Writing does not always happen consistently. There may be periods when it feels present and accessible, followed by stretches where it becomes distant or set aside for other responsibilities, prioriti...
If writing your methodology chapter feels like you are bracing for criticism, you are not imagining it. Chapter 3 is where many doctoral students feel the most exposed. This is also where committees d...
There are times when writing feels heavier than expected, even when the topic is familiar or the intention is clear. A task that seemed manageable at the outset may begin to feel slow, resistant, or m...
If your committee keeps telling you that your dissertation study is “misaligned,” you are not alone, and you are not being singled out. Alignment problems are one of the most common reasons dissertati...
It can be easy to overlook smaller pieces of writing, especially when the smaller pieces do not seem to add up to something complete or shareable. A paragraph written in passing, a few lines captured ...
Start from the beginning of this series about how to write a dissertation. If you feel uncertain about your theoretical framework, or if your committee keeps asking how you are “using” theory, the iss...
Start from the beginning of this series about how to write a dissertation. If your committee keeps telling you that your literature review is “descriptive,” “unfocused,” or “needs to be more critical,...
What Committees Actually Mean by “Narrow It” If you are being told to “narrow your topic,” the problem is rarely that your idea is unimportant. Much more often, it is that your topic does not yet func...
Sometimes writing feels unclear before the first sentence is finished. Not because of the words, but because of the audience. You may begin and then pause, wondering: Who is this for? How will it be r...
If your dissertation feels harder than it should (or if feedback from your committee seems to come out of nowhere) the problem is often not your effort, intelligence, or preparation. It is usually a m...