Debunking Thesis-Writing Myths
Do you know that thesis-writing have myths? And what scares me most is that these myths are believed by a lot of people.
The myths make it worse for us when students delay their thesis-writing because myths can become a mindset, a belief system that your subconscious mind will take control of your actions.
Let’s dive into the 7 myths that you need to immediately stop believing!
1) I SHOULD KNOW HOW TO WRITE INDEPENDENTLY
As a postgraduate student, I thought I was supposed to know everything about writing. By myself. By just going through the process of thesis writing. Alone.
I struggled and suffered with a few breakdown episodes. My motivation was going down the drain. I dare not mention this to my friends. It's like, we were all secretly agreeing on how we should suffer alone, dreading the writing process until finished.
The truth: Writing is not easy. But writing is a learned skill. Don't stay alone in the deep dark hole of thesis writing, expecting that you can dwell on writing yourself. Whenever you feel stuck in your writing, go get help.
The help doesn’t have to be from your supervisor (if you're shy to admit to him), but could be from friends in your research group, family members, writing coach or anybody that is willing to lend a pair of eyes and insights on your writing.
2) MY DRAFT HAS TO BE PERFECT
PERFECT. The devilish word that may haunt most postgraduate students, especially women (no offence, but I'm one of that woman). We expect everything around us to be perfect including our first draft. When we receive feedbacks from the Yoda Master (read SUPERVISOR), red scribbles dominate the draft like fire explosion from hell that burns our soul to the core. Well, at least that's how I felt.
The truth: Draft is not the finished version. So, don't expect your first (or second, or 10th) draft to be perfect. Get as much feedback as you can from anyone that can help you - colleagues, family, supervisors. Don't be too hard on yourself.
Accept feedback as a way to beautify your thesis. Accept that there is no such thing as a perfect thesis. There's only better or improved version of your thesis. A DONE thesis is better than the so-called perfect thesis.
3) I SHOULD HAVE THE MOOD TO WRITE
How many of you write only when you feel like it? Or when you're in the mood or flow state zone or whatever mushy feeling that prevented you from writing? In fact, when I'm writing this, I'm feeling super tired and sleepy. I don't know whether it's my brain or any other parts of my well-being that is telling me to just stop writing and go to my comfy bed. Or go take break, or watch a movie, or just play with a cat, or....well, the list could go on and on.
See how super creative our brain could be? It will tell you to do a lot of things, except do things that matters. The question is, should we follow our mood?
The truth: You might be surprised that writing does not require you to have all the good feelings before you actually start. Just take action. Whatever mood you're in, you have to get your thesis done. So, just sit down, turn off all the possible distractions (especially being online) and write.
At first, you might have all the resistance in the world- your bladder is full, you're hungry, you miss your loved ones, you don't know what to write- any valid reasons that will make you stop writing will suddenly pop in your head. It's normal because your brain is trying to protect you from going of your comfort zone.
The first few moments of doing the actual work requires more energy and focus. You'll feel uncomfortable. If you have to, just grit your teeth and keep going. Once you've past that stage, you'll feel better at writing.
4) WRITING IS EASY FOR EVERYONE ELSE, EXCEPT ME
The most annoying misconception is - writing is easy. Well, not really. Helen Hunt found out that, even some of the most prolific professors find it hard to write.
The truth: Writing is actually hard. Among many books on writing that I've read, NONE of the authors say writing is easy. I'm not trying to be negative by implying negativity towards writing. But, let's get real. Writing needs many things going - organizing, analyzing, extracting, finding the right words, ensure flowability, coherence, and hundreds of other brilliant things that Einstein did.
So, it's not just you. Most people find writing hard, including myself. As much as we would like to be Einstein, very few people find writing as an easy journey. How to make it easy? Write, write, write until you get better at it. Practice makes perfect progress.
5) WRITING PROCESS IS THE SAME FOR EVERYONE
One fine morning, a student told me that she failed to write in the morning. "Who told you to write at that time?", I asked. With a frustrated face, she said, "My friend suggested me to wake at 4 am every day and write for 2 hours. If she managed to do it, why can't I?" I then asked her a series of questions and discovered that she is a night person, not a morning person. No wonder she can’t write in the morning.
The truth: You might think writing time and writing process is the same for everyone. The truth is, even though we're all the same species, we have unique, different characters and behaviours. Some prefer quite environment, some with music, some do it after everybody sleeps, some do it in the office, some do it with friends, some even write in the bathroom! What you can do is find the right conditions that suits you best when you write.
If you're a night owl, don't expect to wake up early in the morning and be productive. Just burn the night oil to get your thesis progressing.
If you seem to get stuck during writing when you're at the same place or condition, find a new place - a cafe, library or wherever place to get the ambience of your writing flow. Always bear in mind that a small progress (even as small as one sentence) is still a progress.
6) YOUR WRITING SHOULD IMPRESS EVERYONE
Maybe you'll think that thesis writing is to impress your supervisor and examiners. So, you try so hard to write thesis for that sole purpose because they’re the one that determine whether you’ll get your degree or not.
The truth: Try to find a more meaningful reason of why you should write. Normally, a meaningful reason is bigger than yourself.
Ask questions like, "How can I help people with my research? How do I solve that problem to help the villagers at X? "
Find reasons to help people with the research that you're doing and make it as meaningful as you can, because helping people understand what you do can be a big motivator for you to write well.
7) I SHOULD HAVE BIG CHUNK OF TIME TO WRITE
Being a post-graduate student - especially when you have family - requires you to be doing a million things (class, sending kids to school, experiments, research meeting and 999, 999, 999 other things that needs to be done). This will gobble your time as quickly as a T-Rex.
So, what's left for you are short times that can never be used for writing because you need bigger chunks of time to reaaaaalllllly focus and work deep. So, you'll just wait until summer comes, or when you're done with your experiments, or when your children get older, or when you have another child.
The truth: Let's face it. Time is precious. And you might not have the luxury of long, extended time to write your thesis. As parents, finding bigger chunks of time is tougher. But, you need to graduate. The solution is to just write whenever you have time, even as little as 15 minutes a day! This will ensure you to keep moving forward, progressing towards that final thesis of yours. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward".
If you do have more than 15 minutes a day, then by all means, make full use of the time. The key here is to progress. Taking baby steps at a time is better than not taking any steps at all.
CONCLUSION
So now you the writing myths that may hinder you from progressing on your thesis. If you do believe in any one of these myths, start changing your mindset one by one at a time. You’ve got this!
Question for you: Which of the 7 writing myths is stopping you from writing your thesis? Is there any other reasons? Leave in the comments below!