Debunk These Myths to Develop the Habit of Fluent Academic Writing

By the time you have accepted into your doctoral programme, you have pretty much a good handle on grammar, word selection, and sentence formation. However, you have no control over your irresistible feeling of procrastination as you are no longer habitual of prolonged sitting to complete your dissertation. The habit of fluent writing can help you align your dissertation with your ideas.

What do you need to do to develop the habit of fluent writing?

First of all, you should debunk these myths:

  • You can write eloquently and efficaciously only in large blocks of time. You should write regularly whether or not time blocks are large to become a fluent writer.
  • Inspiration drives the writing process.  The fact is inspiration can help you crystallise your thoughts, but it will not get you a completed dissertation.  

Attend Seminars

It is your big mistake if you are skipping out on dissertation seminars due to any reason. These seminars can enlighten you the constructive techniques to get into the swing of writing. Workshops not only aim at discussing your dissertation methodologies and networking but writing techniques that can make you a potential writer.

Emphasise on prewriting

The best approach to develop habits of fluent writing is adequate prewriting. Always remember that writer’s block is the most significant hindrances in writing flow, and it arises if you are not prepared for writing. So try to familiarise yourself with literature, take notes, plan and organise your thoughts. Prewriting prepares you to sit and write your first draft. At the time of investing your time in collecting the evidence that you need to support your claims, you should start drafting your note to ward off writer’s block. Chances are the thoughts flowing into your mind at the time of foraging literature will not pop up when you sit to write.

Other things to do

After you have completed your prewriting – though it never ends – much of the hard work is still to come – writing and rewriting. Schedule your writing times, set deadlines, and seek feedback from your supervisor. Follow the instructions suggested by your supervisor, and above all spare time for revision as it will eat into lots of time in adding or deleting text to make dissertation eloquent.