How to Tame Your PhD
by Inger Mewburn

122 pages
http://bit.ly/3GV6e0d

Inger Mewburn PhD, AKA @thesiswhisperer, will be familiar to many of you from her great advice on the excellent blog The Thesis Whisperer. This book compiles more than 20 posts from the blog into a single volume, preserving her inimitable chatty and informative style. Inger has excellent credentials for writing this book, having finished her own dissertation on the gestures used by architects in just 3 years!

The structure of the book closely follows the journey of writing a dissertation, without feeling mechanistic. There is lots of fantastic help plus ideas to get you through each stage, backed up by full references. One great advantage of the e-book format is that you can follow the links to explore a subject in further detail.

I really like the points where Inger explains how your feelings are related to your progress along the PhD track, and don’t necessarily reflect your overall ability! So if you’re feeling confused, that’s because you haven’t gone through the ‘threshold’ yet (I could definitely relate to that). And I recognise this feeling about my own writing even now: ‘The first time you put down your ideas, they will always look stupid.’ Yes, and that’s where a writer needs to be patient, and develop their ideas through reflection and feedback.

Whatever stage you’re at in your PhD, you’ll get great value from this book, as the price is so very low and the standard of advice is so very high!