3 techniques to get writing
The top reflection I hear from PhD candidates is, “I should have started writing earlier!” And as a supervisor, it can be frustrating to see your student miss deadlines or make excuses for not submitting work.
Faced with a blank page or screen and don’t know where to start? Try one of these ideas.
Overcoming blank page inertia is a common obstacle, especially for neurodiverse brains and non-linear thinkers. As an experienced writer, you know that a finished chapter is actually the rewrites of many drafts and getting words on the page is just the start. So if you have a student who seems ‘stuck’ when it comes to writing, try one of these techniques:
#1 Use their phone to turn ‘talk to text’
Did you know that your phone can make automatic transcriptions of a conversation? This tool is gold for overcoming a blank page block and is especially useful if your student is a verbal processor.
Get the student to open the ‘voice memo’ or ‘voice notes’ app on their phone and place it on the table between you.
Start with an opening question, such as, “Tell me about your current experiment”, or “What have you been reading this week?”
Show them how to convert the conversation to text in the app, tell them to import it into a word processing document, and start cleaning the text up as if it’s a draft.
#2 Have a question to answer
Often, it's hard to get writing when your direction is vague, so this technique is about developing a sharp focus for your writing. The more specific the question, the easier it is to write. If necessary, workshop the question with the student (or with a peer). Bring A3 blank paper and pens to this conversation!
Start a mind map with the topic or big idea of this chapter/section in the middle.
Use ‘who, what, where, why, when, and how’ as question starters for the middle topic. Workshop possible questions and make each new question a new branch.
Road test: Which question is the best match for the subtopics you want to touch on in this section? List the subtopics as dot points under a few potential questions to see which question is best answered by your subtopics.
Fine-tune the question, if necessary, and then write the question in the header of a document. Make sure that each paragraph is explicitly working towards answering that question.
Start each new paragraph (or subsection) with the answer to the question as a full sentence. Marshal your evidence and write to convince!
#3 The 7 whys? method
Initially taught to me in hotel school (I can’t even remember why!), use this technique to uncover the ‘why’ of writer’s block. Perhaps the student is unable to write because they haven’t clearly articulated the problem to themselves. The principle of the concept is that you can get to the bottom of any situation by asking ‘why?’ seven times. It seems childish at first, but you may be surprised by how effective it is! I usually find that I don’t need to go beyond five ‘whys’.
Here are two examples:
I can’t write yet. Why?
I feel like something is missing in my research. Why?
Because I can articulate all the major viewpoints on this topic, but I don’t know why they are all assuming [x]. Why is that important?
Because my approach is from an entirely different perspective.
Exit here. The core issue is articulated. The new action is to find the connection in the assumptions of the core body of work and determine if it’s a parameter that has been overlooked in your research or if you have uncovered an unstated assumption that your work critically challenges.
I can’t write yet. Why?
I’m missing data on [x]. Why?
Because the last results were affected by the apparatus malfunctioning. Why did it malfunction?
Because the samples were not sufficiently held in place by the usual means. Why?
Because the glue failed to adhere at those temperatures. Why are these results important?
Because without it, I don’t know to what extent the propellant is affected by extreme temperature fluctuations.
Exit here. Source additional solutions to the equipment issue or find alternative secondary research that speaks to the data on temperature fluctuations.
If you use one of these techniques with a student (or yourself), I’d love to hear how you made it work. Leave a comment and sign up for my newsletter for more tips like these!
Happy researching! ~Rosey
