Please watch or listen the video from beginning to end, but if you need to come back to a single piece of advice, here are the signposts. 1. 14:22 Clarity of project 2. 16:52 Best writing is organized writing 3. 19:30 Every first draft is humiliating 4. 21:04 Writing and editing are different activities 5. 22:02 Work both on paper and screen 6. 25:03 Read it aloud 7. 26:40 Remember your audience 8. 28:04 Cut your prose by 10% 9. 29:19 Transitions matter 10. 30:49 Great introductions and conclusions...
Tara, I've listened to your vlogs for about a year before starting my PhD, and am now finishing my second year PhD, still listening to your vlogs! Your channel is a gold mine and your are simply amazing! Thank you so much!
Thanks for the brilliant video! Perfect timing for me as I'm in the middle of editing and re-drafting my diss. Something I've found useful when reviewing my work. Microsoft Word (certainly on MacOS) has a 'read aloud' function where it speaks your writing back to you. I pick up an embarrassing amount of errors using this tool! Definitely a useful thing to do before sending writing to supervisors. Keep up the fantastic work! Loved your response to reading/writing a robust conclusion 😂 Thomas, UK
I will advise students and professors to convert the thesis into a PDF and then start revising it. When a document is in PDF it is very easy to spot any errors. Besides, that is the version examiners will read. So revise the PDF version of the thesis.
Thank you very much, Tara. I've just started to write my master's thesis and I find your advice really helpful for me. I just love how you explain it all.
Brilliant as usual. Your research may be fantastic but if no one understands it it is useless. You need to express this is what I did, this is why I did it, this is how I did it, this is what it means. You are transmitting a message and this requires words, both succinct and meaningful hence rewrite, revise and edit. The best of luck to you all.
Tara's videos are just so helpful, witty, quick, sharp and informative. Literally bringing to life much of what my PhD supervisors tell me (but never explain very well -sigh), Tara does with clarity, wit and style. Thanks so much Prof Tara - you rock. The moment at 25.22 is pure gold by the way -please keep up the excellent vlog series.
Thankyou tara, a very timely episode for me 6 months in now. My principal supervisor recently asked me to write a one pager on the research project. Similar to your advice on writing the abstract, I'm assuming he was trying to improve the clarity of the writing, so that the reader has a better understanding of what it is about. I am starting my new COVID daily routine, using the pomodoro technique, and the first block of each day will be watching an episode of your vlog for information as well as inspiration. Thankyou again, 211 episodes, that is amazing !!
I like your observation about paragraphs on a screen. I've changed my second computer screen to orient in portrait so I can read with a better feel for how long the paragraphs are on the page and allowing my eyes to skim over the page for main ideas. This vlog inspired me to be more excited about the revisions and editing -even though it is grueling work at times!
Wonderful videos! I just discover them and now I watch them daily! What would be the first draft that you show to the supervisor? The first "terrible" one or the second or third edition? Thanks.
Dear Prof.... I'm just got back my second draft... And was told its pretty much a technical report not a thesis... Can you advise me what I'm doing wrong