Make your dissertation your priority

As you undoubtedly already know, writing a dissertation is different from anything you’ve ever done. This enterprise requires you to adjust, if not radically change, your lifestyle. If you ever really want to complete the dissertation, and in a timely manner (if that isn’t an oxymoron), you need to rethink your priorities.

Your a full-time job, of course, should be high on the priority list. You may have been used to putting family first. But rethink this priority. Heartless and psychologically suspect as this statement may sound, you can make it up to them in many other ways—later (that’s another article).

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The most useful textbook & academic writing posts of the week: September 18, 2015

“The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire.” –Jeffery Deaver

Isn’t this an excellent bit of advice that Jeffery Deaver gives us? Do we not do this in our own writing, but also in other aspects of our lives? I think one piece is missing from his advice, however. I believe that you also have to find and study writers that have a similar tone, style, and voice to that of your own. All of those things make up who you are and who you are as a writer.

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How to edit and polish statistical writing

Effective statistical writing is important for many writers because it helps explain key pieces of information typically found in the methods and results sections of academic documents. In a TAA webinar entitled “It’s All Greek to Me: Translating Statistical Writing”, Ami Hanson, an editor for Elite Research, LLC, provided many helpful ideas for polishing statistical writing, specifically in dissertations, journal articles, and grant proposals, for maximum reader impact.

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The most useful textbook & academic writing posts of the week: September 4, 2015

Do you enjoy writing? Or do you dread the thought of having to do it? I was thinking about how many of you probably don’t particularly enjoy writing, but rather enjoy having written. You have to write for your job, to further your career. Writing is a “have to” activity for you, not a “want to” one. So what can you do to make this process less painful? Change your mindset. Don’t focus on the feeling of dread leading up to or while writing. Instead, focus on how you’ll feel after. You may never enjoy the process, but you’ll be proud when you are done and feel accomplished in having completed the task you had set for yourself.

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