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Prerequisites
To benefit the most from this course you need to be writing on a specific text during the course. It can be your thesis, a journal or conference paper, a report, or your study plan. It just has to be a project that you can spend at least 9 hours writing on during the week.
Aim
To introduce PhD students to writing tools that can help them become more productive writers.
Content
This course introduces tools to become a productive writer and create a sustainable writing practice, but also offers time to actually write on your own text while being at the course. We start the week by discussing why writing can sometimes be so challenging and introduce writing goals as a core technique to get started and break down the writing task.
Then different approaches to writing are introduced: 1) Why it is important to separate the writing phases - so you focus either on creative writing or revision and not at both at the same time. 2) The IMRAD structure is the conventional storytelling structure in science, but we will dive a little bit deeper into storytelling to investigate how you can make your writing more compelling. 3) You get hands-on tools to different approaches to revision. 4) We finish the week by introducing writing snacks, an efficient tool to get some writing done even if you only have 20 minutes at hand before your next meeting.
Overview of course contents:
· Productive writing – 9 writing slots where you work on your own text during the week
· Different approaches to the text
· Storytelling
· Revision of text
· Writing snacks
Please bring computer, charger, pen and paper.
Teaching Style
The course alters between short presentations, group discussions and writing on own text. Participants also get an opportunity to be coached during the course if difficulties with writing emerge.
Learning Objectives
After this course the PhD candidate is able to
· Set realistic writing goals
· Apply strategies to write on a regular basis
· Differentiate between creative writing and revision
· Apply storytelling principles in scientific writing
· Reflect on your writing process and practice
· Be aware of your state of mind and how it influences your ability to write
Course Literature
No mandatory reading is required for this course. However if you are curious, the following list of books explain some of the principles and tools used in the course:
· Peter Elbow (1998) Writing with power
· Rowena Murray (2017) How to write a thesis
· Rowena Murray (2019) Writing for academic journals
· Joan Bolker (1998) Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day – a guide to starting, revising, and finishing your doctoral thesis
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