For year PhD researchers in their second year (or penultimate year if part time) **
Sample Content (mornings):
Day One: We meet you ‘as writers’ and reflect on the challenges that all writers face. Perhaps you’re in the ‘Muddled Middle’, feeling your research proliferate, bringing you original plans into question. Can you re-orientate yourself with skilful questioning and feedback from your peers?
Day Two: How do you find your writing voice as a result of honing your focus? We help you create spaces – literal and conceptual – designed to draw out your original lines of thought and to help you find expression at every level of your PhD.
Day Three: Story structure – we explore the elements of story and how you can use them to create narrative drive through your thesis. More than any other day this week, this is the day for troubleshooting!
Day Four: Who are you writing for? We introduce ‘connective tissue’ – a technique that ensures you keep your reader with you at all times, directing and guiding them through the twists and turns of your argument so they never get lost.
Day Five: How do you keep the show on the road? We’ll explore ways of working that will help you tap into your best creative state and ensure you continue to make regular progress with your writing. We recap what you’ve learnt during the week and you’ll plan your next steps.
By the end of the course:
You will have reassessed the direction your research is taking and achieved more clarity and focus.
You will have found new confidence in your writing voice and learned how to use it to guide and direct your readers.
You will have strengthened the spine of your thesis, and identified its major points of articulation.
You will have a clearer sense of who you are as a writer, and of how to access your own best creative state.
You will also receive 2 x individual tutorials with the course leaders.