Writing as a research tool

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Writing as a research tool
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Why Write?

• Robyn Owens in Writing as a Research Tool makes a
  series of claims for the value of writing within
  the research endeavour
• No research exists independently of language
• In academia ownership of ideas occurs through
  writing
• Examination happens substantially through text
  (even in creative disciplines)
• Thinking occurs within language more developed
  writing skills means clearer thinking

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A philosophical interlude
Can certain kinds of thinking only come into
being through and the act of writing? Is most
of research thinking occurring within a
'conversation between hand and the paper?
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Who Is your audience?

• In order for your writing to be successful, it
  helps to be clear about who it is for
• Yourself (note taking, zero drafts, diary
  writing)
• Your supervisors (first drafts, final thesis
  document, reports on progress)
• Examiners (the final document potentially
  papers you publish before you finish)
• Your Peers and colleagues (papers, second and
  third drafts)

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Exercise Saying it Clearly
This is an exercise in getting to the heart of
the matter. Write the end of this sentence and
hand it to your neighbour. You have five
minutes. My research is important because
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How to use Maps and Diagrams as writing aids
Use a piece of clean, unlined paper or a
whiteboard and as few words as possible to get
the idea across Connect all words or phrases or
lists with lines, to the centre or to other
"branches." When you get a new idea, start again
with a new "spoke" from the centre. Go quickly,
without pausing -- try to keep up with the flow
of ideas. Ordering and analysing are "linear"
activities and will disrupt the Mapping process.
Write down everything you can think of without
judging or editing If you come to a standstill,
look over what you have done to see if you have
left anything out. Dont be afraid to work over
the top of what you have done. You may want to
use colour-coding or different line styles to
help separate out the information.
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This is a 5 minute spider map exercise

• Pick an idea or theme from your thesis and write
  it in the centre circle of the spider diagram.
• Draw radiating lines and bubbles and put related
  themes in these bubbles.
• Try connecting the outlying bubbles with dotted
  lines that have writing along them to explain the
  connections you can see
• For discussion Was this exercise useful? How/how
  not?

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This is a 10 minute hierarchy map exercise

• Using your spider map, identify a theme or area
  about which you can ask a coherent question
• Write the question at the top of the page and put
  a square around it and draw 3 lines radiating
  down and connecting to 3 more boxes
• Write three responses to the question in each box
  and draw more branching lines to new boxes that
  that flesh out the response (evidence,
  references etc). If there are connections between
  these, indicate it with a dotted line.
• For discussion Was this exercise useful? How/how
  not?

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Free writing first you make a mess then you
clean it up

• From Jean Bolkers Writing your dissertation in
  15 minutes a day
• Say anything on your mind about the topic.
• If you cant think of the right word list three
  or four alternatives/choices/senses.
• As you write put commentary in it for your later
  tidying task.
• Dont interrupt the flow keep the ideas alive
  and sparking

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A Free Writing exercise
This exercise is a short piece of writing. No
pressure - this is not a finished piece for
others to read. Dont worry if you stray a little
off topic. The only rule is that you must write
continuously for 10 minutes. The topic you have
to write about is What is your research really
about? Why have you chosen it?
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Effective writing techniques
When you sit down to write do you Write a
sentence in the most messy way possible then go
back and redraft it Or Did you write it slowly,
taking time to think and labouring over each word
as you went? Or is it a bit of both? Group
Discussion What might be the relative merits of
each approach? How might you change from one
approach to another?
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The linear method

• Robyn Owens in Doctorates Downunder
• The linear methods involves starting at the
  beginning and writing in simple order until you
  reach the end
• Only really works in a small document
• Parts can end up in the wrong order
• Logic is difficult to sustain
• Major revision is required to make it coherent
• Robyn Owens (in Denholm and Evans, 2006)

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The spiral method

• Robyn Owens in Doctorates Downunder
• The spiral method involves writing the first
  part of your document, then revising that before
  moving onto the second part, then revising both
  parts together before moving to the third part
  and so on
• Best for short papers with well defined sections
• Helps you keep track of where you are heading
  because of constant revision.

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The random access method

• Robyn Owens in Doctorates Downunder
• The random access method involves writing any
  part of your document in any order. Some people
  will physically layout the short pieces of
  writing and shuffle them into clusters and
  groupings until the right order emerges.
• Allows the logical top down structure to emerge
  from the details.
• Helps you to define chapters and sub-sections
  which you can then elaborate
• Allows you to start writing anywhere (great when
  you are stuck)

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Putting it all together The Zeroth Draft

• From Jean Bolkers Writing your dissertation in
  15 minutes a day
• Reconsider the idea of the first draft think
  about it as a zero draft
• The material here is for your eyes only.
• The zero draft may then take the form of a
  tentative prose outline or a declaration of
  direction.
• From this you can proceed to the first draft
  where you attempt a complete, albeit imperfect,
  version of your finished product.

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Some ideas for organising a better writing life

• Start a writing group. Refer to The work of
  Writing for specific structures for this
  activity.
• Start a research journal and a methodology
  file.
• Try not to think of non essential writing as
  not really studying.
• Remember that no writing is ever wasted so dont
  be afraid of cutting.
• Use a whiteboard to draw your concept maps.
  Photograph it before you erase it and keep the
  image in a folder under the date.

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Further reading and other resources
Rankin, E, 2001, The work of writing insights
and strategies for academics and professionals,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Bolker, J, 1998,
Writing your dissertion in fifteen minutes a day
a guide to starting, revising and finishing your
doctoral thesis, Henry Holt and Company, New York
Williams, J. M, 1997, Style 10 lessons in
clarity and grace, 5th edn, Longman, New
York New Phillips, E and Pugh, D, 2005, How to
get a PhD a handbook for students and their
supervisors, 4th edn, Open University Press,
Berkshire Strunk, W and White, EB 2000, The
Elements of Style, 4th Edn, Longman, New
York. Denholm, C and Evans, T 2006, Doctorates
Downunder Keys to Successful Doctoral study in
Australia and New Zealand, ACER Press,
Camberwell. King, G 2004, Good Punctuation the
one stop punctuation solver, Collins,
Glascow Writing exercises for engineers and
scientists (but good for everyone)
http//www.writing.eng.vt.edu/exercises/