Clarify your goals. By identifying your goals and understanding
the many different goals in your life, including your goals for your writing project, you can find
your way towards best achieving them. How do your
different goals complement each other? And how do they compete?
Clarify your ideas. From the planning of the project to the
development of a theoretical position, clear ideas and a clear vision of what is involved in your
dissertation help you progress. Even if you know your goals,
it may not be clear how to achieve them.
Clarify your writing. Sometimes ideas that seem clear
slip away when you try to capture them on paper. With good editorial feedback, you can see which words are working,
which aren't and you can get ideas on how to improve your work.
Get your project finished! How much time do you want to spend on that project?
Don't you have other things you want to work on, too? Coaching and editing can save your valuable time.
Working with Dr. Harris while writing my Masters thesis was an honor and a pleasure.
He not only possesses the ability to effortlessly and intuitively zero in on writing issues that need addressing,
but he is extremely thoughtful and kind in his suggestions as well. Dr. Harris is an amazing human being who truly
cares for others with his heart and spirit, as well as his mind. Working with him is an all-around uplifting
experience where one walks away with much more than a standard tutoring session. With Dr. Harris, you walk away with dignity,
a sense of pride in one’s own work, intelligent direction, and confidence that you can overcome your obstacles.
Dr. Harris is quite simply the very BEST deal for your money! Thank you, Dr. Harris, for making my dream of earning
my Masters come true!!
-- M.A. English Literature, U.C. Berkeley
Coaching
As a coach, I work with authors to find effective ways to approach their project and their work process.
You can improve your relationship
with your work and work process; you can rediscover the enthusiasm and interest with which you started the project. Writing is
always going to be challenging; it doesn't have to be painful. If you're feeling lost and abandoned in the midst of your project,
I can provide feedback and help with planning.
More about coaching services
Editing:
As an editor, I help authors express their ideas effectively and efficiently.
From working on structure and argument to cleaning up punctuation and spelling,
there are many ways to aid the author in expressing
him or herself. My primary goal in working with writers is to help them complete and submit work that
will be well-received.
More about editing services
Frequently Asked Questions about my services.
I am a philosopher, a doctor of philosophy, in fact. To me, the "Ph" of the "PhD" is significant: what I studied
was philosophy. I studied it within a specfic field, but I studied philosophy.
Questions of epistemology--of what we know,
what we can know, and what it
is to know--are the ones that fascinate me the most.
My intellectual background is varied, including degrees in three different fields, but in every field of study,
there is the question of what constitues knowledge and good research.
In May 2002, I received a Ph.D. in Design Theories and Methods from the department of
Architecture at U.C. Berkeley. The Design Theories and Methods program focuses on the designer's process: how does
a designer move from a problem to a solution? This study led me to read extensively in
cognitive science, cognitive linguistics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language,
philosophy of science, and epistemology. My approach to trying to understand design and
problem-solving practices was driven by psychological, cognitive issues, again related to
epistemology: how does the designer think about projects and make decisions? It is this study
of the process of design
that laid the foundation for my becoming a dissertation coach: I have spent many hours thinking about
different
ways of approaching difficult projects.
I have been working as a coach and editor since completing my Ph.D. in the spring of 2002.
I received an M.A. in English Literature from San Francisco State University (1996), with a thesis that used
Lawrence Sterne's Tristram Shandy as a jumping off point to look at issues in eighteenth-century
English philosophy and their bearing on questions of critical theory. It was during this period--studying
the works of Locke and especially David Hume, as well as trying to find grounding in the world of critical
theory--that my fascination with epistemology arose. Prior to that point I had largely unconsciously
accepted a naive model based on an idealized vision of science.
As an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley I majored in Economics (B.A., 1988) and also studied computer science extensively.
During and after college I worked as a computer programmer. It was in my final semester as an undergraduate that I took
my first course in philosophy and was introduced to the questions of epistemology; that introduction was the spark
that guided me into my my study for my Master's thesis.
I never married Joan Baez; that's a different David Harris.
I'm happy to discuss your project with you. E-mail me a copy of your current draft and a description of the
help you are seeking. I'll take a look and write back. Or e-mail me and we can set up a phone call.
Free advice is often worth what you pay for it. On the other hand, educational opportunities often are what you make of them.
I provide the following information in the hopes that you might find it useful.
Even more information
I began working with Dr. Harris during my eighth year of graduate school,
the last four of which I had spent trying write my dissertation. I had materials, extensive notes and various
parts of chapters, but nothing close to the organized, book-length study of my topic that was required to achieve
my degree. Dr. Harris helped my focus on my thesis, asking me valuable questions about my approach to the topic that
I had forgotten in the years of searching for materials and note-taking, such as "Why is this topic important to you?"
and "What do you want to say?" Dr. Harris suggested re-viewing and re-writing my thesis statement with these questions in mind.
The suggestion was counterintuitive for me; I wanted to plow ahead and finish writing. However, by returning to and honing my
thesis statement, I was able to get a better sense of how the various parts of my dissertation worked together. With this
new clarity, I revised my chapter abstracts in relation to my general thesis statement. My breakthrough came
when I began to see how my chapters worked together to build my argument. Most importantly, I found my purpose and I had
something to say. Early on, Dr. Harris identified the areas of my work process that were preventing me from moving forward.
His insights and advice helped me to reconsider many aspects of my approach to the dissertation writing process.
After developing a more efficient and productive relationship to my project, I was able to complete and file my dissertation in
less than a year. The coaching support that I received from Dr. Harris was integral to the completion of my degree.
I highly recommend Dr. Harris as an insightful, attentive coaching professional who achieves results.
-- Ph. D., University of California, Irvine
Dr. Harris was a lifesaver for me. I was completely lost in the woods when I first located
him on Craigslist.
I had a pile of papers and my head was just spinning with words on the computer screen with no clue on how to get
started with this thesis . Dr. Harris, with his amazing patience and masterful skill helped me come up with a plan.
He coached me through the difficult parts and made me believe that I could write a thesis paper and finish it.
He is astute, funny and warm with broad insight into the writing process. He was a joy to work with and I don't
think I could have done it with out his help. Not only did I finish it but my graduate advisor
said the paper was great and wants to help me publish it. Now that is academic nirvana! I cannot thank him
enough for his generous spirit.
-- M.A. Art Education, Ohio State University
More Testimonials
e-mail: dave@thoughtclearing.com
phone: 510 847 3612 weekdays between 9:30am and 5pm, Pacific time.
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