Ready to Write but Unsure Where to Start?

Using Writing Models as a Guide to Academic Projects

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

Imagine this all-too-common scenario with me:

You finally collected all your data for that big project you’re working on. You've read all the things, taken pages of notes, and now you’re staring at a mountain of material and wondering,

“How on earth do I turn this into something readable?”

It feels a lot like dumping out a thousand-piece puzzle without having the picture on the box. You've got all the pieces, but absolutely no idea what it's supposed to look like. Maybe it's a majestic landscape…or maybe it’s just a pile of puppies.

How would one know? I compare it to looking up at Everest from basecamp in this newsletter:

Breaking Down Writing Projects into Smaller Parts

The biggest challenge of writing a dissertation or book for the first time is that you’ve never written a dissertation or book!

Shocker, I know.

It’s also possible that you have previously published, but you're trying a different approach in a different field and are unsure of what the final product will look like.

This Month’s Guide: Using Writing Models as a Guide to Academic Projects

One effective way to get clarity on your manuscript structure is to walk around in other people’s work—not to copy their ideas, but to understand how they arranged their puzzle pieces. It’s not just about reading for content; it’s about studying structure and flow. Seeing how others organize their work can give you a roadmap—or at least some solid clues—for your own.

This month's paid subscriber guide dives into how using models can help you design your project. I show you how to pick them apart (in a good way) so you can see how the parts fit together. It's basically like getting a peek at the back of the puzzle box.

I’m always lamenting in PNP that we don’t get this kind of training in grad school. Academia hands you the puzzle and walks away—no map, no picture, just a “Good luck! See you at your defense!”

I remember being told to read dissertations to learn how to write one, but I didn’t know what I was looking for.

This 16-page guide walks you through a step-by-step process for analyzing journal articles, dissertations, and books as models for your own work. It’s the guide I wish I'd had years ago—and the one I still use when tackling new projects.

If you want to learn this process and make your writing life a lot easier, become a paid subscriber and get instant access to this month’s guide. It’s less like fumbling in the dark and more like flipping on the light switch.

You in?