Many people view academia as “pretend” – as something separate from the real world. While there are many things about school that don’t translate well into real life, there are many things that do. The process used for writing a dissertation, and in fact writing anything, can be a good foundation for how to approach any real-life problem.

Formulate An Idea

This is probably the hardest part of writing. You need something to write about. There are a lot of ways to come up with ideas, but one of the best is to think about what you’re most passionate about, what needs further research in your field of study, and then find the crossover point.

Poll your professors, other students, and alumni for answers. You can also hire a company like Ivory Research to get the wheels turning. Companies like these are professional research companies that help with the research and writing process. But, they’re not just good for a dissertation. They can help you write practically anything.

Start With Brainstorming

A good brainstorming session begins with a clear, yet focused, mind. You must clear your thoughts of all distractions. A good way to do this would be to do some meditation before you write, or go for a walk in the woods – somewhere where you can find peace and tranquillity. When you’re ready to write, get rid of all distractions.

You should silence your phone, shut off access to the Internet, and close and lock your door for privacy. Then, start writing. Don’t think too hard about what you’re writing – this is a mistake most students make. This is not a time for editing anything. This is a time to write from your subconscious.

Your first draft should look almost like a stream of consciousness. You might veer off onto tangents. That’s fine. You’ll go back and edit it later. Eventually, your drafting process will become cleaner so that extensive editing won’t be necessary. However, and especially if you’re not an experienced writer, your first draft will be quite ugly.

Do not edit anything. Resist the urge to edit as you type. This not only slows you down, but it can kill the creative writing process, which is necessary to make your dissertation, or research paper interesting as well as informative.

When you’re out of college, this technique is useful for just about any problem-solving you will do. You can whip out a sheet of paper and start writing down questions and problems you’re facing – even if they initially don’t make sense. Then, you can go back and analyse them.

Analyse The Draft

There’s a lot that won’t make it into the final draft. The editing process is where you decide which takes priority. This is the time when you can be objective about your writing. Before, it was purely subjective. You were tapping your subconscious for ideas – powerful, emotionally-driven ideas. Now, it’s time to justify those ideas with logic and reason.

Think about the process itself and uncover patterns you might have developed subconsciously.

Think About The Process

The writing process itself is a learning experience. Thinking about your process consciously and objectively can teach you about how your subconscious reacts to certain situations, ideas, and how you feel about things.

Naturally, this carries over in real life. When you’re feeling distressed about something, or happy, you can use writing to write out all of your emotions, questions, and ideas. Then you can think about the processes going on inside your head. Why did you think or feel a certain way?

This can help you uncover hidden motivations in your writing, patterns that limit your writing, and even processes that strengthen your writing.

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Jenny Wescott has been an online tutor for some time now. She likes to share her insights to help others research and write better. You can find her blog posts mainly on education, research and writing websites.