Completing Your Dissertation Without Tears

Completing Your Dissertation Without Tears

Your dissertation is your union card. It is your entry into the academy. But writing a dissertation can seem overwhelming. It’s scary to imagine writing a work 200 or more pages and submitting it to distinguished scholars whose opinion of your intelligence and talent will depend on what you have completed.

But remember: The single biggest obstacle to completion is psychological. To be sure, a dissertation involves far more research than you have ever done before. But by the time you begin your dissertation, you’ve already written countless essays, lab reports, and conference presentations. A dissertation is, in the end, simply a compilation of seminar papers—revised to provide conceptual unity.

Completing a dissertation, then, is mainly a matter of perseverance. It means, first of all, that you must choose a topic that you are passionate about. As Toni Morrison once said: “If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

Also choose a do-able topic. A good dissertation topic is clearly delimited. A topic that is overly broad, excessively ambitious, or vague is a recipe for failure. As the cliché goes: the only good dissertation is a finished dissertation. Half a century ago, doctoral students were said to write theses, rather than dissertations. That is, they wrote manuscripts that addressed a clearly posed question and provided a compelling argument. Follow that earlier example. Organize your dissertation, and its chapters, around questions: substantive, conceptual, and methodological. Then look at what other scholars have said about these questions and consider the ways that you agree or disagree with them.

Take heart. One mentor said: “With almost every person whose dissertation I directed, the first draft chapters were disastrous.” Get your work on paper; then you and your mentor can work together to get it into polished form.

Why dissertations don’t get finished

1. The task seems overwhelming.

The solution: Break the project into small, manageable units.

2. There are no clear deadlines.

The solution: Work on sub-sections that you can finish in a predictable amount of time, preferably today.

3. Being overpowered by negative thoughts.

• Silence your internal critic.

Ignore or repress self-defeating thoughts.

• Overcome your feelings of inadequacy.

Break you subject down into manageable subsections.

• Refuse to submit to perfectionism.

The solution: You must get material on paper before you can rework it.

4. Becoming isolated.

The solution: Find sounding boards.

5. Becoming overly anxious about your mentors’ reactions.

The solution: Be a pro. Give each chapter to a mentor for comments.

Yes, You Can Finish Your Dissertation

1. Distill your arguments into a single sentence.

If you can explain your dissertation succinctly, you can write it. "What I hope to show in this chapter/article/dissertation/book is ________." Identify the basic questions or issues you are addressing and how your work relates to contemporary literature. State the overall significance of your work to your field

2 Set small goals.

Take baby steps. Don’t ask yourself to “Write Chapter Two” - instead break it down into tiny do-able steps.

3. Remember the cliché: “You’re not writing a book. You’re writing five research papers.”

Don’t scare yourself. Write your dissertation in manageable segments. Dissertation chapters in the humanities are typically 40 to 60 double-spaced pages.

3. Avoid the mistakes dissertators make.

• Choosing a boring or overly broad and ambitious topic.

A good dissertation topic has clear focus and circumscribed limits.

• Failure to focus:

Every chapter should have a clear focus—an overarching question or issue that it addresses.

• Failing to keep references for every quotation or piece of evidence.

4. There are two kinds of research: research on your topic and research relevant to writing.

In addition to collecting data or quotations, look at how other scholars (or even journalists) handle your topic. How do they structure and frame their arguments? What key phrases do they use?

5. Brainstorm, then organize your ideas.

After you have identified key ideas, organize them into a structure, then work through the ideas one at a time.

6. Write when you don’t want to write.

When you don’t feel like writing, write SOMETHING. Spell out a chapter’s argument. Work on your introduction. Analyze some of your evidence. Work on literature review. Write down your ideas. Whatever you do, don’t stop writing.

7. Be selfish

Compartmentalize. Forget your other responsibilities and obligations. Find a time period when you can work and protect it.

8. Find a sounding board

Find someone who you can speak to about your writing. Tell this person what you have accomplished that day, your arguments, and the challenges you encountered. A sounding board will not only help you formulate and clarify you ideas, but will also help you make them more sophisticated, logical, and compelling.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/tat/pdfs/dissertation.pdf