[ph.d meeting/writing tips]

Yesterday I had a meeting with my supervisor to discuss Chapter 2. Eek eek and tripple eek. I am happy to report that it went excellently!!! Yippy!! It was really good. I'm relieved Prof. Thomas likes what I'm doing and how I'm going about it. My critiques/analyses of web fictions (I looked at Deena Larsen's Disappearing Rain, Caitlin Fisher's These Waves of Girls, and M.D. Coverley's The Lacemaker) were apparently quite good. Prof. Thomas gave me some interesting suggestions pertaining to the "shape" of the work. For some reason, when I write in ph.d style I try to remain as distant from the work as possible and so don't really let my personal voice enter into discussions to guide the reader. I suppose I think the readers (my supervisors and examiners) don't require that kind of directing but in fact that makes good writing doesn't it? My supervisor also reminded me that I shouldn't think of my audience as just her and the examiners, I should write as if I'm writing a book and approach the audience that way. I wonder why I feel so loathe in academic writing to come out (eloquently of course) and say: this is what I'm doing and why...It's not because I'm not sure, as yesterday's meeting made clear (I think). I definitely know what I'm doing and why...I should just include more of that in my writing. A very good point I think. It was also a good reminder from Prof. Thomas, that the shape of the thesis should all fit together; conclusions should refer back to introductions and point forward to next chapters...sounds so simple but it is important and in ph.d work when we're all trying to show that we've read and understood the right people and that we're theorising academically and writing a ph.d, these kinds of things might be forgotten. These are great tips for any writer to keep in mind.