“Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day”: A Book Review

By Veronica Toth, Consultant

I don’t know about you, but I can easily spend 15 minutes a day:

  1. debating whether or not to get off the couch to fill my waterbottle
  2. unnecessarily checking my email, or even
  3. staring blankly at a wall after teaching a long lesson.

So when a dissertating friend recommended Joan Bolker’s Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day, I was intrigued. As someone about to enter into the dissertation-writing phase, I need every reminder I can get that even this is a project that can be segmented, tackled a little bit every day, but most of all: finished. As I suspected, in her introduction, Bolker admits that she was relying on a clickbaity title, and that she thinks we will indeed need to write for more than fifteen minutes a day to finish our dissertations (at least, before the funding runs out). In principle, though, she’s echoing that sage old writing advice, “write a little bit every day.” Bolker offers some gentle directives about how to do that: start writing well before your dissertation itself, and work with principles of human behavior to stay motivated throughout.

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day was published in 1998, so this is not the place to look for, say, recommendations for notetaking apps. (The appendix “How the Computer Revolution Affects You and Your Dissertation” made me laugh.) Instead, as an advisor and coach to many dissertating students, Bolker is able to synthesize her observations about the practices that actually work, and to offer cautionary advice about common challenges.

If you are already deep into dissertating, this book still provides a lot of help, with chapters on revising, working with your advisor, and how to approach publishing your dissertation. But I think much of the book’s usefulness comes from Bolker’s recommendations about prewriting before you’re even ABD. Bolker suggests that beginning with informal journal entries as you think through your topic can help develop a daily writing habit. It seems to me, too, that this practice helps normalize writing about a topic when you are still unsure about your stance on it, trusting the writing process to lead you to new ideas.

Another helpful message of this book is that much of the work of writing a dissertation (and writing at all, really) is psychological. So, there are certain behavioral rules we can implement for ourselves that help make writing easier (even, at times maybe, enjoyable). Bolker insists that positive reinforcement is more effective than negative reinforcement. May this be permission for the perfectionists among us to be kinder to ourselves! She recommends setting small writing goals for each day that are easily achievable, so that we associate sitting down to write with success rather than failure. She also recommends writing scholar Kenneth Skier’s practice of “parking on the downhill slope,” where, at the end of a writing session, a writer makes notes detailing where they are headed that they can refer to and pick up on the next day. This eases some of the friction caused by sitting down every day to a blank page.

There is nothing revolutionary in Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day, but I’d argue it’s still worth having Bolker’s grounding voice on your bookshelf during the last few years of your doctoral program. Bolker emphasizes the inherent creativity of researching for and writing a dissertation, something that tends to slip through the cracks of the daily grind as we are reviewing literature, grinding out drafts, and trying to position ourselves to be marketable after graduation. Writing a dissertation can feel so high-stakes that we sometimes forget the principles that, at other times in life, seem clear: to celebrate our own small successes, to trust that the process will lead us somewhere useful, and to do a little bit of a big project every day.

Space

Bolker, Joan. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising,

and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis. Owl Books, 1998.

Unraveling Why we Procrastinate and How to Conquer Writer’s Block.

By Madhur Wyatt, Consultant

“I promise to start tomorrow.” “I can’t really start writing till I have researched enough.” “I don’t even know what to write!” Sound familiar? Procrastination and writer’s block (a feeling of being stuck or unable to generate ideas for writing) can be real barriers to your life as a grad student. However, there is always a reason you procrastinate, and if you can understand the psychology behind it, you can reclaim your writing productivity.

The three reasons you may be procrastinating:

  1. Running from the bull: When you find a task daunting, your brain is super clever at escaping it or delaying the task for momentary relief. But this can become worrisome – especially when deadlines get closer. If you find yourself doom-scrolling, watching Netflix, or finding fall recipes, you are satisfying your brain’s search for instant gratification. These attractive distractions can further reinforce procrastination. So, my friend, when you find yourself running away from tasks, acknowledge that it’s your brain playing tricks on you to escape writing that research project.
  2. Waiting for the stars to align: Let’s be honest, most of us have perfectionist tendencies (otherwise, how did we get into grad school). Perfectionism is paralyzing. You may fear that your work will not meet standards. You may find yourself constantly editing, revising, re-writing, or erasing it all–ultimately slowing down the progress of your work. This perfectionism can come in the way of you making substantial progress, perpetuating writer’s block.
  3. Lost in transition: Grad school writing is not your typical chit-chat with a friend at Starbucks. It follows a certain style, structure, and organization. Additionally, writing for academia demands skills and conventions that may not be intuitive. Scientific writing, for instance, may not be second nature to you. This unfamiliarity can be very uncomfortable and make writing feel like an uphill battle, leading to further procrastination.

So, now that we’ve acknowledged three drivers of procrastinating. Let’s discuss some practical writing strategies that you can use in your next writing project:

  1. Pen the ponderings: So, if you are running from the bull or waiting for the stars to align, try setting a timer for 10 minutes and free-writing whatever comes to mind. The goal is to get words on paper and remember there are no judgments. This will kickstart your writing process.
  2. Map your mind: Create mind maps: a visual showing the central concept branching out with related concepts. This will help you organize and contain your thoughts and identify connections, ultimately helping you with the flow of ideas. This is exactly what you need when you find yourself dodging the bull or waiting for those perfect constellations.
  3. Setting the stage; Painting an outline: Imagine you are dealing with a mammoth-sized writing project or a paper that includes the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. You can get overwhelmed just by thinking about it. So, the trick is to start with an outline for the project. This outline will include breaking down each section into subpoints or guideposts. These sub-points will keep you on track and will provide goals for each writing session. Bull-evasion!
  4. Eat the elephant (or the bull), one bite at a time: Attack your writing in bite-sized portions. Once you have an outline of the project, you can start elaborating on these sub-points one by one. This way, the bite-sized writing session will not overwhelm you and slowly you will see your writing flow.
  5. Sprint writing: Up for a challenge to sidestep the bull? Try a writing sprint! Set a timer for 20 minutes and write. No editing is allowed in this period. Unlike free writing, writing sprints intentionally attack each section of your mind map or paper outline one by one and start writing about it. But, since you are not allowed to edit, you will make progress on your research paper as you start writing about it.
  6. Two heads are better than one: Grab a writing buddy! Either write together or exchange writing assignments and provide a critique. An accountability partner will get you going on the project and an additional set of eyes will help refine it.
  7. Textual Navigation: Referencing the pros: Navigate through the complexity of writing by opening up several journal articles on your browser and analyzing the writing styles, formats, and word choices. This will serve as a valuable guide as you compile your work and mitigate loss in transition ensuring smooth and cohesive writing. 

With these strategies, you will not only overcome procrastination and writer’s block but also hopefully enjoy the writing process. Happy Writing!