How to improve your writing: A guide for PhD students and academics

Writing is an essential skill for any PhD student or academic, but it's also a huge source of stress. This is partly due to the scale and complexity of the task, but also due to a general lack of training in writing.
Many of the most common pieces of advice (like, "just get words down and sort it out later") simply do not work. In this lecture given at the University of Tübingen in October 2022 I explain some key principles of structure and process that can be applied to any project.

[@fernandocortes1187]

16:07 Stress among PHD Students 20:00 Structure 9:40 How to show what you know 28:00 The process...use a mind map to guide the writing 48:14 Q&A e índice de lo visto

[@NecroSonic1]

Good applicable points. Other than structure I find that tone is also an important yet underrated aspect of academic writing. Of course some disciplines might enjoy more liberty than others but I find that many academics writes in a needlessly boring style. When I began writing my PhD dissertation I would also feel obliged to write in a style where I would distance myself from the writing and strive to make myself invisible as the author of the text in some misunderstood attempt at objectivity. When I read through my dissertation around a 100 pages in I found it to be terribly boring and felt like it could have been written by someone else. So, I decided to scrap the whole thing and start over and write it in a more personal style with humor and excitement and I hoped that it would not be dismissed as being less scientific. It was much more fun to write and edit the new version and at the defense it turned out that the assessment committee really valued the personal style of writing. One even said that it had been such a joy to read and that it would make assessment work much more delightful if more dissertations would feature creative and unique styles of writing.

[@James_Hayton]

I agree- tone is a little more difficult to coach, so I tend to focus on structure as it's more fundamental to good communication and often I need to prioritize. If people get a good grip on structure and there's enough time, then I might work on getting them to express more of themselves with excitement and humour about the subject

[@thudao7391]

I have this concern though. I also struggle with style and tone in writing. For some reason, every time I tried to incorporate some personal style and humor into my writing, it backfired. My supervisors said that it gave off a lighthearted vibes and that no one would take this seriously. So I gave up doing so.

[@youneschebini5280]

the biggest problem with academics is boring writing style, why they just don’t be direct and simple in their writings? Is it lack of confidence or lack of engagement? Or just trying to layer the simple direct truth?

[@mktsp2]

@@James_Hayton I doubt that

[@James_Hayton]

@@youneschebini5280 I agree. They should be clear and direct. And yes, they do often dress their work in overly complicated language due to a lack of confidence.

[@0101799]

Thank you so much for your lecture, Dr. Hayton! I will apply the skills you taught us in Portuguese! Greetings from Macau! :)

[@Monamie44]

Writing up my PhD thesis now. Many thanks.

[@tawfiqezaz3455]

Thanks for your useful tips

[@asthasharma8770]

So extensive guidance. Glad to listen to this video. Lots of important tips and the speaker has immense patience.

[@practicemakesperfect007]

I want to thank you for posting this video. It has got many information that I find valuable.

[@parishayjahanzeb2578]

Hi Hayton, I wish, i knew this at the time of my grad school. I was literally struggling with writing at that time .I stuck myself confronting three things 1. Knowledge of particular discipline on given topic. 2. Research methodolgy (worrying about the research principles) 3. How to structure my ideas ( the most frustrating part). Thank God i saw your videos. it will surely help in my academic career. May Allah bless you.

[@AmberSoleil1]

He missed “crying under your desk” in his process section

[@paperclips1306]

Does that work. If it works I will also cry under the desk.

[@marryamakbaar3014]

It's absolutely necessary to cry, that's built in human system to coping mechanism ! It's important for us and normal 😌 don't worry about it !

[@areliousmuckle8249]

😮 so I'm not the only one.

[@AmberSoleil1]

Definitely not! Stay strong! :P @@areliousmuckle8249

[@kalaisai680]

I can't even cry😂😂

[@sarah1of4]

Really liked the fundamental problem around 8:10 - made me feel a bit better about the current tangle!

[@eulissaharvey5640]

Eulissa Harvey I totally agree, one should have details. For me, gathering details gives me the the oportuinity to communicate effectively.

[@tasnimsarker4653]

Thank you so much professor.

[@PRIMULA567]

Your talks are so good, wow!!! Well done. I am in my first semester of my Master's degree in Genetics and now I am writing my research proposal, this is so helpful. THANK YOU!!

[@mkbestmaan]

It is great to witness wisdom in a testimony, masterclass talk. Metacognition talks help a lot. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@ledwinahungwe6001]

Powerful presentations

[@TVWJ]

For introductions - a way to get around that: Write a sentence: "in this article we present..." ("This research will... " !) and complete the sentence stating what you are going to do in the article. That sentence will contain a number of key words and concepts (these are related to the "situation, problem, current knowledge on the topic, and the approach you have chosen to address it). Find these items, they must be explained in your introduction. This will basically select what you need to explain (avoid irrelevant information), and also force you to put the things in a meaningful order. It is kind of writing your intro "backwards" - but by doing that, you have a clear focus when you write your introduction.

[@James_Hayton]

How does your approach force you to put things in a meaningful order, without addressing the relationship between ideas? I'm sure you can do it, but I've seen countless students use your approach but the writing is a total mess. The challenge in explaining the writing process is understanding those instinctive things we do in a way that someone else can follow. In your other comment, you say to formulate a main message and present evidence for it... but sometimes it's better to put the main message at the end as the argument and evidence leads the reader to the new conclusion... is this what you mean by writing backwards?

[@TVWJ]

@@James_Hayton Hi James. What I mean is that it is easier to select the material you need if you have the main message of your article as a focus point. I tell my students (I am an industrial coach) to write that sentence down. Of course, you have to address the relationship between the ideas and concepts, in the article itself this will be in your argumentation - the results and discussion parts. In introductions, having the final sentence in your head, with all the keywords/concepts in it helps to select what you should actually explain in the introduction and what not. If that one sentence you write down should make sense to a reader, you have to think about in what order you have to go through the keywords in that sentence, and of course explain what the relationship between the points is. That is then the storytelling part. I find this an efficient way to decide what you should put in and what you can leave out. It helps you to stay on the main track, and not get lost in sidetracks, as I often see in manuscripts (as a reviewer) and also in published articles. So my strategy is not to replace the thinking - there is no easy workaround for that ;-), but it is a useful guideline in what you should be thinking about.

[@elalaelasariuinjakarta7548]

Thank you, Dr. Hayton, It's a great video. I will try to apply in Indonesia. Cheers!.

[@user-ec1hz4zn8i]

wow! Thank you so much

[@BrodieGiesbrecht]

Your lectures are extremely helpful, thank you for posting these! Believe it or not, writing has been my favorite part of my undergraduate degree so far. I'm sure these tips will help me improve!

[@James_Hayton]

I enjoy writing too! I don't think people should suffer through it

[@user-es9dd9wm1x]

Best presentation on improving writing I've come across - thanks for sharing your lecture

[@user-es9dd9wm1x]

Is it possible to get access to the slides ?

[@mamoako1521]

14:47 Basic structure for the introduction of any project

[@user-bx2cc5fv3w]

Hello. Dr.Hayton. Very nice resource. Can i get the slides that you used if possible? Thanks

[@NHSHEARTTRANSPLANT]

Thanks! A lot

[@TVWJ]

I always tell them to start constructing the story, without worrying too much about the language. Could be power-point style. Formulate a main message for the entire article, and present the new evidence for that message, and construct the arguments, and put the things in the right order. Once you have done that, then you can focus more on the text.

[@luisalfonso5205]

Your videos are so enjoyable! I'm currently stuck in the process of submitting my first draft at journals. Do you have any recommendations or videos that could be helpful for this process?

[@James_Hayton]

show the work to your supervisor and get feedback before submitting- also ask your supervisor about the process as they'll be able to guide you

[@econshariful]

I am half way to finish this amazing video. Would you please share the PPT?

[@castalia6778]

I can't get enough of these lectures. Mr. Hayton, thank you so much!

[@Gorboduc]

Upvoted the second he said that Just Write™ is trash advice.

[@fredkiller5132]

You are the best! Been a fan since "... Without Going Insane". 👍👍👍

[@mavicityrelayson2924]

I need a workaround on that being completely offline thing. Most of my stuff are in the cloud.

[@James_Hayton]

you can block distracting sites and leave essential ones accessible

[@diarimachan]

1.5 hours and keeps my attention

[@dlaminirozay3016]

I can hear what you are saying but it's hard to get the papers for information iam trying to attempt I stuck lot I wish to excel on this.

[@PhDsoonish]

You are right Dr. Hayton, I need write 3 papers each ones in a different languages, I do NOT knows where to start. The papers is due buy December 21, 2023. This is old video I hopes you is still alive?

[@vectoralphaAI]

I thought you were Greg Miller from a distance.

[@MadofaA]

9:40 the effect on our writng ability of being educated to pass tests.

[@augustinzouzou6786]

How can I be in touch with you Dr ? I want to write my Thesis in Finance , please let me know to reach you

[@yousefalqurashi777]

When writing a Dissertation in humanities - particularly in philosophy and theory of something (political theory for example), it is a whole other story. you are just flowing in a sea of narratives and trying to fix up something from almost nothing. no data, no problem, no analytics, just philosophy. I hope that you have something on this issue

[@James_Hayton]

most of the students I've worked with have been in the humanities, and I can tell you that my approach evolved from working with those students. You need structure. There is no other way. If you understand how structure works, you don't need to be adrift in a sea of narratives, you can systematically and logically construct an argument in exactly the same way as in the sciences. If you don't have a problem or question to answer, what are you doing?

[@Heyu7her3]

I did my undergraduate studies in Philipsburg and had to do a thesis. While I agree that the theoretical writing is very different from empirical writing, you do still have some sort of problem that you solve or address in some way (through sources, proofs, thought experiment, etc). There's still a structure -- of course, not like an empirical paper, but still there.

[@James_Hayton]

It's not really that different at all. The key is that you can use structured thinking to figure out what you want to say, but to do short, standalone pieces to explore specific aspects of a problem. As you figure out more of the pieces you start to notice connections and patterns, then you can put together a complete document once you've clarified your thoughts and know what you want to say

[@yokkanyanat1532]

@@James_Hayton Thank you so much! This suggestion helps me too.

[@sumantranray2414]

your videos are on important topics. But why are they soooo lengthy > 1 hour ?

[@James_Hayton]

i do shorter ones too. Take your pick!

[@ninirema4532]

Dear prof Dr sir Very sweet good morning 🌄🌄🌞🌞🌞 Thank you very much 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏❤😅

[@khansvirtualdiary]

📝📨🖥️