1. The Writing Process Part 1 Dr Desmond Thomas, University of Essex

2. What does being a successful writer involve? Planning: what, when, how, where Monitoring & achieving distance Awareness of the writing process of drafting, re-drafting, editing, revising Self-motivation Self-discipline

3. What will you write? Abstract & table of Contents Introduction with aims, methods etc Background/context chapters Literature review sections/chapters Exploration of key concepts, theories etc Data reporting & analysis Conclusions Bibliography & appendices Different drafts of all of the above

4. When will you write? Importance of breaking down work into specific tasks: use the ‘Doctoral Planner’ for recording weekly targets Linear monthly plans have their advantages & disadvantages Daily routine writing schedules are key Plans can be useful ‘mediation documents’ with supervisors

5. How will you write? a)Directly onto a PC screen? b)Make rough notes on paper & type up? c)1 st draft on paper copied to PC? d)Typed notes/chapter profile fleshed out? e)Audio-recorded notes typed up? f)POST-Its and STICKIES? g)Mind maps eg with “FreeMind”? h)Other software eg Speech Recognition?

6. The Basic Cycle Planning the structure of chapters Producing a 1 st draft (before editing!) Reflecting on 1 st draft printout Getting feedback from various sources Re-planning where necessary Editing: making changes Developing the next draft

7. Some key principles … Writing not just the end product Oral presentation helps Productive routines help – A time and B time Need to manage reader expectations Use planning documents to improve communications with supervisors Need to set yourself targets Need to print out at regular intervals for monitoring purposes Need to get feedback Self-motivation & self-discipline are vital

8. Self-motivation/self-discipline Talk about your writing! To yourself (frequently) and to others Repeat to yourself: ‘I am not alone’ Make sure that you take ownership of your topic and defend it passionately Develop effective strategies for the dreaded Writer’s Block

9. Some concepts to unpack … Clarity: what is ‘clear writing’? Does it mean ‘coherence’ at sentence level? Coherence: is it something built in to a text or in the mind of the reader? Structure: how is this different from coherence? Style: do the demands of academic style clash with clarity & coherence?