* Acknowledgements at bottom of blog

Today’s post is by Ellen Spaeth, a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology and Music. Her research concerns how listening to music could help people with anxiety disorders. She has an excellent blog about academic writing, productivity, technology, and music psychology and Tweets about those things, and her ukulele as @ellenspaeth. In today’s post she creatively uses a video gaming metaphor to consider ways of developing motivation for writing a PhD; an approach also relevant to the academic publishing journey post-PhD. 

When I was 13, I spent hours playing Super Mario on my Nintendo 64. I would try again and again to get something right. My dad asked me why I was happy to work so hard to make Mario wall-kick off ice cliffs, but had no patience when it came to practising the clarinet.

Last year, the answer just popped into my head: motivation. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about video games that motivates me to play them, and how I can use those things to make my PhD more fun and productive. What did I find? Here are 4 things…

1. Big goals are divided into manageable chunks

If you divide a big goal up enough times, the goal becomes tasks, and tasks become instructions.

Can you imagine a 3-or-4-year video game where your only instruction was “Complete the game”? Make sure you don’t view “Complete the PhD” as your only goal. For more advice on this, see my posts on identifying, scheduling, and reviewing tasks.

2. Cost/benefit analyses are easier

In a video game, you’ll usually be told what you need to do (cost), and what you’ll gain (benefit). A quest, or task might be necessary for the game to progress. Or it might get you a great, rare, item. It might get you something that you didn’t even want.

But if you know in advance what you stand to gain, you can make the decision of whether the amount of work involved is worth it. Is it worth doing the tedious, lengthy task for the unwanted item? Probably not. Is it worth it for the great item, or to continue the game? Almost certainly.

Try to think about your PhD that way. If you’re finding something really difficult and distressing, think about what you’ll gain. Is it worth it? If not, don’t do it. If it is, focus on the thing you’ll gain. It should motivate you more.

3. If you’re stuck, someone can help you

Video games are popular. That means there are a lot of people talking about them on the Internet. Some of those people have made “walkthroughs”, which are step-by-step instruction guides for video games. So if you have no idea where you’re going, and have run out of patience, you can look at the walkthrough.

After you’ve looked at the walkthrough, you can make an informed decision (as per step 2). If you decide you’re not getting anything out of the game, you can choose to stop playing. But at least you’re making an informed decision.

So if you’re stuck with your PhD, look for help. Go on a development course. Have coffee with a friend. Read a book or a blog post by someone else who’s experienced the same problem as you. If you still decide it’s not worth it, you won’t be making the decision blindly.

4. Achievement is built in

When you’ve completed a task, you are rewarded. Maybe you’ll get an item, or a new area will be unlocked, or you’ll be given a star for completing the level. The game is teaching you to value small achievements. If you were never rewarded for any of your actions in a game, how long would you play for?

Do you value small achievements in your PhD? It’s something that I find difficult. On completing a task, my brain is less likely to say “Fantastic! Good job!” and more likely to say “Oh. Well. That wasn’t much of an achievement. I’d better do some more work.”

To me, completing a task for my PhD feels a bit like putting money into an overdrawn bank account – the money just disappears into a hole, leaving you feeling even more panicked to make up the difference. I think this happens because we don’t stop to notice when we achieve things. So stop, and take notice!

And finally…

In an attempt to apply some of these ideas, I’ve written a short series of blog posts on trying to create frequent bursts of achievement within my PhD. The first post looks at using free writing and doing lists (with Scrivener, a pad of paper, or another word processing tool) to identify specific and achievable tasks. The second discusses how to schedule those tasks using a diary or task management app (such as Producteev). The third post shows how reviewing your progress each week can improve your feeling of achievement and your ability to judge how long a task will take. If you have any experiences, suggestions, or tips to share (or nice things to say), I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

* The following tutorials aided in the drawing of the blog image. (C) Ellen Spaeth

How to Draw Mario and How to Draw Tutorials

Hybrid Pedagogy’s Jesse Stommel and our very own Charlotte Frost rethink academic life and writing productivity in this on-going series of hints, tips and hacks.

HACK YOUR TIME. Some weirder tricks here: 1) If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, rather than tossing and turning in bed, get up and write. 2) Give yourself bizarre and unrealistic deadlines, and make yourself stick to them. 3) Ask friends to join with you on bizarre and unrealistically-deadlined projects for moral support. 4) Never stand in a line without a mobile device and work you can do on it. 5) Get hands-free bluetooth in your car, so you can make phone calls while driving. 6) Get a dictation app for your smart phone, so you can write while driving. 7) Do work for friends (preferably work they loathe doing) and then ask them to do work for you (work you loathe doing). 8) Use the dead time in between other things to do work – take shower, work while hair dries, call taxi, work while waiting for it to arrive, etc. 9) Keep written summaries or mind maps of major projects handy at all times and review them often. Newer and better ideas will occur to you at the strangest moments and you’ll find it easy to share these ideas and get useful feedback in chance encounters. 10) When you have no work implements at hand, work in your brain (train rides are good places for this).What else do you need to hack ? 

In keeping with the writing theme, Linda McPhee of Linda McPhee Consulting, who contributed to the Guardian Higher Education chat on academic writing with me in July 2012, has written us a post about article conclusions. There are some interesting insights here that may be of use to those writing their own article conclusions.

A few of my classes in the past year have been looking at the strategies writers use in the conclusions of published articles. The published papers we took as a sample sometimes had separate concluding sections, and sometimes incorporated these into the previous section, although it was not really possible to see any difference between the two in content or strategy beyond presence or absence of a section heading.

One conclusion started by listing the authors’ assumptions and describing the problem that had been addressed. Another used a time structure: summarising the past, how this is now changing, and how the findings show the important factors in that change. The overwhelming majority began with a very brief summary of the most important findings – not a complete rehash of the findings, but a quick trip through the high points. Most were very brief and selective, though a couple provided more extensive summaries and examples from the paper.

The next part of the conclusion was more variable. Several explained how the paper fit into a larger, ongoing process (either a research process or in the actual case being researched). A few summarised the limitations of the work (all of which had been mentioned earlier in the papers at the relevant spots). One discussed why addressing the limitations could not supply enough data to change the findings, and ended with the implications of the findings. Several mentioned implications, either practical or for ongoing research. One that ended with long-term implications first discussed short-term implications. Similarly, one pointed out that although they had not found what they were looking for, the result was real and would change their research in particular ways.

The final part almost always included a sales pitch for the research. This could be its uniqueness, why it was special, its implications, or its practical value. For a few papers, the ending described what the authors saw as the logical next step to be researched. Our small sample (about 30 published papers) seemed to group around three broad scenarios, each with several variations.

Could any one of the three serve as a basic model for the conclusion of the paper you are now writing?

Hybrid Pedagogy’s Jesse Stommel and our very own Charlotte Frost rethink academic life and writing productivity in this on-going series of hints, tips and hacks.

ESTABLISH ROUTINES. One of the things we’ve found most noticeable about the whole PhD process is that it forces us to be very resourceful and find our own ways of doing things. This ranges from the cover sheets Charlotte attaches to all her notes (so she can see the essence of a book or article and her own thoughts on it at a glance) to how we structure our day. The seemingly random and ad hoc ways you invent to do things are actually very important. By inventing your own systems you are often responding to the way you research and write up ideas. One afternoon’s quick solution can turn into a tool you use again and again throughout your career. Look at the way you do things. Think about what you’re not great at and find a better approach. Share your systems with your peers and see if they have other ways of doing things that are better than yours and speedily establish your own systems. Ultimately, you want to make sure you have ways of doing things that work for you and that you can stick to.It is also important to Hack your time too!

In the first #acwri live chat of 2013 we talked about a range of things relating to academic writing. Much of the discussion was focused on making plans for the year to come in the form of New Years Resolutions, but from this, lots of interesting tips emerged in relation to how to make 2013 the most productive academic writing year yet. As well as declaring New Year’s Resolutions and plans, we discussed a range of practical tips that can help to improve writing and increase motivation, suggestions were made about how to make the most of a sabbatical and there was also a short discussion about where best to make notes for writing. A selection of the Tweets from the chat are included below:

In a previous post for PhD2Published, I mentioned that I would be talking in a symposium at the Society for Research into Higher Education Conference 2012.

I went last Friday (14^th December 2012) and really enjoyed the experience. Professor Pat Thomson started with a really interesting talk about her project with Inger Mewburn (aka The Thesis Whisperer) about analyzing blog spaces for academic purposes, followed by Dr Jeremy Segrott who presented our talk about #acwri. Andy Coverdale spoke next about the use of social media and the way in which it aids the research process for PhD students, and then I concluded the session with discussion of how PhD2Published is an empowering space (for me in particular as Managing Editor) and one outside of institutions that is transforming academic knowledge production.

We seemed to get a good response to our papers from a really engaged audience, which was encouraging and we all commented on the strangeness of meeting face-to-face having ‘known’ each other on Twitter for so long (there is proof in the slightly blurred photo in the Storify below!). The symposium was the first real opportunity to meet up directly as a group and to share our experiences and reflections on social media use as academics.

Below is a Storify of some of the Tweets from the day that we Tweeted directly from the symposium to give an idea of what the papers were about and what we discussed:

750w: So, what can I do for you today Charlotte?

Charlotte: Well, 750words, I’d like your help in writing about how I use 750words as a sort of writing therapist.

750w: Ummmm, a what now? A ‘writing therapist’ do you think you might have lived in the US too long?

Charlotte: Ha ha very funny – and you’ve just alienated all the US members of the PhD2Published community! Besides, regardless of where I live (or whether I say aluminium or aluminium), I know this writing therapy thing works. All I need is a computer, an internet connection and a muddled brain – this last one is easiest to come by.

750w: Go on…

Charlotte: I discovered 750words last year during AcBoWriMo (now AcWriMo). James Smith, a contributor to PhD2Published mentioned it and I tried it out a few times. I really liked several of the features. For a start, there’s the interface. When you write using 750words – which is a web-based writing application – all you have is a white screen. There are no formatting options or spell-check, and all you see as you type is the name 750words (bottom left) and the time and your word count (bottom right). And when I say it’s web-based I mean that you don’t download any software or anything, you just go the website and type, and all your entries are safely stored in a fluffy cloud in the sky – that’s how cloud computing works, right?

750w: Sure! Why not…

So anyway, these two features alone had me very interested. Many writers rave about the benefits of a stripped back aesthetic where all you can do is write and all you can see is writing. But the fact none of this writing is being stored in my own computer, for me at least, adds a beneficial lack of commitment. Not only am I stripped of the task of naming my document and thereby assigning it to some area of my work before it’s fully formed or ready to be categorised, but I can treat it as more of a rough working space. There’s something about not having to directly take responsibility for the work in terms of naming or storing it that is very freeing. And as a result, I’m often a lot more daring in what I try out in 750words. It’s like, I don’t know, taking some kind of a holiday from my own computer and thereby from my normal writing life. It’s very liberating.

750w: Right, so you get a bit drunk and promiscuous with your writing in 750words, is that what you’re saying?

Charlotte: Er, that’s not quite how I’d put it but OK. Although that’s certainly not all that happens. What I find is that it’s also quite a confidence-building tool. If you’ve ever battled with yourself all day for just 300 academically precise words, it’s great to know you can probably bash out 750 rough ones in about 18 minutes (My personal best according to the stats 750words give you. Another interesting feature by the way that brings out just enough competitive instinct to encourage still more writing.)

750w: But a good therapist would do more than boost your confidence, they’d help you work through specific problems. How do I, er, we, do that?

Charlotte: About a month back I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love as part of a summer binge of reading memoirs. If you don’t know the book, it’s about one writer’s attempts to get over her divorce and find new meaning in life by living in Italy (and eating), India (and praying) and Indonesia (and randomly falling in love). Anyway, early on in the book Gilbert describes a moment of utter despair lying sodden in tears on her bathroom floor as she realised her marriage was over. She explains how in feeling so lost and alone she develops a writerly coping technique. Basically, she writes questions in her note book like: ‘what should I do now’ and discovers is that the answers just sort of come to her. At first the Brit in me bristled at this. I was all: ‘Oh yeah, nice one Gilbert, you’ve clearly happened upon the sensibly minded goddess of automatic writing – not the one the Surrealists used to pen-pray to obviously!’ But then I thought about it logically. She wasn’t saying her pen magically started forming the words on the page, she was saying that the answers just came out that way, which is obvious when you think about the fact she’s a writer; of course she’s going to write her way of all this mess.

750w: But what does this have to do with 750words?

Charlotte: I’m getting to that. Jeez, anyone would think we were being timed here or something. Oh, wait, of course we are.

OK then…

Not long after I read Eat Pray Love I found myself struggling with a section of the book I’m writing. After a few hours of writing it first one way, and then another, I realised I was at an impasse – although I resisted crying on the bathroom floor. I tried reading for a bit to sharpen up my thinking. It didn’t work. I tried calling a friend. She didn’t pick up. So I thought, let’s try this Gilbert thing and let’s see if 750words is a good neutral space for summoning up a writing spirit.

I opened the application and just wrote myself a question. Something like: ‘So, what’s the problem then?’ and I set about answering it. Something like: ‘I’m struggling to write a section about how new materialism and media archaeological approaches help us recognise the way the physical qualities of an archive contribute to the knowledge they hold.’ I continued by asking myself: ‘And why are you telling us this?’ And I went on: ‘Because I need to show how art history as a discipline has had a strong relationship with print that has naturalised certain ways of thinking about art – ways that are best conveyed through print. And what I need to do is argue that with the arrival of digital technologies we have new ways of storing information that contribute new ways of thinking about, say, art.’ As I went on, I discovered that by asking myself a set of very simple questions I could pull the essential ideas out of the knot in my head. On top of that, I discovered that some of what I was writing was perfectly usable. More exciting than that, it was pretty darn good. Having been shaped by the very questions I needed to respond to, the passages I was writing were neatly pre-empting the thoughts of an enquiring reader.

750w: So that’s it then, it’s not hippy stuff, you just find 750words an excellent space in which to unpack your thoughts?

Charlotte: Er yes, OK then, if you want to put it that simply! Now stick that in your cloud and, um, fluff it!

Today’s guest post for AcWriMo is by Charlie at Urban Writers’ Retreat. She explains the benefits of setting up a writing retreat for getting some academic writing done and explains what you need to consider to set one up.

When you hear the words ‘writing retreat’, people imagine being holed up for weeks at a time in the deepest countryside. That’s all well and good, but most of us don’t have the time or money to do that, never mind the inclination. Well, how about a one-day writing retreat?

You might think that sounds like a day at the office, but it’s not. Going to a new place for a set time where you’re expected to work on one specific piece of work is an entirely different and more productive animal than a regular working day with all its interruptions, distractions, endless to-do lists and procrastination. There’s something about working in quiet companionship with other writers that just… works, and AcWriMo is the perfect time to get a few colleagues or your writing group together to try it.

So. What should you consider if you want to hold your own writing retreat?

Length

If your fellow writers are busy you might choose to do just an evening or morning of writing. 2 hours is really the minimum amount of time to allow to make it worthwhile, but do factor in time for people to settle in at the start. A day is ideal and 10am – 4pm will work nicely without overwhelming writers.

Your venue

It’s possible to write in cafes and other public places, but if you’re doing more than a couple of hours I’d suggest using somebody’s house or another quiet place where you can stay for a long time without feeling awkward or being disturbed. Ban family members from interrupting if you’re at home. Your venue needs to have enough seats and desk/table spaces that people won’t feel too squashed, chairs and power points and be warm enough. Ideally you’ll want somewhere that is pleasant to spend a few hours in, and you’ll definitely want a kettle – a large dining room would work well. If you’d rather hire a venue or are using part of an academic facility, make sure it has everything you need and that the group agrees to any costs.

Food

Writers can bring their own packed lunches, you can order in sandwiches or if you’re at home you could have something that can be reheated in an oven. People will appreciate fruit, cake or biscuits to snack on.

Set expectations

One of the nicest things about a retreat is working around other writers, but you’re here to work. Create a timetable with quiet work times and breaks so that people can catch up and chat. You can either have regular group breaks or leave people to do their own thing and just break together at lunch. Either way, send out an email beforehand so that people know what to expect. You can also cover food and let them know how much money to bring if you’re providing it (ask if anyone has allergies). Remind people about turning phones off, bringing headphones for music and all of the leads, memory sticks, notebooks and research material they need. Encourage people to complete any research beforehand so that they can use this time just for writing.

Goals

Having run writing retreats for 4 years, I can tell you from experience that setting a goal for your writing retreat makes a huge difference to what you achieve. It doesn’t have to be big and involved, although personally I favour having an overall goal for the day and splitting it into sessions. You can do this within 5 minutes on a scrap of paper. Either get people to do this in advance or have a goal-setting session at the start of the day.

Internet

If at all possible, turn it off. For the whole day. It will feel weird because we’re so used to being able to hop online anytime, but you’ll survive. In fact, your writers will thank you when they see their word counts at the end of the day.

The fear

Going to a writing retreat, particularly for the first time, can be intimidating. People worry that they will get stuck and be left sitting staring at a blank page for 8 hours. You can download a few creative exercises from the internet to have handy in case anyone needs to shift mental gears or just think about something else for a few minutes. You can discuss any problems people are having in breaks. It can also feel a bit awkward at first sitting in a room with a bunch of virtual strangers, so take the time to introduce everyone to everybody at the start. The most powerful thing you can do to take control though, is the goal-setting.

Finding writers

If you aren’t a member of a writing group or an academic department you might need to look further afield to find writing buddies. Ask anyone you know if they know anyone who might be interested, any contacts you’ve made through your academic work. Ask people on Facebook or twitter. Ask fiction writers too or friends doing job applications. You don’t need a huge amount of people to run a retreat, though I’d suggest that if you’re doing it with just 2 or 3 people it will work better if you already know each other – just be strict about keeping work times quiet. You can even do a retreat solo but it requires much more will-power. You’ll need to engage the services of a timer (your phone/computer will have one), may need to use a different space than your normal workplace, and it will be absolutely crucial to set goals and switch off the internet.

The main thing though, is not to let the thought of having to organise some big event intimidate you. In its simplest form a writing retreat can be you and a colleague agreeing to work together on a particular day. You pick a place and time, agree break times and spend 5 minutes setting a goal before turning off your laptop’s wifi. And there you go, one rocket-fuelled day of writing is yours. Easy.