Category Archives: abstracts

use a structured abstract to help write and revise

Posted on February 22, 2021 by pat thomson

Most journals don’t expect an abstract to be written in a particular format. But some do. They require writers to follow a particular format – a pre-structured template. These templates – structured abstracts as they are called – are specifically … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, conference abstract, Pat Thomson, revision, revision strategy, structured abstract, structured abstracts, thesis abstract | Tagged abstract, Pat Thomson, revision, structured abstract, writing exercise | 4 Comments

tiny texts – small is powerful

Posted on February 11, 2019 by pat thomson

I work a lot with tiny texts. Abstracts. Storyboards. Story threads. Lines of argument. Tiny texts are my academic writing tool of choice. If I had to abandon all the other writing strategies I have in my repertoire, this is … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Tiny Text | Tagged abstratc, argument, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, thesis, Tiny Text | 8 Comments

finishing the phd – write a Tiny Text

Posted on October 3, 2016 by pat thomson

You’ve finally finished your data generation and analysis. What next? Oh, it’s the big text… but working out how to move now, working out how to structure the thesis … well it can feel a bit like trying to fight your … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts | Tagged Pat Thomson, thesis abstract, Tiny Text | 6 Comments

confessions of a crabby conference abstract reviewer

Posted on March 17, 2016 by pat thomson

Jonathan Downie is a conference interpreter, researcher and writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His PhD was at Heriot-Watt University and examined stakeholder expectations of interpreters. He recently passed his viva. He tweets as @jonathanddownie. Dear Person Who Wrote This Abstract, I know … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts | Tagged abstract, conference abstract, Jonathan Downie, reviewer | 6 Comments

buffering your thesis

Posted on November 9, 2015 by pat thomson

I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds it excruciatingly irritating to be in the middle of streaming a video or music and the computer stops and spins its little wheel while it downloads more data. Download download, sigh. And it always happens during the … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, buffering the thesis, Dave McKenna, storyboarding, thesis | Tagged buffering the thesis, Dave McKenna, Pat Thomson, storyboarding | 9 Comments

co-writing the messy first draft

Posted on June 19, 2014 by pat thomson

another of those posts where I talk about my own practice… I’m currently engaged in several bits of co-writing. They are not the talk-and-write-together model that I do with Barbara. No, these are variations on the write-together-write-separate process. Because this … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, co-writing, planning, planning a paper, word budget | Tagged abstract, co-writing, Pat Thomson, planning, talking to write, writing together | 5 Comments

writing the thesis abstract

Posted on December 11, 2013 by pat thomson

The thesis abstract is the first thing that your examiner reads. It sets the tone of what is to come. On the basis of the abstract alone, before they start the text proper, the examiner will form some expectations about … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, examiner, reader, thesis abstract | Tagged examiner, Pat Thomson, reader, thesis abstract | 13 Comments

the appraisal and rejection of conference abstracts

Posted on September 12, 2013 by pat thomson

I had an email recently from an early career researcher who’d just had an abstract for a conference knocked back. When they asked for feedback, they were shocked by what they read. Presumably assuming that the writer would never see … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, conference papers, early career researchers, peer review, rejection, reviewing | Tagged conference abstract, Pat Thomson, rejection, reviewing | 8 Comments

writing course day two

Posted on April 4, 2013 by pat thomson

We began today by looking at the abstract again – the Tiny Text – and then went on to think about titles. After some paired discussion of the potential titles and a bit of work on some volunteers’ abstracts and … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, introduction, Tiny Text, writing course | Tagged abstract, beginning work, Pat Thomson, Tiny Text, writing course | 5 Comments

day one writing course

Posted on April 3, 2013 by pat thomson

My intention in these posts is simply to outline the activities in the course in case you want to try any of them for yourself. If I have time/energy I’ll add other bits too, but tonight is quite late and … Continue reading →