Editing is the most painful and most pleasurable part of writing for me. In the book coming out of my PhD thesis, it was more pain than pleasure!
Focus, interruption, and an overdue book
Writing a book is so hard. Well, drafting a book was relatively straightforward. But the post-review rewrite and edit has been brutal. It's not that I can't do it, it's finding the time and space to have uninterrupted writing and editing that allows me to retain the whole book in my head while I finish... Continue Reading →
Getting your PhD (back) on track 3: getting the right kind of feedback
How do you get the right kind of feedback from your supervisor? There isn't one right answer but in this post I point you in the direction of some resources to help you get started.
Getting your PhD (back) on track 1: Deep work and focus
Recently I gave a workshop about getting your PhD on track -- or back on track, for those who have had some delays and detours due to COVID-19 and the usual crises and distractions that accompany PhDs. It seemed clear to me that I could not get anyone's PhD back on track in a mere... Continue Reading →
“I do everything they say but my supervisor is never satisfied”
I have run five 'finish your dissertation' groups in my time as an academic, and it is such a privilege to get insight into the thesis process from a group of students who I am NOT supervising. One thing I hear from students is that they do 'everything' their supervisor tells them to, but the... Continue Reading →
How I held it together and reorganized my book manuscript without being reduced to an embarrassing mess (and other lies)
"Oh crap." I thought, for the six hundred millionth time since I had opened my overdue manuscript. Other common thoughts included: "This is total crap." "Did I write this crap?" "This isn't quite so crappy." "Oh crap, that needs a lot of work." And so on, for several hours a day, for almost the entire... Continue Reading →