternating that time with 15 minutes of rest. To keep yourself on track, I also recommend the first strategy:

9 Determine a deadline for your writing and join a support group (or find a writing buddy).


Being accountable to someone else (even if they are not an expert in your field) will keep you motivated to continue writing.

If you just need a little extra push to pull your thesis or manuscript together:

I remember the time I had to write my first review article. I had read nearly a 100 papers, and I summarized them in a 40-page “soup.” There were only loosely defined sections, many ideas repeated themselves, and I had no idea how to pull all of the information together so that the article would flow well. One afternoon I sat down and with a reviewer’s eyes, I cut out superfluous portions of the draft (and saved them in a separate “cut-out” file) until I had only 10 pages left. It was so much easier to work with 10 pages that had the “core” ideas for my manuscript than 40 pages of incoherent paragraphs. Over the next few weeks I expanded on these core ideas, adding more details and summary tables where necessary.

If you have a relatively good draft to start with, here are the top three strategies to finalize your writing:

9 Build your writing from the inside out — identify the core ideas, and build around them by gradually adding more details

9 Review similar papers or doctoral dissertations — this will help you understand the scope of comparable papers and how much detail you need to include

9 Identify the gaps or where you are stuck, and get help — once you have a good draft you might notice a few gaps. Instead of being intimidated by the gaps, use the gaps as an opportunity to discuss your progress with your supervisor and get his or her feedback on how to pull your story together.

For anybody who ever has to write a thesis, papers, technical reports or articles:

9 Let it go when it is good enough — Only you can determine when your


writing is good enough, but if you are convinced that you have conveyed your core message and the most important supporting arguments then it is time to do your final review and submit it. Once you only find minor things to correct in your revisions (i.e. word choice/style), you are probably 95% completed. To give you a peace of mind, consider hiring a copyeditor to a final polish for grammar and style.

Ready to start? If you have a pending documents to work on, set your timer (15-45 minutes depending on your schedule), and just start writing!


To receive maximal support from this program,

please send your questions or comments about

this Module to [email protected].

I will announce the return deadline for each

Module via email. This will help me to address

your questions during the webinars.

Remember that other students might be facing

situations as you, and they will also benefit from

the strategies that I will offer during the webinars

in response to your questions.

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Documents

Finish Your Thesis Program€¦ · a warm-up exercise to get your creative juices flowing. As an example, begin writing about your preliminary data, data published by others, or the