Category Archives: narrative

Story structure 2 – research writing

How is writing research like story? Last post I wrote about Kurt Vonnegut’s man in hole structure and how that might help you think at a very macro level about how to organise your material. This post is also about … Continue reading

Posted in arts based research, IMRAD, narrative, story, storyboarding, structure | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Story and research writing

You often hear that writing about research is story telling. This is partly right and partly not. Partly not, because a lot of academic writing is better thought of as argument. Argument relies on evidence to make a case for … Continue reading

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PhD narratives

Patter is on annual leave and reprinting bits and pieces from other writing about writing or doctoral education. This is the (second) foreword I’ve written for an edited collection of PhD stories. This one is called Postgraduate study in the UK: surviving … Continue reading

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use a vignette – #wakeupreader

Most readers, even academic ones, like a bit of a story. And a vignette is just a bit of a story, a condensed version. A vignette is brief, evocative and descriptive. It provides information about key points of an event … Continue reading

Posted in #wakeupreader, creative writing, introduction, narrative, Uncategorized, vignette | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

what is my brand? huh? my what?

The Prisoner is now called a cult classic. I’m ancient enough to have watched the original when it showed in Australia in the late 60s. I’m talking of course about the television series in which the hero, played by Patrick … Continue reading

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should I number my thesis?

I’ve just been in a university where doctoral researchers are issued with a thesis template. This automatically sets up the font, layers of headings and the section and subsection numbering systems. If doctoral researchers decide to use this template, and … Continue reading

Posted in argument, epistemology, narrative, reader, thesis | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

visual narratives as sense-making

This is a guest post by Megan McPherson who is an artist, educator and researcher. She is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She read the patter post on writing narratives as sense-making practice and … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, Anthony Paré, artist notebooks, image, narrative, writing as heuristic | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

academic travel diary: a narrative to find the way

Another conference season is just about over. This year I wasn’t very adventurous and just went to one. It was in Spain. A long while before the event my friend Jill and I decided to rent a house and stay … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, Anthony Paré, narrative, writing, writing as heuristic | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments