This is from the American Historical Association archives, but it transcends disciplines . The single most useful concept: The Dissertation Journal.
What it is: A separate document (or notebook) where you write uncensored garbage for 20 minutes before every writing session.
What it does: It separates "brainstorming" from "drafting." You cannot edit a blank page, but you CAN edit three pages of unhinged notes about why your data makes no sense .
Other hits from 2006 that still slap:
What it is: A separate document (or notebook) where you write uncensored garbage for 20 minutes before every writing session.
What it does: It separates "brainstorming" from "drafting." You cannot edit a blank page, but you CAN edit three pages of unhinged notes about why your data makes no sense .
Other hits from 2006 that still slap:
- Visual mapping: Draw your argument as a wheel, not an outline. Connect spokes. Then linearize it .
- The one-sentence distillation: "What I hope to show is ______." If you can't finish that sentence, you aren't ready to write .
- Hydration is methodology: Fatigue is dehydration. Keep water on your "dissertation hut" desk .