Skip to Main Content

Important Principles

The advice about thesis writing in this section is based on some foundational principles that are worth spelling out at the outset. These four principles are worth returning to if you find yourself stuck in the process of writing. You can use the checklist at the end of this page to help you assess why you might feel stuck.

 

Writing as Thinking

The American writer Joan Didion once wrote: "I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means." (Why I Write). The quote very efficiently summarises the implicit and symbiotic relationship between writing, reading and thinking – each continually informs the other. Graduate writers often mistake this relationship; they see writing as an expression of thinking, instead of as an act of thinking.

If you have trouble expressing your ideas clearly, it might be that you haven’t quite worked through the logic of your thinking. It can seem like a vicious circle, but if this happens, try writing your way through the blockage. Write about the problem in different ways, from different perspectives, for different audiences and allow time for reflection between each piece of writing. Consider that you are writing your first draft to work out what you think, then revise your text multiple times with your reader in mind, to improve the clarity.

The section on Writer’s Block has some other ideas if you feel stuck.

 

Writing as Iterative

If one of the functions of writing is to help work out what you think, it follows that you cannot expect your early drafts to be highly polished. We all write bad first drafts; as Anne Lamont says: “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first drafts". Writing is an iterative process: the more you do it, the better it gets. Revision is, therefore, central to the process of writing.

You will likely get feedback from your supervisors on early drafts asking you to clarify, unpack and explain more fully your ideas. This does not mean you are a bad writer; it means you are working out what you think. Avoid putting too much pressure on yourself, especially in the early stages of your writing. Good writing can be learned, but it is always the product of lots of revision.

 

Writing for your Reader

When you are buried deep in your research - reading the works of others, setting up research designs, collecting data, getting ethics approval – it is easy to forget that you are writing for a very particular purpose and audience. In the case of a graduate thesis, that audience/reader is your examiner. Joseph Williams puts it in a nutshell: “We write our first drafts for ourselves; the drafts thereafter are increasingly for the reader". Remember that, although your reader is an expert in your field, they are not an expert in your project. You must explain the what, why, how and so what of your research clearly, assuming the position of expert.

 

Writing with Authority

Authority is something we all aspire to when writing. You want to show that you have mastered the discourse of your discipline and demonstrate that you are ready to take your place as a valued peer within it. The word ‘authority’ derives from the Latin word auctor meaning master, leader or author. Here the link between writing and authority is implicit. When writing in an academic space, you need to learn to see yourself as the author of your ideas, and to express those ideas in a voice which is authorial in nature.

Supervisors often comment upon the absence of authorial voice in graduate writing, and it is one of the things with which graduate writers often struggle. Finding your own voice involves developing your confidence as both a writer and a researcher. It will come with time and practice, but for more tips, go to Finding your Voice.

 

Checklist

  • Am I stuck with my writing or stuck with my thinking? Can I use my writing to help untangle my thinking? How?
  • Am I expecting my writing to be polished too soon? Have I written multiple drafts of sections I am stuck with? Have I allowed time between drafts for reflection?
  • Have I considered the needs of my readers? Am I assuming my reader already knows a lot about my project? Do I articulate the purpose of each section of my writing clearly? Have I used signposting and linking to help my reader understand the logic of my thinking and arguments?
  • Do I write as the author of my material? Do I show that I am in control of my writing by projecting my own voice confidently? Do I clearly indicate my own stance in relation to the content I am writing about? Where is my argument and how will my reader recognise it?

 

Further resources

La Trobe Graduate Research Office: Introduction to Academic Writing

Rachel Cayley, Explorations of Style

Anne Lamont (2014) Bird by Bird, Knopf.

Joseph Williams (2003) Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Longman.