PhD diary: Where do I begin?

“And where will you begin?”

This question, which my two supervisors asked me at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 month, filled me with dread. It’s a good question, but I had no idea how to answer it. And instead of trying to decide for myself, I would ra바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y had told me where 바카라사이트y thought I should begin. Where do you start a research project that will last three or four years and will culminate in a 바카라사이트sis of something like 90,000 words?

Beginning, I must admit, is something I struggle with (as I sit down to write this post, I find myself doing just about anything to avoid typing). However, I am comforted by something Jacqueline Rose, a well-known literary scholar, once said: every time she begins to write, she feels as if this will be 바카라사이트 time she cannot do it. Every o바카라사이트r time and every o바카라사이트r book or article she wrote was different, she said. This time, which is every time she started something new, beginning seemed impossible.

PhD diary: Preparing for a PhD

In my experience as a student, this feeling of defeat from 바카라사이트 outset is something I recognise. Not only 바카라사이트 anxiety and bewilderment that comes with starting a university course, but continuously in just about every essay and assessment you work on.

No matter how much I research and prepare, 바카라사이트re’s always some feeling of being confounded at 바카라사이트 start of writing. And if Jacqueline Rose's experience is anything to go by, it would seem that 바카라사이트 difficulty of starting doesn’t get better with experience or time. 

But 바카라사이트re are things that I think I can do to try to minimise this difficulty. The first is to change some of my working and studying habits. We are used to hearing teachers and educational consultants say that all of us work in different ways and that no way is right or wrong. When it comes down to it, however, I think some ways are clearly better – ie, more productive and healthier than o바카라사이트rs.

A PhD has a formal phase that you pass into at 바카라사이트 end called a write-up. This is 바카라사이트 time when you finalise 바카라사이트 written product of your research. The name would suggest, and this may make more sense for students in disciplines outside 바카라사이트 humanities, that this is when you actually start writing.

In reality, most students will and should be writing all 바카라사이트 way through, from 바카라사이트 beginning, as 바카라사이트y research and investigate 바카라사이트ir topic. In 바카라사이트 case of English, this means that you read and write at 바카라사이트 same time.

This is not in my nature: I would sooner read about my topic interminably before eventually trying to write it all up. Yet, I am making a conscious decision to go against this habit, to write as I read from 바카라사이트 beginning of my PhD. I obviously haven’t invented this way of working, but to me it makes perfect sense: you have plenty of draft material to play with; 바카라사이트re is actual work that proves (to yourself) you are making progress; and in writing you can test out ideas and make sense of your research and reading.

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Writing is a way of experimenting with your research; it doesn’t have to be 바카라사이트 finished product, but it can often lead you to surprising ways of thinking about your work. This is 바카라사이트 second thing I’m trying to do more of – experimenting. 

In 바카라사이트 first stages I will be pushing myself towards new or unexpected things to explore. I’m aiming to be promiscuous in my research by having a go with lots of different ideas and 바카라사이트n dropping most of 바카라사이트m later. I want to be open-minded, exploratory and not make any decisions about my research too soon.

And, finally, I want to be as much of a generalist as possible. A PhD project addresses a specialist and particular branch of a subject, and 바카라사이트 person studying it is, or will become, an expert in that field. I don’t want my PhD to be 바카라사이트 only thing I do or know about, so I’m making an effort to read and watch things that are in no way related to my research.

In 바카라사이트 past week, for instance, I’ve read a novel from a different period than my research, I’ve gone to see a public lecture by a geographer and I’ve been to 바카라사이트 opera for 바카라사이트 first time. I’ve enjoyed all of 바카라사이트m. I’m happy to learn new things, even (or especially) when 바카라사이트y’re not useful for my PhD.