This document discusses various sources and types of writing advice as well as common advice that is often given but may not be practical or meaningful. It explores where to find writing advice from universities, writing courses, social media, videos, and the internet. However, the quality and applicability of advice varies widely across these sources. Common advice like "always be writing", "write every day", and "suffer for the craft" are examined in more depth and their potential problems discussed. The document emphasizes fitting writing advice to one's own life situation and considering the expertise of the source. It provides tips on incremental progress and maintaining a balance between writing and rest.

1. Navigating
Writing
Advice
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2. Overview
 Where to FindWriting Advice
 Types ofWriting Advice
 Common Writing Advice Given
 Fitting Advice intoYour Life
 Tips, Best Practices, and Reminders
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3. Where to Find
Writing
Advice?
 Your University
 Writing Courses
 Faculty
 UniversityWebsite and Other Resources
 Social Media Support Groups
 YouTube and otherVideoWebsites
 Throughout the Internet
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4. University
WritingAdvice
 Benefits
 Often provided by experts who have done what you
seek to do
 Methods and suggestions often backed by research
data
 Convenient and accessible
 Drawbacks
 Different Life Situations (FT Student vs FT Working
Student)
 Research may be dated
 Availability of in-person assistance limited
 Quality of assistance varies
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5. Social Media
Support
Groups
WritingAdvice
 Benefits
 Often Peer to Peer
 Accessibility is always available
 Convenient and free of formality and jargon
 Great for encouragement and emotional support
 Drawbacks
 Different Life Situations among members
 Writing advice not always specific to your genre
 Basis/Merit of advice varies wildly
 Meme-ified writing advice
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6. YouTube &
OtherVideo
Sites
WritingAdvice
 Benefits
 Accessibility
 Great variety of advice in multiple languages
 Often professional writers, editors, and other experts
 Drawbacks
 Best advice often kept behind a paywall
 Quality ofVideos varies widely
 Can easily lead down rabbit holes to other topics
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7. Internet
WritingAdvice
 Benefits
 Accessibility
 Great variety of advice in multiple languages
 Often professional writers, editors, and other experts
 Drawbacks
 Quality varies widely
 Research basis may be either dated or non-existent
 Proliferation of writing memes
 Finding quality advice requires diligent searching
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8. Types of
WritingAdvice
 Basic Writing Advice
 Grammar, Punctuation, Structure, etc.
 Rhetorical Advice
 Argument Construction, Explanation ofWhy
Structure isWhat it is, Rhetorical Strategies
 Genre Specific Advice
 “HowTo”Write in a Particular Genre:
Persuasive Essay, Humanities Dissertation,
Historical Romance Novel, etc.
 Motivation and Encouragement
 Generalized Writing Advice
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9. Common
Writing
Advice
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Always BeWriting
Write Every Day
WriteWhatYou Know
Suffer for the Craft
Proscriptive Advice

10. Always Be
Writing
 Why is it offered?
 Completion requires action
 “A Good Dissertation is a Done Dissertation”
 Graduate programs do not offer unlimited time
 Problems & Complications
 Ties productivity to sense of worth
 Graduate programs offered more time to complete
your dissertation than now
 Students had the luxury of no other responsibilities
 Make it Meaningful
 Schedule (and keep!)WritingTimes AND Resting
Times
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11. Write Every
Day
 Why is it offered?
 Completion requires action
 Continued practice of a craft improves the craft
 Graduate programs do not offer unlimited time
 Problems & Complications
 Doesn’t always fit your life
 Ignores the reality of illness, tiredness, stress, etc.
 Can lead to burnout
 Make it Meaningful
 Schedule (and keep!)WritingTimes AND Resting
Times
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12. WriteWhat
You Know
 Why is it offered?
 Maintain Expertise
 Promotes Research
 Attempts to prevent misinformation/false information
from being shared
 Problems & Complications
 Most people already do this
 Offered as a pithy saying instead of something more
nuanced:Write what you know, so if you don’t know a
subject, learn about it from credible sources.
 Make it Meaningful
 Research background information and organize it
before you begin writing (but don’t mistake searching
the journals for “making progress”)
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13. Suffer for the
Craft
 Why is it offered?
 Belief that all artisans must “suffer” to produce
great art
 Poorly worded attempt at normalizing struggles
 “Yes, I know you’re struggling, we’ve all been there.
It’s normal.” / “Everyone feels that way in graduate
school.”
 Problems & Complications
 This is toxic
 Often minimizes emotional and psychological
stresses of writing a dissertation
 Make it Meaningful
 Take days off to rest, recharge, and reconnect
 A therapist is a great support
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14. Proscriptive
Advice
 Why is it offered?
 Easy to give “You SHOULD….” / “Always....”
“Never…” type of advice
 “It worked for me, so…”
 Has the air of authority
 Problems & Complications
 One size rarely fits all situations and projects
 Make it Meaningful
 Consider the source, the advice, and your project
specifics
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15. FittingWriting
Advice intoYour
Life
Know important due dates and hard deadlines
Realistically assess your strengths and weaknesses
Determine theType ofWriting Advice/Aid Needed
Consider All Other Commitments inYour Life
Determine the Expertise of the Source Offering
Advice

16. Tips, Best
Practices,
and
Reminders
 Progress is not linear: Good days and Bad days
happen
 Incremental, regular progress often produces
better results faster than irregular progress
binges
 ScheduleWriting Days/Times that FitYour Life
 TakeTime to Rest:You are NOT a machine
 Build a support network
 Pithy advice often has a nugget of nuanced
truth that is “understood” but not stated.
 Even advice offered in good faith can be
ignored
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17. Additional
Support
Statistics Solutions is a full-service dissertation consulting
company providing graduate students timely, editorial
support for their dissertations and scholarly projects
For information about our services, receive a
complementary 30-min consultation available Mon-Fri 9-5
ET
Contact Jeanine Glase at info@StatisticsSolutions.com
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