Dear Dissertation Writer: Stories, Strategies, and Self-Care Tips to Get Done

Dear Dissertation Writer:

Stories, Strategies,

& Self-Care

Tips to Get Done

By Susan D. Corbin, Ph.D.

Cover design by Karie Williams

Interior design by Roberta Morris, Leave It to ’Berta

Illustrations by Janine Dworin

Chapter 2 was in ABD Survival Guide May, 2004 in a different form

Chapter 3 was in ABD Survival Guide September, 2003 in a different form

Chapter 14 was published by Story Circle Network in December, 2019 in a different form

Dear Dissertation Writer: Stories, Strategies & Self-Care Tips to Get Done

© 2021, Susan D. Corbin, Ph.D.

ISBN: 978-1-7373325-1-0

Contents

Preface

Section 1: First, Get Over Yourself

Chapter 1:PhD Stands for ...

Chapter 2: How to Sabotage Your Dissertation

Chapter 3: Think of It This Way: It’s No Big Deal! It’s Lots of Small Deals!

Chapter 4: Brave Saves the Day

Chapter 5: How to Lose Control

Section 2: Topics, Proposals, Committees, …Oh My!

Chapter 6: Topic? Schmopic? Decide Already!

Chapter 7: Yep, Your Fate is in Their Hands

Chapter 8: Who’s on First? Or What to Do First?

Chapter 9: What’s It Supposed to Look Like?

Section 3: When the Writing Muse Flips You Off

Chapter 10: Shhh… Butt in Chair Time is Sacred

Chapter 11: You Have to Write to Write

Chapter 12: Oh, Yeah? Prove It

Section 4: Showtime

Chapter 13: The Anxiety is Almost Over

Chapter 14: My Tale of Two Committees

Chapter 15: You Deserve to Celebrate!

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Preface

Dear Dissertation Writer,

Welcome to the book that will make writing your dissertation a breeze.

Oh, wait. If only that were true.

However, now that I have your attention, this book will be of immense help to you because it is different from other How to Write Your Dissertation books. The difference? I address key emotional issues first; then, address logistical issues. This book is for dissertation writers regardless of where they find themselves on the emotional continuum from feeling a bit of trepidation about starting the project to being in a total freak-out mode about writing it; whether you are just starting or halfway done. The book includes stories of composite graduate students having the problems I observed real students struggling with. What you’ll find here are strategies – both emotional and logistical – to help get you out of stuck places and get to the goal line of Done.

There are four sections in this book:

First, Get Over Yourself

Topics, Proposals, Committees… Oh, My!

When the Muse Flips You Off

Show Time

First, Get Over Yourself means let go of your preconceived notions of how writing a dissertation is supposed to go. Don’t expect to be perfect. Faculty members don’t expect it. The students I’ve seen who expected perfection of themselves were the ones who faltered and some failed. The stories in this book based on composite graduate students will help you understand what getting over yourself means and provide strategies to help you do it.

Another question First, Get Over Yourself addresses is, Where do I start in this bewildering process of writing a dissertation? Students set themselves up for failure by thinking they have to know exactly what they are doing and not be vulnerable about their fears in starting the research or the writing. The chapters in Section 1 address these concerns by:

Showing that fear is often present and it is okay

Breaking the dissertation into smaller parts

Dealing with vulnerability in presenting new ideas

Demonstrating that there are controllable events and uncontrollable happenings

Section 2, Topics, Proposals, Committees… Oh, My! focuses on academic details requiring consideration. These details are issues a faculty advisor might not think to mention, such as, how to decide on

a research topic; how to choose dissertation committee members; and a suggested order to writing a dissertation that may not be intuitive.

A chapter in section 3, When the Muse Flips You Off is a description of strategies for getting writing done and how writing improves the more it’s revised. Another chapter answers a question students often don’t think to ask: Why write a dissertation in the first place? Faculty members may not think to bring it up either. Students’ thinking about writing a dissertation usually devolves into "It’s the last

of the hurdles to getting a doctorate." However, there is a valid and important reason, which you’ll find explained there.

In Section 4, Show Time, the chapters have discussions about the dissertation defense in general; the author’s dissertation defense specifically; and, finally, why go to the university’s graduation ceremony. Who would have thought that last statement was even a question, but it is. Read the chapter and come to your conclusion.

Why did I write this book? Why should I be the person to write about these things? I’ve written a dissertation and defended it, as discussed in Chapter 14. I know the hurdles of writing. Also since 2004, I have worked with and coached hundreds of graduate students through writing their dissertations. Coaching is a process in which the coach listens to the problems a student is having and then helps the student figure out the best way to work through the problem. When a coach offers suggestions, it’s always with this understanding: the student/client can accept a coach’s suggestion, reject it, or modify it with no harm done to the relationship. Often a student’s relationship with a faculty member is different. When a faculty advisor suggests something be done to a dissertation, it is with the understanding the student is obligated to do it.

A faculty advisor, a role I’ve never played, is the person to approve the literature on which students are basing their research, as well as

approving their methods. Further, faculty advisors determine if the data has been mined accurately with clear conclusions presented. This is a different process than coaching students. Occasionally, faculty members coach as well as advise. If you have a coaching faculty advisor, consider yourself lucky.

Most faculty advisors are interested in seeing progress month-by-month in a student’s research. As a dissertation coach, I am interested in offering you emotional support through the dissertation process. My job is to help clients and readers of this book clarify the problems they are having with their writing, which may in fact be emotionally related, such as perfectionism or concerns about what others will think. Another issue may be that your progress has slowed due to a need to discuss your argument with a knowledgeable person.

Over my years of coaching graduate students, I realized some

issues might look simple to the outsider or the experienced faculty

member, but are absolutely foreign and very scary to a first-time

dissertator. For example, students can falsely assume that everyone in their cohort knows what they are doing. Students often wonder but are afraid to ask, Who should be on my dissertation committee?

Given what I know, I hated the thought I’d retire and the valuable observations I’ve had about writing a dissertation would disappear.

I wanted to share my thoughts with more than the students with whom I would come in contact. I won’t be able to personally coach every student looking for help, so I wrote this book. I hope it is of use to you.

Warmly,

Susan D. Corbin, Ph.D.

AKA Dear Dissertation Coach

@diss_coach on Twitter

September 2021

Section 1:

First, Get Over Yourself

Chapter 1:

PhD Stands for ...

…the only element I find common to all successful

writers is persistence — and overwhelming

determination to succeed.

~ Sophy Burnham

I was in the departmental break room when graduate student Amy Get-It-Right came in with a long face. What’s wrong? I asked