Years ago, well before I'd even finished my Masters, I remember asking someone how his dissertation was coming. He physically winced, then politely told me that was a question you simply don't ask. At that time I couldn't understand why, because, it seemed to me, that after years of classwork it would be wonderful to finally get a chance to write about your topic without anyone telling you when it was due or giving you an real guidelines. Now I understand why you shouldn't ask how someone's dissertation is going and it's time to change up the question and answer.
The first thing that non-dissertation writers must understand is that a dissertation is, for all intents and purposes, a book. There are exceptions of course, but if you want a PhD in the humanities, then plan on writing a book. Most people that I know and have met aim for the 200-300 page range, however I heard about one person that managed to get a 120-page dissertation approved (people roll their eyes when they talk about that), and I've heard professors discuss the dreaded 400+ page dissertations. You'll also hear about the freaks of nature that manage to write their dissertation in a semester, but it seems that for most people it takes a year of full-time writing. And here's the thing about this book, it needs to be original --you're not writing a 200-page summary -- you're putting your own spin on your topic.
In many ways, deciding to write a dissertation is like climbing to the highest high dive, walking out to the end of the board and standing there -- it's both exhilarating and terrifying. Every time that someone asks "How is your dissertation coming?" or "When will you be done?" is the equivalent of them bouncing the board of that metaphorical high dive; it shakes the board and depending on the person can cause a writer to lose their balance. Sadly, too many people get to the end of the diving board then spend the rest of their lives stuck there. Professionally, especially when the market is supposedly glutted with PhDs, ending up as one of those people who never finished the dissertation can stall a career (I actually had someone in an interview tell me that she did not want to hire someone who wouldn't finish their PhD).
The second challenge, and one that I did not expect, concerns the shift from the classroom to the proverbial prison cell of writing. When I was taking graduate classes for the most part, they were discussion based. There was an exchange of ideas, even if you didn't agree with them. When you finish your PhD exams, it's almost as if your committee says, "We'll see you when you're done with that book." If you've got a good committee (and I'm very lucky that I do), then their doors are always open for you to come ask questions, but most of the time you're left alone with your own ideas. This results in a lot of doubt, worry that you've made a mistake, and internal dialogues about how stupid you are. All I can say about that is that it does a lot to build your character.
The final and most frustrating challenge is the dissertation writing process itself. What no one seems to tell students (or perhaps I missed the conversation that covered this) is that when you are writing a dissertation that if you can manage five pages a day, then you're in great shape. A great deal of time is spent revising (for every page I write, I feel like I revise 10 pages) and reading. Over the course of the last few months I remember the times when I could sit down and crank out 10 and 20 page papers over the course of a weekend without getting particularly stressed. Now, I find that after a few hours of writing I end up with a headache that can only be likened to the way my legs feel after running five miles.
While I now understand why it's not necessarily wise to ask someone how their dissertation is going, those of us writing need to change our responses. I admit that I do snap at some of the people (generally family members who can't understand why this is so difficult because they think I'm so smart), I frequently find that most people have no idea what's involved in writing a dissertation. Occasionally, I run into former students and they will ask how things are going, followed quickly by the question: "What exactly is a dissertation." Coincidentally, these are students who plan on getting their PhDs, but have no idea that they'll be expected (eventually) to write a book. This needs to change, and the quickest way to do that is to change how those of us being asked how our writing is going is to change our response.
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