Introductory questions and needs analysis John Morgan Aberystwyth University

Establishing a focus 1: Topic interests Topic interests  What subject are you interested in?  Is it a new topic?  What do you have to say about it that could be considered ‘new’?

2: Information and opinion  How much information do you have about the topic?  Have you formed a critical opinion on the subject that can be compared with other research in the same field?  Have you discussed this with a tutor or supervisor? Have you discussed it with your peers?

3: Controversy  What controversies (if any) surround this topic?  Are they avoidable? If not, how do these issues compare with the questions on critical opinion?  If you are working from a new, specific, or controversial angle, have you considered other approaches to the issue?

4: From resources to focus  Do you have enough sources?  Are they readily available? n.b. Do not create too much work for yourself at this stage.  Have you narrowed the focus adequately?

Identify one current writing assignment (compare with needs analysis timeline)  Essay (M)  Report (M)  Book review (M)  Case study (M)  Proposal (PhD)  Aspects of literature review (PhD)  End of year 1 methodological report (PhD)  Journal article  Conference paper  Other

Identify either the question or describe the requirements of the assignment  Safe areas (the things you are comfortable with)  Variables (the flexibilities allowed by the assignment)  Uncertainties (things you would seek advice on in relation to variables and other concerns about your writing)  Action (how you will work with the three above points)

Further support  Individual writing consultations are available in Welsh or English with RLF Writing Fellows Elin ap Hywel David Brodie  You can also access the Aber web-site at:   For more information about the Royal Literary Fund:   To find out how many UK universities work with the RLF:

iWrite  As it very time consuming to manually register all course participants for Blackboard, all notes from the Postgraduate Writing Development Programme are available on iWrite (Interactive Writing Environment) at  dex.html#pgr dex.html#pgr