The travel metaphor conceptualizes writing a dissertation as a fun and exciting trip. The metaphor suggests that the process will be a departure from normal routine during which readers will encounter new challenges and become confident in handling any difficulties.
Frames the dissertation as an enjoyable process of creating something new, discovering new ideas, figuring things out, and sharing new insights.
Lays out twenty-nine concrete steps broken down into small, manageable, concrete parts. With each step, students achieve progress and have clear direction on the path forwards.
Lays out a short timetable of as few as 1078 hours to complete the dissertation.
Features samples from real dissertations from sciences, arts, and humanities disciplines to show readers how to create effective elements and sections of the research project.
Focuses on the whole picture of the dissertation before the student begins to write. This view helps students know where they are in the process, how a particular step fits into the whole, and what they have to do next.
Helps prevent getting stuck on frequently difficult steps like conceptualizing a topic, developing a pre-proposal, writing a literature review, writing a proposal, analyzing data, writing the last chapter, and writing and editing.
Encourages the functional role of the scholar to help deprioritize other roles (such as housekeeper, model employee, proxy critic, and good student) that distract from dissertation progress.
Emphasizes original, creative, and insightful scholarship. Students and scholars must break out of typical methods of doing research, often learned in graduate school, where they impose others’ theories on their data or use other literature to define their ideas.
Guides productive advisor relationships. The book advises students on how use advisors in the most effective and productive ways.
Offers proven real-world skills that have been used with great success by students at the authors' Scholars’ Retreats.
Presents skills with long-term transferability to future research. The research and writing steps apply to post-dissertation research projects, including books and articles.