The Davis Girl vs. A PhDidn't: The Path of Least Resistance

The Davis Girl:
Or the blog formerly known as this one.

Confessions of a PhDidn't:
Or the blog now known as this one.

Introduction: The Big Picture

The Davis Girl is now Confessions of a PhDidn't.

I've been considering starting a new blog anyway, and this was the path of least resistance. Why reinvent the wheel when I could just rename the thing? And right now, I could use some simplicity.

Background: What the What

As you probably know, I write scary stories for kids. Some of these stories might even get published.

However, I decided to take a break before rewriting my first Alphagories book. In the meantime, it's time to tell the story about my time as a PhD student. Why?
The voices said so.

Methodology: How the Things Are Done

The end game for my PhDidn't story is a cautionary humor memoir/handbook for struggling grad students. Because sometimes it's OK to quit. More on that in a few posts.

No, I don't know if Cautionary Humor Memoir/Handbook is an actual genre, but it is now.

I wasn't planning on beginning this project so soon, but when I shelved the scary book project, the PhDidn't story wouldn't leave me alone. It's all I could think about. I dreamed about it a few times too. But how different could non-fiction be from middle grade horror fiction:

Write the thing.

Query the agents. Blammo. Right?

Results: The Things About It

Wrong. Turns out: Nonfiction gets a proposal not a full manuscript. 

A nonfiction book proposal has about eight some-what agreed upon sections which you can learn about here or read more about here.

Screen shot from proposal Table of Contents

What I appreciate so far about this whole process is that it reminds me of academia: everything has a place. And it better be there. Or else.

And I like it.

I never cared much for schedules or structure, but now that I know how much easier it is on me when there's no guesswork, I crave it.

There's method to this nonfiction proposal madness.

And I got to make a progress chart. I've wanted to do this for my fiction projects before, but it never made sense to me because I kept changing chapters and scenes and structure and...

Roll that beautiful bean footage:

Who doesn't love a star chart?

Discussion: The Part With More Info

Moving forward, this blog will center on the writing, content, and progress of Confessions of a PhDidn't: How to Quit Grad School Like a Champ. If anything staying to this narrow of a focus will keep me on track. At this point, I am drafting the proposal itself. 

Here we go.