Here’s something I didn’t realize until I was playing with the idea of hosting our own in-person writing retreat… There are scholars who study and publish research on academic writing retreats.
One of the most well-known researchers in this field is Rowena Murray, professor of education at the University of the West of Scotland. Dr. Murray defines a writing retreat as "a total immersion experience, writing support and mentoring, focused engagement in the writing experience and a community of practice and reflexivity".
Writing retreats typically offer fixed blocks of time dedicated to concentrated and distraction free writing. My company Write the Damn Dissertation is hosting "The Empowered Writing Retreat" in October, and was designed based on the work of Dr. Rowena Murray. It also includes a private 1:1 goal setting meeting prior to the retreat, and support during the retreat.
The Empowered Writing Retreat follows Dr. Murray's structure, and is based on...
Want to finish your dissertation 6 months faster? An easy way to get the ball rolling is to start with this secret to finding GREAT research questions.
The Secret
Dissertation research often generates more questions than it answers. There are little golden nuggets hidden in the final pages of published dissertations. One of these questions from a former doc student may very well provide a basis for your thesis or dissertation proposal.
Once you have a general idea of what your topic will be, a primary source for discovering your own research questions is by reading other doctoral dissertations. Existing literature, particularly recent literature, is an excellent source of research questions. Start researching Dissertation Abstracts Online, or go to ProQuest and select “Dissertations and Thesis”. Do a search for your general topic. Most published dissertations will include an area called, “Recommendations for Further Research”. This section of each...
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