This is the second post of two about using Scrivener to write your dissertation (or other writing project) while following Joan Bolker’s advice in her book Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. Check out the first post, on getting started writing here.

In my last post, I talked about Bolker’s idea of developing an addiction to writing, and her advice on setting daily writing goals. When I did these things, they really worked, and since I was using word processing application Scrivener (which I talk about in more detail in this post), it was that much easier to get a good word momentum built up. Since starting, I’ve gotten two of four dissertation chapters drafted, and am well into the third. Speaking of that third chapter, I’ve reached what is always a very difficult stage for me: revising that bulk of words I’ve already written.

Getting a started writing a dissertation or other similarly large writing projects can be a huge challenge. I’ve found that the advice in Joan Bolker’s Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day to be some of the most helpful that I’ve come across while writing my own dissertation. Using her advice on getting started writing, along with word processing application Scrivener makes for a pretty good combination for success. In this post I talk about writing every single day to create what Bolker calls a “writing addiction” as well as daily writing goals and Scrivener’s “target goals” feature. So read on if you’re struggling to get words down on the page.