Why Should You Research Before Writing?

• To know your subject.
• To be informed.
• To become educated.
• To formulate a fresh thesis statement.
• And to write a well-supported essay.

You need to ask yourself: Why would your professors want to spend their valuable time reading an essay that’s clearly not professional or publishable? They wouldn’t…and they shouldn’t have to. Good essays are well-researched essays. In fact, very few professional writers and scholars write anything off the top of their heads. Almost all of them spend at least a little time doing more research into their subjects before writing an essay for publication, even if they are already considered experts in their fields. And that should be your goal: every essay you write should be written for possible publication.

Aim High: Aim To Publish

I’m aware that’s a lofty and probably unattainable goal for many people. However, that’s the standard to which you need to aspire. If you play baseball and you think you’re pretty good at it, you don’t aspire to a career in the minor leagues, do you? Not likely. Your goal is to be a major league baseball player. Whether or not you make it remains to be seen. But that’s what you aim for. The same thing should apply with academic endeavors. Aim high. Aim to be an expert, a professional, a scholar. When you pick a subject, research it, and write your essay—aim for publication. Find a good editing service to polish it for you. But first, always aim to write an essay that could be published in a scholarly journal.

Be a Professional Writer or Don’t Write at All

What’s the point of writing garbage? There’s enough of that already. Furthermore,  you’re far more likely to get an article published when you sound like you really know what you’re talking about. Your essay or article has to positively overflow with knowledge, authority, and credibility—both in the strength and originality of your thesis and the depth and detail of your supporting evidence. Thus, without rigorous, extensive research into the topic, you cannot possibly hope to know enough to formulate and convincingly support a fresh thesis statement on the subject.

I exited academia to become a publishing professional. I became part of the manufacturing process that massages and tweaks a text to the point that it is considered publishable. I made this career move originally to pay my bills, but as I progressed from proofreader to production editor to editor to writer, increasingly I appreciated the need for this assembly line to ensure a good final product. Someone’s cherished final draft clearly had to pass under many eyes–be queried, conformed, and corrected–so that no one who had a stake in the final product, including the author, would have occasion for embarrassment or regret. I accepted readily this quality control process even when I myself was the author, and my own draft under someone else’s scrutiny.

The notion that the traditional publishing process gets between authors and their readers is not a dead idea. It still lives and is experiencing renewed vigor with the current gold rush to self-publish, inspired and enabled by the World Wide Web and its parvenu publishers such as Amazon and Apple. Casual reading about the exploding e-book phenomenon easily gives the impression that many authors now think that they can leave behind editors and other publishing production (and distribution) personnel as expendable ”hidden costs.” They are so wrong.

Precisely because editors and other publishing personnel are not expendable, the production of e-books costs about as much as that of paper books. For a clear and simple explanation, see this blog post by the chairman of one major publishing company, “Why Do eBooks Cost So Much? (A Publisher’s Perspective).” If publishers must continue to invest so much into the making of e-books, then can self-publishers afford to neglect these functions? Self-publishers often fail to hire professionals with the needed skills, and the results speak for themselves to the reading public. Note the first reason given in this article for readers’ low expectations about self-published texts: “The Big Reasons Indie Authors Aren’t Taken Seriously.” The cost of not hiring editors and other publishing professionals extends way beyond dollars.

Becoming your own publisher means that you need to take on the responsibilities of a publisher. You need to be sure a text is ready for its public. Securing the services of editors and professionals with other necessary skills is as essential to publishing your own work as securing copyright. To be professional, you must use professionals. No one can do it alone. So come on: be a player.

In a perfect scholarly world where all research and writing is done by intelligent, diligent, inspired and inspiring people, a dissertation would be a) a great read about b) a very important topic that c) has been rigorously and thoroughly researched and d) thoughtfully and brilliantly developed to e) instruct, edify and inspire a wide-ranging audience into f) action that thereby solves or, at least, moves in a positive direction toward solving a major problem or issue in the world or field about which the doctoral candidate has studied and with which he/she has engaged.

That’s a perfect world dissertation, anyway.

Sadly, it’s been my (vast) experience that few dissertations achieve those admittedly lofty goals. Most of the 4000+ dissertations I’ve seen are good, but not great. Adequate but not outstanding. Worthy but not noteworthy. Good enough but not enough to do any good.

Pick an important topic, if you’re a serious doctoral student that is.

This is very serious, folks. No less than the future of higher education rests–in a very large sense–on the seriousness, scope, and importance of the research, arguments, and conclusions of this generation’s doctoral students. I say to this current legion of doctoral students: don’t settle for writing tripe. Pick a big and crucial subject. Do your dissertation diligence as if your life and the future of humanity, the world or at least your field depends on it.

Write a great dissertation, I challenge you.

As a PhD and owner of one of the world’s most experienced dissertation editing services (having edited over 4000 of them since 1999), I am an authority on this subject. I hereby challenge all universities and all doctoral candidates to raise the bar far higher than it is now. Raise it to Olympian heights. Demand of students and of yourselves to tackle the world’s problems with your research and writing. Make your dissertation make a difference. Don’t settle for merely obtaining your PhD with it. Make it so good it can be turned into a book that everyone should read.

Now that’s a worthy goal. You can do it, you doctoral candidates. You can make a difference. You can write a great dissertation that might even change the world. All that’s stopping you is yourself.

View tough times as a blessing.

Are you experiencing writers’ block? Are you just not motivated? Are you running up against a deadline? Sometimes those tough moments mean a breakthrough is just around the corner. But the point of going through difficulty may mean that you find a new thought, process, or discipline that you will develop in your writing or personal life. This change in perspective can help you embrace the hard times and look expectantly to how it will change you for the better.

Tough times take you back to the basics.

St. John of the Cross wrote of the basics of Christian disciplines, such as sacraments, daily Bible study, and prayer. For a writer, this is putting in the time to write daily. Make time on the calendar. Put it in your daily schedule. Write something, even if painful, until the words flow again. And perhaps you will find a brand new discipline that will inspire you. Start reading again. Read in your field but in other fields too. Allow yourself to read something purely fun and see if that inspires you toward writing again in your areas of study.

Trials bring purification.

Hopefully coming out the other side of a dark night means that your writing is more focused, more real, and more relevant to your reader. Especially if you are writing to inspire or encourage through sharing your personal story, the trials of your writing process will help your readers identify with you and learn from your experience.

Live with hope and expectancy in difficult times.

Christians live with the ultimate promise of being brought through the trial because of one’s remembering the person and work of Christ. For the writer, there is hope in the experience of having pulled through a time of writers block or low point in the writing process before. There is knowledge that the season of difficulty will pass and the newness of creativity will return. Living with that expectancy that better days are ahead will help you reach those better days faster.

Seek a relationship with those who are willing to mentor and guide you.

Jesus is the ultimate example for the Christian. Because of Jesus’ pain and suffering, he is called brother, a companion in life’s journey. There is no greater help for the writer perhaps than to find the companionship of another writer for brotherhood, insight, and encouragement during a dark time. Someone who has been there before can help in ways that no well meaning other could help. Plus, remember to help others in their time of need when you are on the other side!

1. How to use an apostrophe. This one was tough for me as a grade school student, so I know why people have trouble today. The issue revolves around the entire question of whether to use ‘s or s’ in cases of possessives. I used to draw the apostrophe almost on top of the s if I wasn’t sure, hoping the teacher would give me the benefit of the doubt since I was a well-behaved student! A singular possessive needs an ‘s and plural possessives need an s’. You may have to look up other uses of apostrophes to ensure proper use, but do not to leave it to chance!
2. Overuse of semicolons. Resist the urge to keep combining sentences with a semicolon. If sentences are short and easily combined, it is OK to use a semicolon. If you are using a semicolon often to combine long, complex sentences, the reader is going to get bogged down in your reading. The semicolon is for occasional use only. Save your semicolons when you really need them to separate items in a series that use commas and can be confusing without the use of semicolons.
3. Comma splices. Don’t force two sentences together with a comma in-between either. Make a concerted effort to read for a complete thought. If you pause to start the next thought, then you need to use a period.
4. Missing the ? I don’t know why this is an easy mistake to miss, other than their being so many more periods that end sentences than there are question marks. But always look for your end punctuation. Questions deserve questions marks!
5. Quotation marks and punctuation. This can be a difficult rule. A period or comma always goes inside the end quotation mark. Sometimes a question or exclamation mark can go outside the ending quotation–if the entire sentence asks a question or deserves the exclamation–not just the part in quotation. If only the quote needs a question or exclamation mark, then move the punctuation inside the end quotation mark.
6. Dash or hyphen? A dash is not the same as a hyphen. A hyphen is used to break words at the end of a line or in compound words such as great-grandmother. There are two kinds of dashes. An en dash (about the length of the letter n) is used for age and date ranges. An em dash (about the length of a letter m) is used to emphasize a phrase that is set apart. Most word processing programs convert two hyphens to an em dash. Check with your word processing program to be certain what keystrokes to use.
7. Its or It’s – This one really has a simple fix, so it amazes me how often people miss it. If the word is a contraction for “it is,” meaning you can read “it is” and the phrase makes sense in the sentence, then use it’s. If “it is” does not work in the sentence, use its.

If you need help, find a good editing service like Edit911.

I was still in graduate school when I attended my first American Academy of Religion (AAR) conference. I was not yet at the point of putting together a syllabus for any course but was still interested in attending sessions related to teaching religion. One course in particular introduced me to Parker Palmer and his philosophy of teaching. I still think of Parker Palmer every semester as I put together a syllabus and have used his teaching philosophy in every course I have taught. Palmer’s influence has several applications to writing as well.

 The teacher (or writer) is the lesson.

If you want students or your readers to fully invest themselves in you, you must be transparent with them. Honesty is the primary factor in this type of openness. No one expects you to be flawless. They want to see your humanity as well. Share your life through your writing, and others will be more likely to connect with you, through both low points and successes.

The teacher (or writer) is on a journey with the student.

The goal is not for the teacher to talk nonstop, communicating information one way, filling the heads of the listener or reader. But how can a writer be on a journey with the readers? It is a matter of perspective! Write to share your vision, story, and passion and invite the reader to join in your journey together. This practice may be more prevalent in religion, where one investigates matters of faith and belief and calls out others to commit to faith. But no matter your subject, you are asking others to join with you in examining topics you care about.

The model for teaching is a conversation.

The same is true for writing. Open conversation with your reader. It is OK to challenge, confront, and even bring discomfort, but it is done in a way where everyone has a voice and seat at the table. Welcome feedback. Welcome questions. Welcome doubt and disbelief. Be open to new ideas and alternative theories. Teachers and writers who do so will build an audience and following much quicker than those who are distant and uninviting.

Provide a safe environment for an equal seat at the table.

The teacher sets the stage in his classroom, laying ground rules for conversation, confidentiality, and respect. A writer does the same thing through even through his word choice. Derogatory references and outdated euphemisms can kill a reader’s trust and willingness to invest in you or your writing.

Personal experiences provide the best entryway to conversation.

I borrowed a model from the professor I heard that day at the AAR. The first assignment I do every semester is to ask all my students to write a spiritual autobiography or about a key experience that shapes their spirituality. This assignment shows how each of us have opinions and thoughts about ultimate questions, even if we don’t have specific beliefs, and provides a current assessment. Teachers and writers should open themselves to sharing this same information in order to have students and readers take risks in sharing themselves. The result should be integral both to winning trust and taking the journey together through the pages of your book.

Identify the major components of your work. 

Too often people just start writing without taking stock of what direction to take. For magazine articles, this is usually not only the main body of the article but also sidebars and pull quotes. Other types of writing have similar extras. Your dissertation has footnotes, bibliography, and appendices. Pay attention to details such as source materials along the way. If you focus on these things from the beginning, you will better be able to handle your task without having to go back later.

Outline your project. 

Your outline is the skeleton of your writing. It holds it together and supports all the details.  For a magazine, it is your title, deck, subheads, and sidebar titles. For your dissertation, subheadings are not that different from the subheads in a magazine article, just multiplied in length, number, and level of complexity.

Cut out unnecessary details. 

For magazine articles you may have to cut extra illustrations beyond what is necessary to communicate your point. For any writing, there are extra idioms and phrases that become colloquial habits but are not necessary. Any illustrations that are perceived as extra will be cut first by an editor, so you might as well edit them out early in your writing process.

Limit the scope.

When you write for a magazine, you certainly can’t expect the article to be an exhaustive coverage of a topic. The same is true even for a dissertation. For dissertations, there will be extra research that is good but might be outside the scope of your current project. Knowing how to bracket writing scope and even save extras for later is a skill any writer can use.

Keep the main thing the main thing. 

Establish your thesis statement and filter every detail, every argument, and every illustration through the thesis of your paper.  It will help you stay on track, keeping a check and balance on the things of lesser importance. If need be, post your thesis statement somewhere prominent so that it is a visual reminder to you to write accordingly.

Focus on the audience. 

What you write is largely dependent upon for whom you are writing. Don’t miss this important detail to help your illustrations and explanation hit right on target.

Watch the grammar. 

Sometimes writers are too wordy because they use words that don’t really matter. Watch words that repeat and trim out the unnecessary ones.  Some common problems are words like that and very. Read your work aloud and you will find extra verbiage you can cut and make your writing more concise. That’s our job here. So if you feel you do need help, consider using our editing service to give your writing that extra assist

1. Talk with your professors about areas of need or research gaps in your field.

Your professor may have a topic he is hoping that a student will research. This is an ideal situation because of the aid and encouragement he will naturally give you along the way. If you can agree upon a topic early in your program, you will, of course, want to take as many courses as possible with that professor to address topics related to your dissertation.

2. Ask your professor to connect you to likeminded professors.

Professors who think in likeminded ways, even if in another discipline, will help build your base of contacts and may serve on your dissertation committee later.  They can also give you new models and paradigms for examining your work from a different perspective that will prove helpful.

3. Talk with fellow students about their projects.

Find the scope and sequence of those dissertations being written in your field. Decide where you fit in to the conversation. Identify the student who is most likeminded or has a related topic and connect with him from the beginning of your work.

4. Start with questions.

If you aren’t sure of your topic, or don’t have a professor who will help identify these gaps in the research, take note of the questions others are asking. Those questions will help you identify where the research gaps are and engage you in the conversation that exists in your field.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask your professor if you can focus an assignment toward your interests.

For example, request to do a project in a different way in order to meet some of your research needs. Professors like for you to connect with the subject matter of their course and often will be impressed with your vision how to integrate a course into your work.

6. Compile a bibliography as you go.

This will serve not only as a bibliography for your dissertation but also likely your resource list for comprehensive exams. Keep this research close at hand throughout your course work. This bibliography can be foundational for your literature review as well. Having the major books of your research reviewed ahead of time can take one of the biggest chunks of time out of your dissertation writing.

7. Have a clear vision moving forward.

Go ahead and write your abstract or thesis statement so that it will not only guide your research and writing but also your course selection and thinking toward your dissertation and dissertation editing.

8. Take advantage of opportunities to present your research at professional meetings.

There is no greater way to get to know your work and bring focus to it than to teach or present to others. The comments and critique will most certainly prove helpful as you write and develop the direction your writing will take.

9. Work with each professor.

This is the beginning and end of successful class work as well as dissertation writing. Good relationships make working together easier. This will benefit you not only as a student but also later when you are officially a peer! Be sure to follow their advice if they feel that you need to hire a dissertation editor.