Why is Writing so hard?

If you have been asking this question, you are not alone. I took me not less than two weeks to draft this post. Wikipedia defines writing as a medium of communication. Are you still wondering why it is hard? When did you know communication to be an easy task? Look around you, there are advertisements of how to develop your communication skills almost everywhere. Communication is commonly referred to as an art because it requires creativity, says Kathleen Federici. You see the problem with writing now? Not only is it a medium of communication but a creative means of transferring information from one party to another.

There is always a need to communicate, you want to pass an idea across, and writing is the way to do that for an academic. In today’s world, everyone is an author, we all have something to say even though we could be saying the same thing in different ways. Just go to your Instagram feed, you will see what I am talking about. Virtually anyone can have their ideas out there by publishing it online, and it is made available to the public. Does this water down creativity? Absolutely not! Instead, the demand for creativity is higher now.

I am not here to talk about writing in general but PhD writing which is known as academic writing. PhD dissertation writing is not just any writing; however, the elements in the writing processes are the same, which is Communication and Creativity. I believe when you understand these elements, you are a step closer to writing your dissertation effortlessly.

Communication is effectively done when you are passing information, and the recipient of the information receives it in the manner you had in mind. Effectively is underlined to that it is the core of communication. The only way to communicate is to do so effectively. Effective communication not only saves you from being misunderstood, it equally saves the recipient the headache of decoding complex information.

Creativity is essential in writing especially in dissertation writing. A friend once told me (which I also agree with) that dissertation writing is majorly about writing the objective of your study in different ways. Hence the need for creativity in dissertation writing. A dissertation is usually lengthy; therefore, you have to find creative ways to keep emphasizing the relevance of your research to retain the attention of your reader/ examiner.

Thus, we can alternatively define Dissertation writing as telling your audience what my research is about creatively.

Are you worried because you think creativity is not an attribute to be associated with you?

Don’t be because, in today’s world, anyone can be creative. See creativity as alternatives, like different driving routes to get to the same destination. Technological advancement has made some tools available at our fingertips that can help build and enhance our creativity even in dissertation writing. Some of these tools will be shared in the next post. Till then you can share your suggestions in the comments.

Note that the beauty of Communication being art is that it can be learned.