How To Really Write Your Literature Review

Struggling with Your Literature Review?

You’re new to research, a PhD candidate or a professional moving from practice to enquiry. You’re committed, passionate about your subject, and excited about your contribution to knowledge.

➡️ But you’ve hit a snag. Your literature review.

🟣 You’ve done the recommended reading in the how-to books, sat through the self-study tutorials, and followed the easy-step guides.

🟣 You’ve gone through stacks of studies in your field. You’ve sunk months into a draft.

🟣 But the feedback when it comes is like a punch in the stomach: Too descriptive. Critically evaluate the studies. Link them together. Don’t summarise, synthesise.

🟣 You sink into your chair and randomly thumb the pages. Link the studies? Synthesise? What does that even mean?!

➡️ Here at Writing Works Consulting, I understand the challenges you face as a new researcher. There is plenty of advice on what to do, but very little on how. That’s why I created How to Really Write Your Literature Review.

What Will I Learn?

In this workshop, I cut through all the confusion and show you what you really need to know to write your literature review. You’ll learn how to:

🟣 Break out of the description trap

🟣 Turn a pile of notes into a case for your research question

🟣 Move from critiquing single studies to analysing a body of scholarship

🟣 Identify patterns and trends in previous research (spotting that mysterious ‘gap’)

🟣 Use these patterns and trends as evidence in your argument

🟣 Organise and rhetorically craft your review

➡️ Don’t let frustration derail your dissertation. Book your place now and keep your PhD on track with How to Really Write Your Literature Review.

When and Where?

The workshops are held on-line via Zoom. You can attend an evening session, or a morning session:

🟣 Friday, October 17th from 0900-12:00 noon

What Will It Cost?

The cost is £85 per person.

Lasting Value

For the price of the workshop, you also get a bundle of freebies designed to support you as go forward on your research journey:

🟣 Access to up 3 video drop-in sessions for questions that crop up as you put into practice what you have learned.

🟣 A downloadable PDF with answers to my most frequently asked questions, such as How do I know when I’m finished?

🟣 A downloadable learners’ pack outlining the techniques I introduce so that you can apply them independently to future drafts, of your literature review or anything else you might be writing.

What Others Say:

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“This in-depth look at this critical (no pun intended) part of the early doctoral process resulted in some light-bulb moments for me (and I'm fairly sure others in the group).

The approachable, informal delivery meant that we moved from basic concepts to tackling review ourselves without a bump in the road, and Susan was constantly guiding and provoking the group to take us further.” – Iain Rowan

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About Dr Susan Mandala

Susan is founding director of Writing Works Consulting. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and was for many years an academic at the University of Sunderland, where one of her primary roles was training doctoral candidates in writing literature reviews. A highly published academic author, she is a specialist in the study of language, writing, and style and has 30 years’ experience as a teacher, trainer, and workshop facilitator.