Writing process

Keep writing
Keep a diary, take notes
How to describe the problem-solving process
Always pay attention to the reader

KEEP WRITING

Keep writing especially when you feel that you are “not a writer”. Start to write coherent text passages as soon as possible “because only writing will activate your thinking and make you committed to the subject matter” (Hirsjärvi, Remes & Sajavaara 2009, 33).

The beginning may seem difficult, even to an experienced writer. Different ways and places of writing work for different people. For some, the writing process may be triggered by grinding out “just about any” topic-related text – without thinking about fancy wordings and expressions. In any case, the first version of the text is meant to be reworked.
“One way of making writing as difficult as possible is to put off writing until you have all the things crystal clear in your head” (Väliverronen 2002, 83).

A practical piece of advice: Write about your choice of topic and what you already know about the subject matter on the basis of what you have experienced and read.  Write about your ponderings, how you decided to carry out your work and how it progressed. Write also about what others say (in literature etc.). What went well, what did not work and how did you solve it? Why did this happen and why did you solve it exactly in this way? This will gradually result in the process description.

Advantages:
– all writing is not dependent on the final spurt
– you remember things better when you write them down immediately (good details, considerations and ideas may become forgotten in a nearly incomprehensible manner)
– writing activates your mind – you arrange your thoughts, you get new ideas and your work progresses
– when you get into the habit of writing, you can also write for shorter periods of time – also when you do not have a long period of quiet time for focusing on your thesis only (you will need such long quiet periods too)

It is recommendable to reserve time for longer working periods: at least three to four hours. Otherwise, you have to interrupt your work as soon as you have managed to summon what you learned the previous time, and your mind has been activated. A shorter period is sufficient for reading and taking notes. (Hakala 2004, 76.)

KEEP A DIARY, TAKE NOTES

Keep a “thesis diary”, i.e. take notes about your thoughts, questions, ideas, solutions and simply everything you have done for your work. The “diary” can be written in an informal style or follow very strict rules or even take the form of a table, as long as you write things down for yourself. (See e.g. Hirsjärvi et al. 2009, 45-46; Vilkka & Airaksinen 2004a, 19-22.) The diary is an excellent tool for advancing and following a study, project or other major piece of work.

You can save your ponderings in various ways, e.g. by
– recording your thinking aloud
– videotaping the activities and the related thinking aloud
– keeping a diary and taking notes about the work
– compiling a process portfolio (Anttila 2009).

You may often feel lazy and think that the “diary” is just a waste of time – or that “I’ll do the writing tomorrow”. Tomorrow you may not necessarily remember to do it. Tomorrow you may have something else to write about. If you do not write things down, the work done may be of no use for the thesis because it has not been documented: you cannot trust your memory, and afterwards you cannot make up the choices made. “The thesis diary serves as the memory in the student’s thesis process” (Vilkka & Airaksinen 2004, 62).
The time and effort spent on writing the diary will pay for itself in the form of benefits you will receive when writing the final report. Work processes are often lamely described in theses. The descriptions do not spell out what the student has done – often due to the fact that the student cannot any longer remember exactly the choices he or she has made.  Or due to the fact the process description is not considered necessary. Nevertheless, the process description is often fruitful and educational to an external reader – this also applies to miscalculations and misconceived choices and to how the student overcame them.

HOW TO DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS

Take notes, keep a diary. This way you will need to make much less effort when writing the report. It is likely that you will accomplish a better thesis, and your supervisor will praise your work.
The author conveys his or her thoughts, observations, solutions and conclusions to the reader through the text. In other words, they need to be spelt out. This may sound obvious but often constitutes a stumbling stone which can be avoided. What is obvious to me is often not obvious to others. Spell things out in your thesis report.

The next question is: how precisely should I write? The answer is not unequivocal; it depends on the subject matter. Some issues need to be explained meticulously, but you can deal with most issues with slightly less precision. However, this never means careless or vague reporting. The reader should be able to follow the progress of the substance matter or process, to observe the event. Redundant and unrelated matters shall be left out.

ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO THE READER

Many issues are useful to the reader although you may consider them just a necessary evil during the writing process. These issues include: 
– referencing and list of references
– sufficiently precise description and explanation of matters
– clear figures or tables.

Visualise that your report will be read by someone who is interested in the topic. In general, you can assume that the reader is reasonably well informed: you do not need to explain all the basic matters of your field. You are not writing to your supervisor but to a wider interested readership.

The assignment may include a written piece of work, e.g. a guidebook. Its language and style may differ from those of a thesis report. It is recommendable to discuss the style with both the supervisor and the client.

mistakes – this will result in a more reliable overall impression.