Graduate Life Cycle > Writing your Thesis > Writing Strategies

Methods for Writing: What is your strategy?

What method for writing do you frequently use?  If you have never thought about it before, give it a moment of reflection.  When you undertake a writing project, any project, whether it is a term paper, technical/lab report, or your thesis, how do you approach it? 

Daniel Chandler (1995) has constructed labels for categories that vividly capture the qualities of four very different writing strategies. His four strategies provide some insight into the writing characteristics and behaviours that we see in ourselves and in those around us. Below is a brief summary of Chandler’s specific categories. Which writing strategy best describes you?


Architectural Strategy

The architectural strategy involves planning as the initial stage of writing.  Through the process of planning, the shape and scope of the work emerges before the actual writing begins. The planning phase is critical as it sets the foundation for constructing the text during the writing stage. You may see an architectural strategist employ multiple outlines, index cards and sticky-notes which organize, in great detail, every section of text to be written.  This is an entirely systematic approach:  You plan. Then you write. Then you edit. Period. 


Bricklaying Strategy

This strategy is very linear and methodical as a writing method. Unfortunately it can be very slow since writers who use it tend to painstakingly craft every word, sentence, and paragraph. They take the time to revise, edit and polish each line before moving onto the next one. Bricklaying strategists may declare that they don’t revise their work very much. While that may be true in terms of not engaging in a formal editing phase as part of their writing process, it is not really true since they are constantly revising and editing while they write. Writing and revising are integrated. 


Oil-painting Strategy

Oil painting strategists work and revise entire drafts of their writing. The initial stage of writing is to get all ideas, no matter how disjointed or irrelevant, down in a rough draft.  Then the process of elaborating on and connecting the ideas takes over. The oil-painting strategist does not need to work through the text in a systematic fashion. Moreover, they are not fixed to everything they write; they are able to discard large sections of their work if it doesn’t fit or flow. They are malleable writers. A hallmark of oil painter strategists is that they mix different ideas, repeatedly blending the content of what they’ve written until they feel the work as a whole is finished. 


Water-colour Strategy

The water-colour strategist tries to write in the moment. In order to capture or preserve the spirit and energy of their creative process, there is often less reworking or editing the text for fear of it losing its authenticity. As such, this strategy places emphasis on the ability to complete a writing task in one sitting, with as little follow-up manipulation of the final product as is possible. 


Mixed Strategies

Keep in mind that these are not necessarily fixed approaches to writing.
In addition, no one strategy is better than another. In the end, it is the quality of the final written product that is of merit. Also, writers may use different strategies or combine them depending on things like the nature of the writing task or the amount of time they have to complete a writing assignment. What is interesting though is that, according to Chandler, if a writer merges strategies the pairing is most likely to be bricklaying/architectural and least likely to be oil painting/water-colour or oil painting/bricklaying.  This may take on significance when you are working with someone else, whether it’s another student or your advisor. 

Since some strategies may be more compatible than others, it makes sense, whenever possible, to choose to work with people whose style is somewhat complimentary. Otherwise, there can be unexpected challenges to overcome.

• As an example, imagine you decide it’s time to write the “first draft” of your thesis.  You’re using an oil painting strategy. You submit the draft knowing that it is rough; it’s clearly a work in progress. You deliberately have not attended to details like formatting and style since you are certain that things will change over several iterations. There are point-form bullets throughout the draft without introductory or transition sentences to explain them…. At this point you submitted the draft merely to obtain feedback on the ideas it contains. Unbeknownst to you your advisor uses an architectural strategy. The paper is promptly returned to you. She tells you that it doesn’t make any sense – it’s not organized and thus she didn’t read much past page 8.  She provides you with some samples of completed theses for you to use as a writing guide for format and style, and asks you to include with the next version the detailed outline you developed during the planning stages of your writing.

While having an advisor whose strategy is different from yours is not an insurmountable barrier, it can pose some difficulties regarding expectations, and create frustration when those expectations are violated. Asking questions about writing strategies and coming to a consensus about writing expectations before you commit to an advisor can be of tremendous help in avoiding unnecessary conflict.