The document discusses writer's block in the context of academic writing and research, emphasizing the importance of effective writing mentality and strategies to overcome procrastination. It outlines various types of writer's block, the four stages of writing—mad man, architect, carpenter, and judge—and suggests exercises and a month-long challenge to improve writing productivity. The author advocates for a structured approach to writing to relieve anxiety and facilitate better communication in research work.

1. Dealing with Writer’s
Block
Bianca Pereira
01/11/2017

2. Why Bother?
- Research and PhD are all about written communication.

3. Why Bother?
- Research and PhD are all about written communication.
- Even so, writing is relegated for the last moment (the “deadline”)

4. Why Bother?
- Research and PhD are all about written communication.
- Even so, writing is relegated for the last moment (the “deadline”)
- We assume we know how to write

5. Why Bother?
- Research and PhD are all about written communication.
- Even so, writing is relegated for the last moment (the “deadline”)
- We assume we know how to write, but the fact is… we get stuck! And..

6. We Procrastinate
- “Acquiring more information”
(Reading, reading, reading..)
- Reading E-mails
- Checking Social Media
- Going for coffee/toilet/water each
5 minutes
- Cleaning the house

7. We Procrastinate
“The most common negative emotion I have witnessed is anxiety (...)
The most common behavioral manifestation is procrastination,
when students avoid their dissertation work as a way to avoid the
unpleasant thoughts and feelings associated with doing the
work”
(Alison B. Miller 2008)

8. So, again, why bother?

9. Outline
1. Writing/Editing Mentality
2. Exercise
3. Types of Writer's Block:
a. I have many things in my mind but do not know how to start (blank page).
b. I do not know what I want to say.
c. I have things written, but it does not make any sense (or "it is rubbish").
d. I write for a day but cannot produce more than just a paragraph.
e. I have things written, but it is not credible (or "it is not good enough")
4. Academic Writing Month Challenge

10. Writing Mentality
- Creative
- Free
- Thinking through Writing

11. Editing Mentality
- Judge
- Evaluative
- Measurement of Quality

12. When both mentalities collapse..
“What is the hardest part of writing?” I ask on the first day of class.
“Getting started,” someone offers, groaning.
“No, it is not getting started,” a voice in the back corrects. “It’s keeping on once
you get started. I can always write a sentence or two - but then I get stuck.”
“Why?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I’m writing along, and all of a sudden I realize how awful it is,
and I tear it up. Then I start over again, and after two sentences, the same
thing happens.”
(Betty Flowers, 1981)

13. Exercise
Open an empty document.
Choose a topic
Just write everything that comes to mind. It is forbidden to erase anything
(even typos).

14. Takeaway
Choose your mentality at each given time.
“When you have large, ambiguously defined dissertation goals, you are
more apt to feel overwhelmed and struggle to figure out where to begin and
how to systematically tackle the work at hand (...) It is not clear how to direct
your energy, and consequently much of your energy gets used up trying to
figure out what to do instead of actually doing it.”
(Alison B. Miller 2008)

15. 4 stages of Writing
1. Mad Man 2. Architect
3. Carpenter4. Judge

16. The Mad Man
- Creative
- Free thinking
- Collect notes
- Identify interesting examples
- Research Journal
- Spider Diagrams/ Mind
Mapping
Writing is used as a means to
generate ideas, summarise other
people’s ideas, explain what is
understood.

17. The Architect
- Give structure.
- Find connections between
concepts.
- Create clusters of examples,
concepts and notes.
- Create structures/outlines.
Writing is used to explain the
connection between things.

18. The Carpenter
- Build the document.
- Choose what goes into a
paragraph.
- Include references and
examples.
Writing is used to convert loose
notes into meaningful paragraphs
using the ideas and concepts
generated by the “Mad Man” within
the structure identified by the
“Architect”.

19. The Judge
- Evaluate the quality of the
document.
- Decide if the argument is
coherent.
- Decide if the words are the
best choice.
- Identify what is missing, out of
place or low quality.
Evaluates the writing

20. It is a whole team in a single person!
1. Mad Man 2. Architect
3. Carpenter4. Judge

21. Types of Writer’s Block
Which stage generates each block?
a) I have many things in my mind but do not know how to start (blank page).
b) I do not know what I want to say.
c) I have things written, but it does not make any sense (or "it is rubbish").
d) I write for a day but cannot produce more than just a paragraph.
e) I have things written, but it is not credible (or "it is not good enough")

22. Types of Writer’s Block
Which stage generates each block?
a) I have many things in my mind but do not know how to start (blank page). Mad Man
b) I do not know what I want to say. Mad Man
c) I have things written, but it does not make any sense (or "it is rubbish"). Architect
d) I write for a day but cannot produce more than just a paragraph.
Using Judge when should be using Mad Man or Carpenter
e) I have things written, but it is not credible (or "it is not good enough")
Mad Man? Architect? Builder? The Judge should decide.

24. Academic Writing Month Challenge
THE GOAL THE ENEMY THE PATH

25. Academic Writing Month Challenge
THE GOAL THE ENEMY THE PATH
Ain’t I so cute? Want to see
some cat videos?

26. Here is the plan!
1. Choose your personal goal.
2. Join a group of fellow
adventurers.
3. Travel together during November
2017.
4. Have fun!

27. Choose your personal Goal
Word-Driven
- X words/day
Time-Driven
- X minutes/day
Project-Driven
- Paper
- Thesis Chapter
- Next GRC’s report [Mini Viva?]
- Blog posts
- Keep a research journal for 30 days

28. Join a group of fellow adventurers
Insight AcWriMo Group (contact me)
Twitter #AcWriMo
SOURCE:The Gamers Movie

29. Travel together during November 2017
Track your progress:
http://www.phd2published.com/tools/the-phdometer-3-0/
Report your progress
- Our internal Group
- #AcWriMo (feel free to tag me @bianca_oli_per)
Share problem/solutions.

30. Travel together during November 2017
Track your progress:
http://www.phd2published.com/tools/the-phdometer-3-0/
Report your progress
- Our internal Group
- #AcWriMo (feel free to tag me @bianca_oli_per)
Share problem/solutions.
Have you seen the latest of Trump?
It is cold, isn’t it? You should go for some hot chocolate!
Hey! Remember you need to organise your next vacation.
Have you called your mom recently? Better leave her a message!
Look! 120 methods to improve your writing! Better read that!

31. PhD and Research are all about writing.
Getting stuck at writing is painful and leads to procrastination.
Awareness of writing stages relieves the pain.
Knowing is not enough. We need to put our knowledge at test!

32. Dealing with Writer’s Block
Bianca Pereira
@bianca_oli_per
bianca.pereira@insight-centre.org

33. Personal Method
1. Free Writing
2. Extract key concept of each paragraph
3. Build argument based on key concepts
4. Use it as outline
5. Verify what is missing
6. Write the document
7. Review