Writing your thesis:
workshop facilitated by Debbie Holley
“Wason (1974) has described the
procrastination and incoherence into which
many doctoral candidates fall when attempting
to represent results in written form”
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Writing is …
Writing is easy – you just stare at a blank piece of
paper till your eyeballs bleed! (Sinfield, Burns &
Johnson 2009)
Writing is …
Thinking and Learning and
Struggle
However!
We ‘write to learn’
Not learn to write
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SWOT: Reflect on your current
piece of PhD writing
Strengths: what do you like about your
writing?
 Weaknesses: what do you dislike about
your writing
 Opportunities: what’s in it for you ?
 Threats: what threat does not completing
this section pose for you?
Write for one minute on each…
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http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/
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Developing writing
We benefit from being given or making opportunities to:
 Practise writing (general) what kind of writing do you
undertake daily/weekly/monthly?
 Practise writing in your discipline
 Free write
 Reflect on our writing - and other aspects of our learning

Reflect on feedback from our supervisors
(fabulous chapter in Phillips & Pugh 2000 ‘how to manage
your supervisor’ !)
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Freewriting: Peter Elbow (1998)
Free-writing encourages us to write at
length without fear of censorship.
Benefits:

Freedom to explore a topic
Builds & demonstrates knowledge
Encourages understanding
Spelling & grammar (3 min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlL5W2qA0EA
On writing (9min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDUn1c4uxUE
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Academic freewriting
Use for:
 Starting an assignment
 Overcoming a writing block
 Writing at length
 Writing in discipline
 Structuring writing
 Proof-reading
 Editing
 Reflecting on your day/learning
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Free writing: we all think differently
My favourite activity for
removing writing block!
I am going to give you this
sentence:
The boy walked down the
street when…..
And an envelope
containing a a ‘genre’ of
writing
Please write for 3 minutes
in the ‘genre’
Activities
Try freewriting:
For 5 minutes on any lecture/presentation/talk
A definition of a concept in 1 minute
For 5 minutes on previous experiences that will be useful to
you for developing your PhD
Resources:
Freewrite:
http://www.cumquat.co.uk/freewrite/
http://www.writethink.co.uk/wordpress/wpcontent/fwt/Free_Write01.html
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And for your future writing?
See http://www.arts.ac.uk/cetl/visual-directions/
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the reflective learning journal
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Supports your reflection
on discipline specific
readings
Promotes critical
analysis
Encourages deep
understanding through
questioning
Is creative & appealing
Documents turning
points on your PhD
journey – great for
preparing for your Viva!
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Suggested entries
Reflections on study sessions: what, why,
reaction, learned, new goals …
 Notes on readings
 Questions relating to readings
 Freewriting on a topic
 Glossary of terms
 Planning and drafting
 Notes from the press…
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Reflecting on THIS session
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What have we done?
What activities have we
undertaken? Why?
What was your reaction?
What have you learned –
about writing, about yourself
as a writer, about yourself as
a PhD student?
Will this change your
approach? How?
What will you do next?
Make notes for yourself – and
don’t forget to let me know:
d.holley@londonmet.ac.uk
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And other ideas:

It's a long way to Tipperary PhD blog
http://longwaytotipperary.blogspot.com/2010/02/epistemo
logy-and-research-design.html
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And google the three minute thesis, a
competition that runs in Australian
Universities
http://www.gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/programs/3min
utethesis/index.html
References:
With thanks to Sarah Johnson, Sandra Sinfield and Tom Burns
Students’ Writing in Transition Symposium, NTU September 15th 2009
Elbow, P (1998) Writing without teachers (2nd ed) Oxford University press
New York & Oxford
Phillips, E. and D. Pugh (2000). How to get a PHD. Buckingham, Open
University Press.
Trafford, V. and S. Leshem (2002). "Starting at the end to undertake
doctoral research: predictable questions as stepping stones." Higher
Education Review 34(1): 31-49.*debbie recommends as essential
reading!
Wason P.C. (1974) Notes on Supervisions of PhDs, Bulletin of the British
Psychological Society, 20: 273-281