Dear Dr. Noelle: Are School and Spirituality Mismatched?

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: I follow a spiritual practice and was advised to pray about my dissertation. Is this wrong?
                 — Repentant? 

A: No, it’s not wrong or blasphemous, nor do you have to confess.

More students than we imagine use their spiritual practices for school. Yes, they seem contradictory. School requires your intellect; spirituality requires surrendering your intellect. School subsists on logic and realism; spirituality survives on faith.

I used to hold fiercely to these boundaries. Spirituality and school, I thought, were at opposite ends of the heavens, or at least unequivocally separate.

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Dear Dr. Noelle: Wrestling Down the Writing

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: Why is writing—or even beginning—my dissertation so danged hard?

     — Chewing My Pencil

A: It’s undeniable: writing your dissertation is hard. All that time you devote to research is a worthy endeavor but, no matter how many brilliant analyses you’ve collected, at some point you know you’ve got to get to it. In my longtime dissertation coaching and editing practice, I’ve witnessed, cautioned, and counseled many dissertation writers on the difficulties of the actual writing. A new doctoral candidate who came from the corporate world confided, “I struggle daily with understanding the shift from business writing to writing as a researcher according to certain expectations and standards.”

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Dear Dr. Noelle: Stuck Without Words

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: I know what I want to write about, but I can’t seem to get anything down on the page.            

      — Wordless

A: Writing—whatever the type—is hard. Whether we must write a proposal, dissertation, article, book, or thank you letter, most of us have trouble starting, continuing, and finishing. Like you, I’ve had many tortured writing—or not writing—experiences, as do the clients I coach and whose work I edit. Observing all of our ridiculous roadblocks, I’ve developed eleven tricks to help us ease into or continue our writing. If you need convincing, credible rationales are here too for how each method can help you.

1. Feel Good.

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Dear Dr. Noelle: Are You Thrashing Around in the Undertow of Dissertation Revisions?

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: How do I get out from the endless waves of dissertation revisions?

— Almost Drowning

A: In the throes of writing your dissertation, you’ve submitted your drafts to your chair and committee more times than you want to count. And they’ve returned the drafts with seemingly endless rounds of revisions. Granted, they may drive you crazy, but—please believe me—you can handle the revisions so they don’t completely erode your confidence, deepen your depression, and thoroughly destroy your sanity.

A chair or committee’s insistence on revisions that keep kicking back (one student called them “regurgitating revisions”) generally stem from one of two main motivations. The revisions reflect the less-than-healthy inclinations of some professors who are perfectionist, vindictive, petty, and competitive. They may be frustrated with their current position, shouldering too many doctoral students’ dissertations, or still bitterly recalling their own chair who put them through the grinder. And they want to show you who’s boss.

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Dear Dr. Noelle: Does Your Chair Look Like an Adolescent to You?

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: My chair is so young! How do I cope?

 — Feeling Ancient

A: An older “nontraditional” student, Marlene had returned for her doctorate after three of her four kids were grown and on their own. She held down a full-time job in medical billing, her youngest was now in high school, and her husband still looked forward to her dinners. So Marlene embarked on a lifelong dream—with her husband’s encouragement and promise to do some of the cooking, she enrolled in a doctoral program. She was extremely bright, and we were working together on her Proposal.

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Dear Dr. Noelle: To Group or Not to Group

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: Should I join a dissertation support group?

— On-the-Fence Joiner

A: “I couldn’t write. I’d be in the library, staring at the portrait of the bearded benefactor, and the time would just tick by. That’s when I decided to join the group.”

Maybe you’ve had similar “work” sessions. If so, consider joining a dissertation group. They can help you with many dissertation-related issues, especially if you’re feeling stuck or really afraid. A group may be the remedy.

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