Jonathan Warren shares the last in a three part series. Explore Part 1 here and Part 2 here. As I wrap up this series, two more things I learned from my dissertation come to mind: 4) You need to strike the proper balance between research and writing. One of my besetting issues during the entirety of my Ph.D. program was the sense that I always needed to know more about the topic than I did before I could write about it. My tendency was to consume more and more information, compile more and more detailed … [Read more...] about Five Things I’ve Learned from Writing a Dissertation, Part 3
Five Things I’ve Learned from Writing a Dissertation, Part 2
Boston Public Library Last time I explored how important it is to have a supportive community while writing. Here I move on to lessons 2 and 3 from my dissertation process: 2) Be realistic about how much time good writing takes. I mentioned before that I'm an ENFP and find it extremely hard to focus. I'm also very social and tend to get depressed if I spend too long in the library researching and writing. One of the initial challenges for me in making progress on the dissertation was developing what historian … [Read more...] about Five Things I’ve Learned from Writing a Dissertation, Part 2
Five Things I’ve Learned from Writing a Dissertation, Part 1
Over the past six years, I've been enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University, studying church history. For the past three years, I've been trying to write a dissertation, which is more or less like trying to write a book–but for three or four very persnickety readers. More than once during this process I've questioned whether I would be able to finish. I never struggled with “imposter syndrome” during coursework or comprehensive exams, but during the dissertation … [Read more...] about Five Things I’ve Learned from Writing a Dissertation, Part 1