Nathan Ryder

The Last Three Weeks

Post author By Nathan
Post date February 11, 2015

They’ve been quite intense actually! In the last three weeks I have:

delivered seven workshops, including facilitating a Grad School;
three of the workshops were Viva Survivor, and I also spent half a day working with PhD supervisors and telling them about my research so far into the viva experience of PhD graduates;
travelled to Wales and Scotland – including my first workshop in Edinburgh;
finished the first draft of my second book;
been ill for a day, which really knocked the wind out of my sails;
read several books – including a few from my reading list for 2015;
signed up with Payhip, and from next month I’ll be selling Fail Your Viva through that service as well as through Amazon.

I’ll write again on Friday with details of the books that I’ve read so far, and why I think they might be interesting to you, dear reader. I’m also working to arrange new interviews for the Viva Survivors Podcast – and if you’d like to join me on the podcast to talk about your viva then do get in touch.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Tags news, update, where does the time go?

news

Quick New Book Update

I’ve not written as many posts in the last week, as I was powering ahead with writing and also out delivering workshops as well. Which lead to me missing a couple of posting slots. But then yesterday:

First draft of second book: DONE! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 pic.twitter.com/wY2iZ3KyDg

— Nathan Ryder (@DrRyder) February 3, 2015

A first draft is just the first step – next, after a break to let me forget it a little, comes editing, then sharing with a few people, then the other side of self-publishing (covers, files and so on)… But it’s on the way, and on track for a release before Easter!

Watch this space for more details, and thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Tags frequently asked questions about the viva, viva book 2

quick thought

Two Questions

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 28, 2015

They’ve been rattling around in my head these last few days.

I used the first one at a workshop last week, after reading it an article of questions that coaches use to get the best from people. I used it because I like the language of it, but in musing on it, I think there is a second question that has to come after it.

The first question is “what excites you?” For me, it’s playing games, of all kinds – board games, card games, dice games, role-playing games, computer games. I should probably qualify that: playing games with people for all but computer and video games (I like playing video games by myself).

I used this question just as a springboard to get people talking, and only afterwards did I think that there is a question which has to come after this one, at some point, maybe not immediately, but it is there and it is necessary. The second question is “what do you need to do to get more of what excites you?”

And that’s hard… But it’s what I’m thinking about at the moment.

Thanks for reading – if these questions resonate with you, please comment!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Tags idea, musing, two questions, what excites you

news

Catch Up, 26th January 2015

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 26, 2015

Previously in this sort-of link round-up slot I’ve had some kind of format where I talk about things in certain orders and so on. But after having spent a lot of time writing out to a clear structure lately (he says, conversationally referencing his next book) I thought I would write as things occur in this post.

Work

I spent some time away last week at my first KESS Grad School of the year; it was great to work with a group of MRes scholars, hear about their research and look at some interesting case studies. Very happy that I have some more of these in the coming six months. This week I’m away in Bangor for a couple of days, talking to staff and PhD candidates about vivas, and on Friday morning I’m at LJMU to talk about viva prep there too. Busy times!

Tags ideas, links, PGRs, phds, round-up, this and that, updates

quick thought

What’s your secret ingredient?

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 23, 2015

(from my slush pile of half-baked thoughts; a short post while I work on my next book!)

I was watching a food show and they talked about the secret ingredient in Big Macs. I didn’t have a Big Mac until I was in my thirties, and I have maybe two a year. They’re not the greatest burger ever but they have something about them. But the secret ingredient aspect is odd when you think about it. The secret ingredient in Big Macs (or in any recipe) can’t really be secret – if it was, it couldn’t be sold. It has to be something that other people could use – it is only kept quiet to keep a monopoly on something. If you or I knew all of the ingredients in a Big Mac (which must be listed somewhere) then we could recreate it.

This got me thinking about the secret ingredients of people. What is the thing that you do that lets you do what you do well? Is it really a secret – or is it something that it might be really good to tell other people about? Can it be replicated, and if it could, would you be obligated to tell people?

Like I said in the bracket at the top – it’s a half-baked thought, but there is a thought there! What do you think? What’s your secret ingredient?

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Tags big macs, half baked thoughts, secret ingredient

quick thought

Book 2 Progress

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 21, 2015

Another short post today (on Monday I was at a KESS Grad School, today I’m not home most of the day with some belated birthday celebrations!), and I just wanted to give a quick update on my next book, which is coming along quite nicely.

While I have procrastinated for a very long time on writing a second book, it seems like all of that thinking time has paid off big dividends in terms of being able to write the damn thing. When I sit down with my goals in front of me, it seems almost easy to get the words out. About a third of the chapters are being reworked from existing material that I have, and the rest I am working from outlines that I created before Christmas. I’m getting between 1500 and 3000 words written per day, so at this rate I’m looking at a first draft being finished around the first week of February.

I’ll print it and leave it alone for a week then – which will no doubt drive me crazy – before beginning the task of editing. I’m using Pressbooks to typeset it in, so the text should look good if nothing else! I’ll have to start thinking seriously about a cover soon – I have a few options in front of me – and all in all, it feels like I am on track to publish by Easter.

Oh, and the working title is still “Frequently Asked Questions About The PhD Viva“!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Tags book, ebook, frequently asked questions about the viva, short post

series

Common Questions about the Viva Round-up

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 16, 2015
1 Comment on Common Questions about the Viva Round-up

Last post for the week, and another little summary of things that I was doing towards the end of last year. The posts that I wrote based on the common questions I get in Viva Survivor workshops seemed to be really interesting to people (and when I remember to look at what people are viewing from time to time these posts keep on coming up). As I said towards the end of the year, these posts have lead to my next book, which I’m in the process of writing now – hence these recap posts!

Tags common questions about the viva, frequently asked questions about the viva, questions, viva prep, viva preparation, viva survivors podcast

series

Acronym Post Round-Up

Post author By Nathan
Post date January 14, 2015

When I started blogging regularly back in the autumn I started with a series of posts about my favourite acronyms. Acronyms sometimes get a raw deal, mistaken for being trite or silly – but actually I think they can be really useful in summarising valuable ideas. In working with researchers for the last six years I’ve shared many (hopefully!) helpful techniques using acronyms. The posts I’m collecting here are eight of my favourites.

Tags 5w1h, acronym, BOOST, drc, INTRO, kiss, PMI, round-up, SMART, STAR, summary